You watch as your team dominates at home to your local rivals, hitting the woodwork three times, and are denied by two world class saves from the opposition ‘keeper. Holding the Champions of France to a spirited 0-0 draw, surely this team must be riding high in Ligue 1? 18th!
Anyone tuning in to watch Valenciennes for the first time at the weekend will be struggling to understand why Daniel Sanchez’s side find themselves down in the relegation zone and not pushing for a Europa League place. The manager seems to be asking the same questions:
"To take just one point from the last two matches is disappointing. We can regret our lack of a finishing touch and perhaps our lack of a break cost us too when we hit the woodwork three times.
Overall, we can be satisfied with the performance, especially against a quality side, but at the end of the day we have just a point.
There was no doubting the desire or the motivation of my side coming into the game, I know my team's potential, but for tonight to be perfect we needed to get that goal."
Not many managers would swap places with Sanchez right now, nearly a third of the way through the season and the former Tours manager has seen his name mentioned as potentially being the first man to lose his job.
For years, before Valenciennes were happy with middle to bottom of the table finishes, just being in Ligue 1 was still a privilege. Not this season. The opening of the new 25,000 Stade du Hainaut gave new President Jean-Raymond Legrand and the new manager just one aim for this season. Survival in Ligue 1.
Both had big shoes to fill. Legrand took the reins from Francis Decourriére, the man who helped guide the team from the Fourth division all the way to a stable place in the top league, steadying the ship when Antoine Kombouare moved on to PSG and making the dream of the new stadium come true.
With a new President, new manager and a new stadium it may have felt like a very high pressure summer for everyone involved. Numerous players where linked with moves north, and in the end the arrivals were few and far between.
An opening day defeat to Caen followed by a woeful performance in the home opener against Brest saw the pressure heaped on Sanchez. Tough defeats followed against PSG and Dijon in the cup, as well as the heartbreak against Bordeaux.
A goal to the good with only minutes left, it looked like VAFC would win their first game at their new stadium. Disaster struck as two late goals from the away side followed and Bordeaux left with all the points.
After the defeat the coach tried to hold his head high but you could hear the disappointment in his voice:
"When you don't pick up even a point it affects your position in the league. It is worrying to have just one point after four games. But we must not panic. We are not going to let out heads go down. We are disappointed and frustrated, but we have to do better."
All the signs were there against Bordeaux. They matched their opponents in possession 48% - 52%. They were equals all over the pitch for amount of tackles and corners and they even got more shots in at goal than their opponents. Again they had nothing to show for it.
Then came the much-needed glimmers of hope. After a woeful 45 minutes of football against Dijon they somehow managed to beat the new boys 4-0. Inspired by Gregory Pujol, Gael Danic and Renaud Cohade, the three combined for all four goals and anyone who had watched the first half wondered what had just happened.
A share of the points against Nancy was followed up by a last-gasp equaliser against Marseille to steal a point and again it looked like the clouds were lifting. Pujol’s missed penalty following Rod Fanni’s red card could have given the home side so much more.
All the signs were there. Dominating possession against OM with an amazing 19 shots on goal with Steve Mandana having to make seven saves to keep the aforementioned trio at bay. It seemed with a little bit of luck, Valenciennes’ bad fortune could easily turn.
Wrong…. The next game saw them behind after 22 minutes as Joel Campbell fired Lorient ahead, and even though they again dominated possession with 56% they could only manage two shots on target. This showed how much they relied on the target man qualities of Gregory Pujol.
Last season the forward finished with 17 goals – his best ever haul in the top flight, and many thought they would take advantage of this rich vein of form and sell to the highest bidder. Pujol stayed and the groin injury seemed to point out the obvious weakness in Sanchez’s team.
Leafing through the results, there is a definite air of inconsistency. Defeat to Lorient followed a superb 3-0 win over Sochaux which of course led to defeat to St-Etienne. That leads nicely to the northern derby this weekend.
Valenciennes took the champions on head first and raised a few eyebrows. They were dominated in possession but pushed forward at every opportunity. Forcing Mickael Landreau to pull out some unbelievable saves, hitting the woodwork multiple times and the 18 shots overall showed their attacking intent.
Down the right the duo of Thomas Dossevi and Cohade caused constant problems and 42% of Valenciennes attacks came down that flank. On the opposite side, full-back Gaetan Bong was well advanced giving Danic the opportunity to cut inside and support Aboubakar upfront.
With Gregory Pujol out with an on-going groin injury the pressure was on the 19-year old Cameroonian striker to lead the line against an experienced defence and basically fill Pujol’s shoes. Although he only finished with a rating of 6.5, his hold up play was superb.
He showed great strength and pace; constantly winning the ball in the air he gave Franck Beria and David Rozenhal a torrid time in the Lille defence. Following his two goals against Sochaux the young striker had announced himself to the league; this performance was his coming out party.
Daniel Sanchez would have woken up on Monday morning with the noose slightly loosened from around his neck. The problem doesn’t seem to be getting the one off performances from his side; it’s more about finding some consistency and getting a run of games and some points on the board.
Steady XI Hampered by Injuries Upfront
All the signs are there that Sanchez has the tools to succeed. The team has talent, the line-up is balanced. Playing a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation everyone knows they’re role. The defence is very stable; the back four have been as close to ever present. Gaetan Bong (6.59) has played every game at left back; Benjamin Angoua (6.67) and the very impressive youngster Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (6.52) have 21 games between them so far. At right back both David Ducourtioux and Rudy Mater have split the duties between them and both know the role very well.
Apart from 19-year old Mirin – who has probably been one of the stories of the season – the rest of the back four have years of experience and are not phased at this level. Further up the pitch the midfield has a mixture of steel and creativity.
Anchored by the excellent Colombian Carlos Sanchez (6.78) the talents of Gael Danic (6.96) and Renaud Cohade (7.18) are allowed to flourish and they have added four goals and five assists from midfield. These three have been joined by Foued Kadir, Mathieu Dossevi and Korean Nam Tae-Hee; this trio have bags and bags of talent and if given the chance could light up the Stade du Hainaut in the weeks to come.
It seems to be one problem a few Ligue 1 sides have, and Valenciennes being no different, comes upfront. With only three strikers on the books it puts pressure on each of them equally. Question marks have always been out on Mamadou Samassa’s ability (6.15) and in the ten appearances he has made so far this season he has done nothing to answer any of them.
This puts the spotlight on both Pujol and Aboubakar (6.6). The 31-year old Pujol (6.53) has suffered from injury but has two goals in five games. Valenciennes badly miss him when he doesn’t start. His great ability to hold the ball up and get on the end of Danic and Cohade’s service is priceless for the side. With a fit and in-form Pujol, the side are a different animal.
Twelve games gone, the record of two wins and six defeats is far from good enough at this level. Averaging 0.83 points per game would see Valenciennes end the season with 32 points and most likely ensure relegation. The city, president, coach and team can’t afford this to happen.
The Stade du Hainaut will be a lonely place if it has to host Ligue 2 football next season.
