It’s the Adam and Erics 2023! The complete review of the Ligue 1 season
Match of the season: Lyon 5-4 Montpellier
Resembling more of a video game than a Ligue 1 game, Lyon’s barely believable comeback win over Montpellier neatly distilled the shift in attitudes across the league in recent seasons. French football has transitioned from dour stoicism to vibrant positivity thanks to an emerging cohort of young attacking coaches. Even this match, featuring sides trained by Ligue 1 elders in Laurent Blanc and Michel Der Zakarian, nearly hit double figures. Although helped by a hesitant Lyon, Montpellier raced into a 4-1 lead, with 20-year-old poacher Elye Wahi claiming all four goals. Incredibly, Wahi ended up on the losing side and saw his feat matched by Alexandre Lacazette, who completed his own four-goal haul in minute 100 to win the game from the penalty spot. Typically, however, neither striker did enough to warrant a 10/10 from L’Équipe the next morning.
Save of the season: Mory Diaw (for Clermont v Troyes)
Clermont are the smallest club in Ligue 1 and they barely stayed up last term, so their eighth-placed finish this time around is perhaps the most impressive achievement in European football this season. Some smart scouting and an efficient new system helped Pascal Gastien’s team gather a huge 59 points. Central to their excellence was goalkeeper Mory Diaw. Calm, considered and useful in possession, Diaw prevented more goals than any other Ligue 1 goalkeeper – according to FBRef’s xG model. Even though this save came in a defeat to eventually relegated Troyes, it showcases his ice-cold shot-stopping and athleticism. Having seen Troyes striker Mama Blade skip past defender Maximiliano Caufriez around the penalty spot, Diaw gets down sharply to save with his foot, before adjusting to save again from his own man after an unlucky rebound at close range. The 29-year-old then manages to scramble away a third chance, although it was eventually deemed offside. Another excellent season from Diaw will be needed if Clermont are to finish in the top half again next season.
Biggest flashpoint: Neymar house protests
Enraged protests have become an annual ritual for PSG’s ultras. Mass walkouts, sharply worded press releases and the booing of stars are now common. This season, however, things escalated. In May, a mass demonstration outside the club’s headquarters resulted in a subset of fans, later criticised by Collectif Ultras Paris’ leader, rallying outside Neymar’s home. Frustrated with a perceived lack of effort from players, the club’s financial largesse and another insipid Champions League exit, the group demanded Neymar’s exit. Clearly upset, Neymar posted: “They just left my doorstep,” with a sobbing emoji on Instagram in the aftermath. Oddly, PSG’s No 10 had already missed three months through injury by this point and didn’t even feature in the European exit to Bayern Munich. However, despite his mammoth contract running to 2027, Neymar seems closer to leaving Paris than ever this summer.
This has not been Neymar’s happiest season in France. Photograph: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images
Player of the season: Kevin Danso, Lens
Ligue 1 lacked a clear standout star player this season. Kylian Mbappé finished as the top scorer with 29 goals but did so on autopilot. Despite scoring 27 goals, Alexandre Lacazette could not quite drag a more-than-capable Lyon team into Europe. Neymar’s unplayable start soon faded. While expertly performed, Lionel Messi’s facilitator role was of little consequence. Despite their title, PSG’s deepening malaise meant that runners-up Lens (just three years after promotion) felt like the true victors, finishing a point behind PSG but with a point more than Lille did when they won the league in 2021. Anchoring Lens’ fierce three-man backline – which conceded just 29 times, by far the best record in Ligue 1 – was Austrian centre-back Kevin Danso, who influenced more results than anyone else this season. Astute, proactive, physical, mobile and still just 24, Danso is ready for Europe’s elite. His fellow defender, Jonathan Gradit, and midfield sentinel, Salis Abdul Samed, also have strong claims here.
Goal of the season: Birama Touré, Auxerre
Touré is a well travelled veteran, a metronomic and imposing midfielder who was a stalwart at Nantes before joining Auxerre after a somewhat circuitous journey that included spells in Belgium and with Brest. While he could not prevent Christophe Pélissier’s side from avoiding the drop, his goal against Marseille is hard to forget. A free-kick is driven in from the left and Pau López flails at the ball, punching it to the edge of the area. Touré gets under the ball and, with one touch, hits an unstoppable curling volley into the corner. The acrobatics of Messi and Wahi deserve a mention as well, but you will be hard-pressed to find a more sweetly struck goal anywhere in Europe this season.
