Opponents on Saturday (5pm), Monaco and Linço have many points in common in terms of the game, and similar areas for improvement.
Monaco started a poor bid to qualify for the Champions League, and are struggling to start their Ligue 1 season. , although there are a large number of opportunities. The two teams, who finished seventh in the Ligue 1 last season, face the same problems in attack, with a severe lack of competence, despite preparing to play an offensive match.
Similar offensive game
Frank Hayes as Niko Kovac has a very specific game plan and agrees on a number of ideas. Short lifting exercises, the desire to press high with and without the ball, and his team played in a very offensive and double-sided manner with the wings. If they each have a slightly different system – 3-4-1-2 for Lens, 3-4-3 for Monaco – then a common idea is inculcated by coaches: attacking football, moved forward, is dense.
The Rock players, for their part, are struggling to maintain these demands with a largely revamped workforce that already plays every three days. “Last season, we put our principles into practice because we had every week to work. This is no longer the case. We play every three days. But gradually, the recruits assimilate what others already know”, explained Niko Kovac at a press conference, that he was caught up in time with these European deadlines. For his part, Frank Hayes seems satisfied with the match that was held, despite meeting a trap in Rennes (1-1) during the first day and receiving two goals at the beginning of each half against Saint-Etienne (2-2): “There were a lot of positive things in the offensive animation, we had 13 chances, 22 shots… Now we always have to look for efficiency, score in our highlights, and avoid avoidable mistakes.. »
Same incompetence in front of goal
«Looking for efficiency?This is the problem that coach Sang Aur highlighted, because with 22 shots, Lens scored only two goals against Claude Puel’s men. Often if the last gesture is unsuccessful, the lens strikes are not very dangerous and the balls are easily picked up by the opposing goalkeeper. However, between Ganago, Sotoka, Kakuta, Banza and Gan, Artois does not lack threats. Undoubtedly some admiration for the crowd’s return to Boulliert (the crowded stadium against Saint-Etienne), Lens’s players are excused by Frank Hayes. However, it is not certain that controversy exists during this weekend’s trip to Louis II…
In Monaco, too, the attack is slipping. The duo of Ben Yedder Volland, 36 goals between them last season, were silent at Lorient and then on Tuesday against Shakhtar Donetsk. Last year, they made Monaco the most efficient team in the first tier, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille by converting 15.6% of hits to goal. Players this season are struggling to find each other, to get to a great position…
A case partly related to the belated return of the euro to international players, but Niko Kovac confirms that it is only temporary:We have very few training courses. After the international armistice in September, they will be on the level of the others.” Myron Boadaux, who arrived at The Rock this summer, is also waiting to score his first goal under his new colours, but he admits he still has to.adapterto his teammates. Another task awaits Niko Kovac: finding more passing lines, which would allow Monaco to break through the built-in defences.
