Re: Ligue 1 Orange 06/07 - Lyon Champions
I don't know if there is any real truth in that, my friend but I kinda hope there is.
But I say: "Kinda" because since I'm not an OL fan but a Ligue 1 fan, even if that move happens, it'll be a 'win' in one case and a 'loss' in another.
Then I could see OL really playing up to potential in CL under guidance of Claude Puel and dominate Ligue 1 even more, but on the other hand, I'm almost SURE that LOSC (Lille) will suffer BADLY without Puel.
They're a good team, have a lot of good players who are just under-rated in terms of (World popularity, and not ability) but still, the main reason they've been making a name for themselves in France and Europe in these past few years has been Claude I think.
If he leaves, I think Lille could end up being a mid-table mediocre team within a few seasons and no longer a side capable of possibly even challenging for title and aiming for European places let alone CL.
So, yes in a way, I hope those rumours are true and Puel would go to OL, but in another way, I don't want to see the 'bad' of anyone and if Puel does leave, I think LOSC will find it very hard to replace him. Much harder than if they were to replace any key players they sell.
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About being sad about departures, I can understand what you mean 'lo zio'. For example, last year, as Thomas can confirm as well, I really was hoping Mahamadou Diarra wouldn't leave. And was a bit sad when I heard it finally will happen.
And similarly this year, of course I will be sad to see Malouda leave the league if it happens (Though he said, he will meet with Aulas and Jean-Michel will still have a chance to convince him to stay and that his mind isn't made up but he has some very good offers which are hard to refuse), but what I was trying to say above and I will re-iterate is that, I don't think it's worth getting sad over.
Because OL fans have not much to worry about. History has proven that under Aulas, you have an
ambitious, powerful leader whom although many may not like (Much like Mr. Zamparini ), has done a lot of great things for hte club and will continue to ensure of progress.
So Malouda is a player I actually like more than M. Diarra but I think this year, I will get even less sad about it if he leaves because I know there is not much to worry about and that even one or two key players leaves, things could still end up even better than they were before.
As for Abidal, he's a very good left-back. One of the most effective in Europe right now but I don't think he's irreplacable. He's good but not great and has his weaknesses (Going forward for example, he's not as big a threat as many other great left backs of this world, though I myself generally prefer a full-back to be solid defensively and okay going forward than the other way around which the Brazilians are fond of producing.
:p)
Furthermore, he's somewhat injury prone, so whatever club for around 13M (which I hear is his Min Fee Release Clause in contract) will be getting a good player and very athletic but there's some risk in it as he sometimes gets long-term injuries and can be out of action for a while.
So I think Lyon will do a fine job replacing Abidal. It won't be hard and he won't be that missed. Malouda will definitely be a big loss though especially because of all the stuff I said before (The way he works for the team, it's not just his assists or goals that will be missed but defensive and overall work-rate and involvedness as well), but I'm sure Aulas will either convince him to stay or if not, sell for a BIG amount of money which will be enough to bring in not just one but 2 more quality players and add to the squad.
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About cacapa, there was some disagreements about contracts apparently but that's sorta routine for some clubs like Lyon and Arsenal which have policies to offer only 'short' term contracts to older players. Lyon's policy isn't as strict as Arsenal's but apparently they wanted to offer Cacapa only one more year extention (just like they did last year) but he wanted 2 and a new challenge anyway.
I kinda got the feeling, that Cacapa at this older age and also having been through a lot of injuries over the past few years is sorta also a bit 'tired' of constant 'pressure' of playing for OL and always being expected to win and the overall physicalness of the league.
I think at this stage of his career, he's rather earn just as much money but play in a less competitive atmosphere.
I would NOT be surprised if we see Cacapa move to one of the 3 big Greek clubs for example or go to SPL to play for Rangers/Celtic or maybe even Turkey to play for a club like Besiktas.
I think that's the sorta plan he has. To move to a club like Olympiakos, enjoy some success as Rivaldo is doing but play in a less intense atmosphere with lower expectations and weaker opponents.
And I'm glad to see him leave anyway. He was a good servant for the club but people know that I've been saying he's not good enough for OL's 1st team anymore for less couple of years already. He had gotten slow, injury-prone, and made mistakes. Him playing beside Cris made the wonderfuly baldy shine even more.
Finally, this year when Squillaci was bought and more or less established himself in first team, Cacapa was now sitting on bench even when not injured and sometimes fit. He obviously didn't like that either.
So you add that, the contract stuff and the stage of his career that he's in, and the fact that he's no longer gonna be in OL is hardly a surprise and in my opinion should've happened even one year earlier probably.
Anyway, gotta go now.
Talk to you guys later.
By the way, I was reading "Serie A" thread yesterday and I saw some talk about Barzagli and how some of the guys like Milanista were fearing he might be another Legrotagglie, and I definitely have some things to say about that because there's a big difference but I'll save that for the other thread and get to it perhaps when I can.
So I may start posting in "Serie A" thread a bit from now on and I might see you guys there.
Latez.