Shock of the season: Toulouse winning the cup
Having finally been relegated from Ligue 1 in 2020 after years of near misses, Toulouse’s return to the top flight this season became one of the most thrilling subplots in France. The club was bought by Redbird Capital in the summer of 2020 and all of their policies have been designed within the company’s data-centric model. Having unearthed several cut-price gems, such as midfielder Branco van den Boomen, who recently agreed to join Ajax, they played some of the league’s most entertaining football, comfortably survived in Ligue 1 and won a shock Coupe de France title. Their philosophy is working. Winning their first major trophy by dismantling holders Nantes 5-1 in the final was a just reward for their pioneering approach.
Toulouse players celebrate during their 5-1 win against Nantes in the Coupe de France final. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Departure of the season: Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon
For more than a generation, Aulas was a force of nature at the head of Lyon, guiding the club from the second division to becoming a major player in Europe and winning innumerable trophies, including a record seven straight league titles. Lyon’s academy remains one of the country’s best, but as global investment has continued to dominate the market, his influence waned. Despite a lack of success in the last decade, save a pair of deep runs in Europe, Aulas remained a strong character, always making his point clear. His ebullience is uncommon these days among football executives, and his way of wearing his heart on his sleeve will be sorely missed.
Young player of the season: Elye Wahi, Montpellier
Wahi benefited from an injury to Stéphy Mavididi, taking the opportunity with both hands. He scored 19 goals – including a memorable four against Lyon – and led the line for Montpellier as a complete modern forward, a blend of pace, vision, skill and wiry strength. The 20-year-old will almost certainly depart this summer, but his emergence from seemingly nowhere is firm evidence of the wellspring of young talent across French football. His acrobatic finish against Lyon is also a contender for goal of the season.
Manager of the season: Franck Haise, Lens
Haise succeeds Antoine Kombouaré in winning this award on the back of continuing his club’s upward trajectory seemingly against all odds. Despite several key departures last summer, including Jonathan Clauss and Cheick Doucouré, the manager improved his team, bedding in players such as Loïs Openda and Salis Abdul Samed without missing a beat. He has constantly added new wrinkles to his aggressive counter-attacking style and his side won 11 of their last 12 matches, nipping at PSG’s heels the entire way. Playing in the Champions League next season will be a sterner test, but it will be exciting to see if Haise can raise his level further.
Franck Haise has been the standout manager this season. Photograph: Jean-François Monier/AFP/Getty Images
Signing of the season: Brice Samba, Lens
This category was among the most hotly contested – Folarin Balogun, Loïs Openda, Salis Abdul Samed and Rémy Cabella also warranted plenty of attention. That being said, Samba’s flair for the spectacular was instrumental in Lens running PSG so close in the title race. Lens had the league’s best defensive record by a clear margin and their goalkeeper was at the heart of it, his acrobatics being a considerable upgrade on Wuilker Fariñez and Jean-Louis Leca. He’s been called into the two most recent France squads, a wholly deserved honour.
Flop of the season: Vitinha, Marseille
It may be cruel to judge a player on only half a season and Igor Tudor’s sometimes bizarre lineups may have held back the Portuguese forward, but his signing looks like folly in the extreme. We have criticised Marseille in the past for a reluctance to invest in young players; this signing looked like a step in the opposite direction. The eye-watering €32m they paid to Braga looks ill-spent. Another manager may yet get the best out of him, but he looks far short of the level expected from a club-record signing.
Team of the season
Brice Samba; Caio Henrique, Kevin Danso, Jean-Clair Todibo, Przemyslaw Frankowski; Khéphren Thuram, Séko Fofana; Kylian Mbappé, Rémy Cabella, Lionel Messi; Alexandre Lacazette.
Bench: Anthony Lopes, Nuno Mendes, Facundo Medina, Enzo Le Fée, Valentin Rongier, Jonathan David, Loïs Openda
This is an article from Get French Football News
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