AS Nancy Lorraine VS LOSC Lille – French Ligue 1 preview
Reigning Ligue 1 champions LOSC Lille will start the defence of their Championnat on August 6, 2011 by travelling to the north of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcel-c23507 Picot.
LOSC Lille
Ahead of their first Ligue 1 game of the 2011/2012 campaign, Lille coach Rudi Garcia has played down expectations on his team to win back-to-back Ligue 1 crowns. Les Dogues won the Ligue 1 last season after a wait of more than half a century.
Lille finished eight points clear on top of the 2010/2011 Ligue 1 standings but this time, Garcia is looking to ease the pressure on his team. While giving an interview on
http://www.losc.fr/ Garcia said that he knows that many expect his side to defend the title but pointed out that all teams start a new season on the same number of points.
“For our part, we do not defend anything. We know our strengths and limitations. We will try to fulfil our objectives - namely to be in the top three,” the French tactician said.
After winning their first domestic double in over 67 years, Lille lost http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Yohan-Cabaye-c37423 (Newcastle United), three players who played such a crucial part in the club’s domestic triumph.
However, Les Dogues did extremely well in replacing the trio by bringing in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitri-Payet-c11276, Benoit Pedretti and Marko Basa.
Nevertheless, Garcia believes that his side overachieved in the 2010/2011 season given their economic prowess as compared to the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127. Garcia has now asked fans to lower down their expectations
for this season.
"We weren't set up to be champions, still less double winners. Our means are being increased but we still lag behind the biggest names in the championship. I think that targeting the top three in the league and a Champions League place is already us outperforming
our means," said Garcia while talking to media.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AS-Nancy-c38468
In the Week 35 of last season, Les Chardons were in the drop zone. However, the Lorraine-based club managed to turn things around after winning all of their last three games to ensure another season in France’s top tier. Long-serving coach, Pablo Correa
stepped down from his post and the Uruguayan was replaced by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AJ-Auxerre-c38247.
Fernandez, like Garcia is not expecting a lot from his side this time. While talking to the media, Fernandez clearly said that his side would prefer playing effective football rather than playing spectacular one.
Fernandez thinks that many players in his squad are too comfortable in their positions and said that he wants to put them under some pressure because he feels that the team has a lot to offer.
“I like discipline and I want to change the mentality here. It’s proving to harder than I thought it would be. That doesn’t bother me, in fact I am enjoying it and I know that if I am given time then I will succeed,” said the former Auxerre coach.
Team news
Lille
Striker Tulio De Melo is out due to a tibia injury while a hamstring injury has ruled out new signing from AS Monaco, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Rozehnal-c10594 underwent a knee surgery a few days ago and the Czech international
will be out for at least four weeks.
Nancy
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Youssouf-Hadji-c37599 was the club’s topscorer last season. In each of the club’s last four seasons, the Moroccan international has been Nancy’s top scorer and has been linked with a move away from the club. However, the striker is likely to feature for Nancy’s
first game of the 2011/2012 campaign.
Predicted final score
Nancy 0-2 Lille
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