Olympique Lyon struggling to find any momentum in Ligue 1
Olympique Lyon faltered once again this weekend as they went down 1-0 to defending Ligue 1 champions LOSC Lille. The champions have been anything but themselves since last season. They only managed to break into the top half of the table courtesy of this win.
Lyon have not looked the same since the departure of Memphis Depay earlier this season to Barcelona. Depay was essentially the man who drove Lyon to new heights in the 2019 Champions League season. He was also a vital cog in the team's Ligue 1 campaign last year, where they finished fourth.
Lyon's late goal against Lille ruled out by VAR should have stood says Ligue 1's referee director:
"This goal should have been allowed, as it had been initially on the pitch... We recognize there has been an error." (LP)
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Not only does this season starkly resemble former manager Rudi Garcia's last season in charge. But this time around Olympique Lyon are not even in the Champions League.
Leaky defence
The club's defense has been historically vulnerable. Unlike their arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille, who prefer to sit back, Lyon like to dictate terms up the pitch.
In recent years, they have relied heavily on Memphis Depay and Houssem Aouar to compensate for their defensive lapses across all competitions. Depay is not at the club anymore and Aouar has not looked the same as last season.
Despite roping in Xherdan Shaqiri and Moussa Dembele, Olympique Lyon manager Peter Bosz has barely shown confidence in his first team. Bosz has often been accused of rotating his first XI too frequently. In their most recent outings, Moussa Dembele, for instance, has only been employed as a substitute.
Consequently, the team's defensive mistakes have come under heavy scrutiny this year. Jerome Boateng is past his prime and his failure to operate in a back three has forced Bosz to look for more options.
Thiago Mendes has failed to cement his spot in a back-three as well. This has led to a change in the club's style of play to a back-four with Leo Dubois and Emerson patrolling the wings.
#OLOlympique Lyon are expected to complete Jerome Boateng deal today after second part of medical & two years contract set to be signed. Jerome is already in Lyon. 🔴🇫🇷 #OL
He’s joining as free agent after personal terms agreed yesterday.
As things stand, Olympique Lyon have the third-worst defense among the league's top-ten teams, only better than Lille and RC Lens.
New signings need to deliver for Olympique Lyon
In the summer, the Ligue 1 side roped in Shaqiri, Boateng and Emerson to bolster their squad in search of repeating Lille's historic heist themselves. Despite a mismatch between the standard of player recruitment and the results on the field, the French side also invested heavily in the winter.
They signed Tanguy Ndombele from Spurs and Romain Faivre from Brest. Unless these recruits contribute to a top-five finish, this could possibly be their worst season in the last decade.