More on Créteil + Bit of News

By: Martha | November 14th, 2008

“This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

I managed to find the Créteil match and, while I’ll spare you a full report (I can hear the sighs of relief from here), I’ve still got some reactions to offer on a handful of newbies/youngsters/Habibs.

•Ospina reads the game really well — he’s almost never surprised by what the attacker does with the ball and, in what is probably a chicken-egg situation, is almost preternaturally calm in goal, which can’t help but make it easier to adjust to him as a keeper. He’s also good in the air, and gets off his line very well. The accuracy of his punts could use some work, but the only real mistake I remember him making (and he was admittedly not real busy against Créteil) was spilling a shot for a corner.

•Ben Saada is a pleasure to watch. He’s inconsistent still and can get knocked off the ball, but he’s much stronger and tougher than his size would suggest, and he’s always got his head up, trying to create something. The best thing about him, though, is that he knows when to play simple — you can periodically see him noticing a hint of space for a through ball, but then reining himself in because the odds aren’t quite good enough to try it. His brain is just constantly going; when things slow down around him, he’s like a little kid which too much energy, almost twitching with the desperation to get moving again. Ahem. Yeah, I like him. He needs to play more and improve his constancy, but I like him. A lot.

•Bamogo must be infuriating to play with (and also, if the number of times/match that Antonetti screams his name is anything to go by, coach) sometimes. To be fair, his finish against Créteil was lovely — a little chip over the on-rushing keeper, cool as you like. But his decision making with the ball at his feet is either achingly slow, or too-frequently limited to a choice between “take on the defender” or “take on the defender.” (I’m guessing it’s a bit of both.) Given his success rate in beating defenders (even Championnat defenders) with the ball at his feet, passing really should be a more prominent option, particularly when he’s playing with guys like Ben Saada and Mouloungui, with whom playing a one-two is the most obvious thing on earth.

•Based (foolishly, I realize) on his six-plus minutes against Créteil, Quansah’s brain works like Bamogo’s should. He’s bubbling with pace and ability, but what was most impressive in those few minutes was his intelligence — he took people on when he was in a position to beat them, but otherwise played simple, and tried to create for other people. That kid has potential to be really, really good.

•The ferocity with which Mouloungui fights to get the ball back when he loses it is amazing — if Bamogo did that, he’d instantly be twice as useful. It would be awesome, though, if Mouloungui would do something other than just drive to the endline when he gets the ball out wide on the left. I get that he’s really, really left-footed, and that he can often either get a cross in or win a corner, but cutting inside every once in a while would make things a lot harder on defenders, and even if he can’t get a shot off, a few times a game he’ll have a chance to thread the ball through to Modeste, or Rémy or Bamogo.

* * *

Looking ahead to Nantes, despite his assurances earlier this week that he’d be ready to go on Sunday, Rémy is actually only 50-50 to play right now, pending further tests today. Traore is out for sure, but Cyril #2 should back, and Coulibaly is training again, so he could make the squad, as well. In other good news for Nice, Ivan Klasnic will miss Sunday’s match through suspension — it’s always nice not to have to face him.

And, even further ahead, Ospina’s been recalled to the Colombian national team — he’s one of only two keepers (the other is the current first-choice) in a very, very young team that’s been called up for Wednesday’s friendly against Nigeria. As usual, I’m having a terrible time finding information about their call-ups, but there’s a good chance he could be facing Apam, should they both make appearances.

Also, in matches not going to be played in Colombia, Ben Saada’s in the Tunisia side for their upcoming friendly against Ghana.