OM vs. Nîmes– Finally a Win!

By: Sarah | October 12th, 2009

team spirit

Since the Ligue is officially on a break for the international games, OM organized a game with Ligue 2 team Nîmes on Friday for the players who weren’t called away on national duty. We also did this again Monaco at the last break, and that loss seemed to put us on a downward spiral that led us to lose to them again in the ligue last weekend.

Hopefully this friendly will be the start of better times since OM won the game 2-1. Some might say that this really isn’t impressive, and that it is actually disappointing that we were barely able to beat a Ligue 2 team. I can’t really speak to the overall quality of the play– I wasn’t able to watch the game in its entirety but I’ve posted extended highlights below. However, I think this is positive for our team. We were able to beat a team without a lot of our regular starting eleven players (Heinze, Gonzalez, Mandanda, Diawara, Mbia and Taiwo were all absent) and a lot of our non-starters got some needed playing time. Hopefully after this week’s international games are over, we will be able to move aggressively to reassert ourselves as credible contenders for the domestic league title.

Quick Stats

OM Team
ANDRADE
BOCALY
HILTON
BONNART
B. DIALLO– replaced at 45′ by D’ulivo
CISSE
CHEYROU– replaced at 61′ by Niang
BEN ARFA– goal at 86′
ABRIEL
VALBUENA– replaced at 8′ (injury) by N’doumbou
MORIENTES– goal at 11′, replaced at 85′

Remplaçants
MUNOZ
D’ULIVO– entered at 45′
OSEI– entered at 67′
A. N’DOUMBOU– entered at 8′, replaced at 67′ by Osei
NIANG– entered at 61′
AYEW– entered at 85′

Nimes Team

PUYDEBOIS– replaced at 45′
SBAI
POIRIER– replaced at 61′
BAYOD– replaced at 88′
BUAC– replaced at 77′
MOUKANDJO– replaced at 63′
ZARABI
POULAIN–goal at 31′
MOSTEFA– replaced at 88′
MAISONNEUVE– replaced at 73′
AUVRAY

Remplaçants
LIRON– entered at 61′
BOCOGNANO– entered at 88′
COLLOREDO– entered at 73′
AL SHAIBANI– entered at 45′
NDOUMBE– entered at 88′
DELORT– entered at 77′
MANDRICHI– entered at 63′

Extended Highlights

So, who exactly is this team that we beat you ask?

I don’t know a lot about Ligue 2 or its teams, but I managed to gather some interesting tidbits on Nimes. It is the former club of French legends Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona and the less legendary but still notable Frédéric Piquionne. Their greatest claim to fame is winning Ligue 2 in the 1949/50 season, but they are currently sitting in 13th place in Ligue 2. Despite this weak showing thus far this season in their league games, they have a strong fan base, particular their ultra fans who call themselves the “gladiators.”

Press Reaction to the Win

The press has been relatively positively about this win– not too many sarcastic comments about our opponents only being a Ligue 2 team. Most of the focus has been on the performance of Hatem Ben Arfa and the injury of Valbuena.

Hatem Ben Arfa

powerful kick

HBA was finally able to find the back of the net this season, with a goal that he literally walked into the net (see video below). When speaking to the press, Hatem said he was glad to score again, but emphasized the importance of the win for the team and not just himself. He also mentioned that this game was the first time he had fun playing this season– he didn’t elaborate on what exactly made this game more fun, but he was given more freedom to move forward so I’m assuming that is what he is referring to.

Since this performance, a few people have come out in support of Ben Arfa. Notably, Nasri recently told the press that people should basically let him be, and that the pressure and expectations being placed on him were counter-productive. Deschamps also made some supportive comments regarding Ben Arfa’s performance and attitude, noting that he was “in a good place” recently. Despite this support, HBA continues to booed by supporters– and the official OM website has even started an official debate over this issue with their “Question of the Day” on their forum, asking supporters if Hatem has become as unloved as Dugarry, Ravanelli, Fiorèse and Zubar. You probably can guess where I stand on this issue, but I’ll save this rant for another time…

But, Hatem has managed to play 2 full games for OM in a week– pretty miraculous considering he was barely playing 15 minutes a game before the Monaco game. But, as usual, the questions surrounding HBA have nothing to do with his talent, but his mentality– can he sustain this momentum in both his performance on the field as well as relationships with people off the field?

Hatem’s Goal

Valbuena

Valbuena stretchered off

So, now on to the bad news. Valbuena finally managed to get a place in the starting eleven this season (albeit in a friendly against a Ligue 2 team, but beggars really can’t be choosers can they?), and he managed to get injured within the first 7 minutes of the game. Ugh, luck is just really not on his side these days. He was stretched off after receiving a knock to his knee during the game. On the bright side, our fears were worse than the reality– scans have revealed that the injury is nothing serious, but he did stretch one of his ligaments. He should be available for DD to use for OM’s upcoming game against Nancy should he desire to do so.

On a side note, The Offside-Nancy is unfortunately desperately in need of a new blogger– if you are interested in blogging for Nancy read this).

Looking Forward

So, we have another week until our next Ligue 1 game– be sure to check back here before the weekend for a preview. Until then, the team has closed trainings all this week until they leave for Nancy on Friday for their Saturday Ligue 1 game. This game will be closely followed by their KEY Champion’s League away game against Zurich next Wednesday and then the first classico game of the season against PSG the following weekend.