In the past fortnight it has been a very interesting time in the Rhone-Alps region of France. At Saint-Etienne mystery grew over the status of midfielder Steed Malbranque which ended with his contract being terminated and then over at their rivals Olympique Lyon it has been a busy week with the closing of the transfer window.
Against Montpellier at the Stade Gerland the home side were struggling to break down La Pallide. On comes substitute Miralem Pjanic and he inspires his side to a 2-1 victory. In the closing stages striker Lisandro Lopez went down under a tough challenge turning his ankle. Then on deadline day the decision was made to sell Pjanic to Roma for €11m, in a matter of four days Lyon had lost two very important players.
According to WhoScored.com’s player ratings Lyon had transferred their top player Miralem Pjanic with a rating of 7.65 and would also be without Lisandro Lopez with a rating 7.30. Next in the ratings is a player that has finally taken his chance in the first team. Maxime Gonalons. The 22-year old has taken the baton and ran with it this season; in four starts he has averaged 7.20 including a Man of the Match performance in the season opening comeback win against Nice at the Stade du Ray.
When Jeremy Toulalan left Les Gones for a big money move to Malaga in Spain it was obvious that Gonalons was the rightful aire to the French internationals throne. After signing for Lyon as a 10-year old the midfielder rose through the ranks, bounced back from a career threatening leg injury and became an important part of the reserve team in the CFA.
In 2009 playing against Anderlecht in the Champions League the young midfielder made his professional debut significantly coming on for a sub for Jeremy Toulalan. It seems apt that the player Gonalons replaced for his Lyon debut is now the player he is replacing in the starting line-up.
Starting four out of the five league games so far in Ligue 1 he has shown that he can provide cover and be the defensive general Remi Garde needs in his new look 4-4-2 but has also proved he can be a creative force and move the team forward. When on the back foot Gonalons has averaged 3 successful tackles and 2.2 interceptions a game and in the three games he is beaten off the dribble less than once per game (0.8).
In contrast last season Toulalan also averaged 3.0 tackles a game and he averaged 2.3 interceptions but Toulalan was beaten slightly more often off the dribble at average once per game. Only Kim Kallstrom, who has been Gonalons partner in the centre this season, had better stats than the youngster last season.
As well as being a defensive force he has shown that his passing has some excellent quality to it and he is well capable of controlling games. With an average of 49.6 passes per game he is only second behind his Swedish midfield partner. Kallstrom is the creative part of the pairing so it’s easy to see why his average is up at 62.8 and he is the leader of the Lyon attack.
Maxime is slowly settling into the role well, with passes find their target 86% of the time and he also gets forward and averages at least one shot per game. His priority is to defend but he has shown when given the opportunity he can get forward and trouble defences.
On the same day that Pjanic was sold to Roma two players made their way into Lyon, defender Mahamadou Dado from Sevilla and U20 Captain and very talented midfielder Gueida Fofana from Le Havre. Fofana has quite a few similarities to Gonalons in style and position and the pressure will now be on Maxime to hold his place in the squad.
Over the last two seasons Gonalons has played 30 games, this was meant to be his chance to shine in the first team and make the position his own. With the signing of Fofana and players like Yoann Gourcuff and Ederson trying to recover from injury it could be tough for Gonalons to keep his spot in the side but if he continues to maintain his early season form it will be a tough decision to leave him out.
