Auxerre: What Passes for a Preview

By: Martha | August 23rd, 2008

(Not Auxerre-related, but entirely worth posting anyway.)

ADDED Sunday: Stream here.

Gardiens: Letizi, Ospina
Défenseurs: Cid, Diakité, Gace, Kanté, Jeunechamp, Yahia
Milieux: Coulibaly, Echouafni, Faé, Hellebuyck, Traoré
Attaquants: Bamogo, Modeste, Ozokwo, Rémy

Absents: Ben Saada, Hognon, Rool (blessés), Apam (sélection), Mouloungui (deuil familial), Asamoah, Barul, Job, Moreau, Moussilou (choix de l’entraîneur)

Apparently Hognon’s leg is bad enough to rule him out even before a late fitness test, which means the defense is now without two regulars and its most reliable replacement. Man alive — Letizi better have one of his supremely competent days.

So, the team is likely to look the the way it did at Le Havre, except with Yahia (presumably preferred over Cid, based on Antonetti’s use of him when Hognon went down against Nancy) in place of Hognon:

Letizi
Diakité-Yahia-Kanté-Jeunechamp
Echouafni
Fae-Hellebuyck
Bamogo-Traore
Remy

It’s also thought that Coulibaly, whose training sessions with the team you can count on one hand, will probably play a part in the midfield, presumably coming off the bench.

Given Auxerre’s 0-4 thrashing at Marseille last week (a scoreline that is possibly even more galling because it evidently didn’t justly reflect how the visitors played) and Nice’s perpetual struggles on the road, I’ve got a bad feeling about this one, particularly in light of the hobbled defense Antonetti’s being forced to use. That said, Auxerre just sent Romanian CB Gabriel Tamas out on loan for the rest of the season and are without Jeremy Berthod through injury, so their defense might be a bit out of sorts, too. If Nice can just get through this weekend with a point, things will start to get better at the back — an exhausted Apam will be home by the time training starts next week, and Cyril #1 and Hognon could return to face Valenciennes.

* * *

In quick, non-preview news:

•Apam played every minute of every match for Nigeria at the Olympics, playing at the heart of a defense that gave up only four goals over six matches, and is coming back to Nice with a silver medal. Congratulations to him, it’s an amazing accomplishment.

•For you French-speakers, there’s a short Rémy video piece at L’Equipe, featuring his impossibly long legs and an interview segment.

•Laslandes to OM? God, they’re taking him, too?! (Not that Nice have shown any interesting in him since telling him to be patient, but still. It’s the principle of the thing!)

•According to the Israel media, the latest name on Nice’s lips in the continuing quest for an attacker is that of Genk’s Israeli international Elianiv Barda, whose price is apparently around €4 million. Now, if this was from a Romanian sports paper, I’d feel comfortable declaring the story entirely made up, but I don’t know a thing about the reliability of the Israeli sports press and can’t give an opinion either way. Anyone?