Ligue 1 Review | AS Monaco – the credible contender | OneFootball

On Saturday afternoon, AS Monaco celebrated their centenary with an incisive 2-0 victory over Olympique Lyonnais. The club in those 100 years have earned their place as one of the powerhouses of French football having won eight league titles and five Coupe de France’s.

They have also in more recent years been the most consistent challenger to Paris Saint-Germain’s claim to the throne. Monaco beat PSG to the 2016/17 title and have been runners-up three times since QSI first invested in the French capital.

Last season this saw Les Monégasques finish second with only nine points separating them and PSG. However, despite being far and away the second-best team in the league, the club were overlooked at the UNFP awards.

The only member of the Monaco squad to earn a nomination at the prestigious ceremony was Eliesse Ben Seghir for Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year. And while Ben Seghir is an exceptionally promising player he had missed most of the campaign due to injury.

It may prove to be harder to ignore Monaco this season with the club looking to build on last campaign’s progress and position themselves as the league’s most credible contender to PSG’s crown.

Monaco’s early defensive record

Two wins in two sees Monaco third in the table, level on points but with a lower goal difference than Lille OSC in second and PSG in first. Les Monégasques are perhaps not yet firing on all cylinders, and with only three goals recorded, it’s clear that the club are adjusting to life without Wissam Ben Yedder (the now free agent scored 20 times in 34 appearances across all competitions last season).

However, what has been impressive in the performances against AS Saint-Étienne (1-0) and Lyon (2-0) has been the work done in defence. The club have not yet conceded a goal and against Lyon, they only allowed their hosts a single shot during the game (which happened to be off-target). Last season, this had been a principal flaw of the team, with the club recording the second-worst defence in the top half of the league.

This is not to say that Adi Hütter’s champagne football is now over. Monaco are still a delight to watch. The club keep the ball well and create plenty of chances from their possession, but they appear to be a tighter organisation with the influence of Thilo Kehrer (who joined on loan from West Ham in January and permanently this summer) becoming ever clearer.

Continuity sets the foundations at Le Rocher

Over the summer, continuity became the keyword in the Principality. Monaco kept hold of their manager and have only lost two of their core players from last season’s squad. This could prove to be a vital bonus for the club in a league that struggles to hold on to talent.

Youssouf Fofana’s departure to AC Milan is clearly a loss but Monaco look to have recruited well by bringing in Lamine Camara from FC Metz. The midfielder has settled into the team scoring a goal against Lyon even if he then picked up an unfortunate red card that will keep him out of the lineup for the next game against RC Lens.

Ben Yedder remains the hardest figure to replace and the club had hoped to fill that void with Georges Mikautadze before he decided to join Lyon, but there is belief that Breel Embolo will be back to form after he missed almost all of last season with an ACL injury.

With Olympique de Marseille dropping points at home and Lyon’s false start to the season, hope is beginning to build in the small nation that this could be an exciting year where they once again take their place as challengers.

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1827084243379322908

Manager Eric Roy called out his Stade Brestois side after they slumped to the bottom of the table. The club might be preparing for their Champions League debut but alarm bells could soon be sounding. Read the full quotes HERE.

GFFN | Nick Hartland