

Ben Arfa: Heading back to France sooner than expected…

Ben Arfa Stretchered Off in Newcastle’s game versus Manchester City
And not under the best of circumstance. Though it would have been hard to guess that he would be returning to France in worse condition than when he left. When Hatem left, he boycotted training at Marseille to push forward a (previously agreed upon) loan to Newcastle. A month later, he returns with leg fractured in two places. Read the rest of this entry »
Ligue 1, Matchday 7: The games you don’t want to miss!
By: Sarah |
Ligue 1, Matchday 7 fixtures courtesy of the LFP
So many games, so little time! Here are some recommendations of the games you don’t want to miss and why they matter!
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Lyon: Claude Puel vs History
By: Sarah |As if Claude Puel’s job wasn’t hard enough these days with his current Ligue 1 competitors, he also has to deal with being compared to his illustrious predecessors at Lyon. Many of whom accumulated stellar, if not specular, records that most coaches would pale in comparison to.
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Ligue 1, Matchday 4: Bordeaux vs Marseille Liveblog
By: Sarah |Will Bordeaux prove they can win without Gourcuff beating defending champions, Marseille? We’ll chat about that and more…
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Ligue 1: Match Day 1 is here!
By: Sarah |Ligue 1 kicks off today – and after a series of computer problem, I finally managed to get something on the front page.
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Cheat Sheet: Ligue 1 Summer Training, friendlies and transfer activities!
By: Sarah |Just in case some of you were too distracted by the World Cup (and then needed time to recover from said World Cup) – here is a cheat sheet for you to catch up on the training schedules, friendlies and transfer activity that has happened in Ligue 1 (to date). To be updated as the [...]
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French Football Dose: 7/17/10
By: Thomas |
I challenge you all to find a video with a better display of dribbling than this.
A Concise Round-Up of Ligue 1 Transfers (Global Football Today)
Ligue 1 Schedule for Season 10/11 (Ligue 1 Official)
Complete Ligue 1 Transfer Listing (iSocios)
Analyzing the Loic Remy Saga (Ligue 1 Talk)
If you haven’t seen it, The Infamous Lyon Kit Unveiling [...]
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PSG: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous (Story of its Life)
By: Thomas |Or possibly ridiculous to the sublime, as we should say in this case. Anyway, yesterday PSG played a sublime and ridiculous (mostly ridiculous) friendly match against Liga Sagres club Sporting Club de Portugal. It starts out with the ridiculous, then moves on to the sublime. The sublime, in case you were wondering, is a four [...]
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My Case for Firing Every Kit Designer in France
By: Thomas |
What a team wears makes much more of a difference than many of you may think, in fact, the jersey of a team can be a primary reason for a prospective fan to develop an affinity. Watching the World Cup with relatives that know nothing of football [...]
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Ligue 1 Perspective: The 2010 FIFA World Cup (Part 3)
By: Thomas |Korea Republic:
Park-Chu Young of Monaco played in all four of South Korea’s matches at the World Cup, scoring once on a brilliant free kick against Nigeria:
His performances have generated interest from big clubs, particularly Liverpool, who are reported to have tabled a seven million euro bid for the striker.
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Team News

Coupe de France (round of 32) : Luçon vs Lyon - Mind the trap!
So we're back to yet another Cup game. Not the Coupe de la Ligue, that was last week. Not the Coupe de France either, that was the week before. No, wait, that's the Coupe de France again, but the next round. I'm getting confused... The good thing is that Lisandro isn't. He repeated this week that he WANTS to get a trophy with OL this year, and a French Cup, whichever it is, is a good and (normally) not too difficult way to get one. Provided you play at your level, that is, and try to avoid the shame of being the "Underperformer of the Weekend". Already, Auxerre and Ajaccio got eliminated yesterday by opponents from lower leagues, booo... OL players will want to keep that in mind and spare themselves embarrassment when travelling to the La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes to meet the Vendée club of Luçon.
Jan 22, 2012 | Read this article...
Podium place , FTW!
Montpellier Hérault SC vs. Olympique Lyonnais
Week 20 – Ligue 1, Stade de la Mosson.
Alive in four out of four competitions! Bravo Les Gones!
A potential rearranging of top league table spots is on the cards this weekend. Six of the top seven teams go head-to-head against each other - PSG vs. ...
Jan 14, 2012 | Read this article...
Coupe de la Ligue : Lyon vs Lille - If you hear of anyone able to play CB, call 0800-SAVE-JMA
Stay cool, it may feel like deja vu but you're not in the Matrix. It's just this French invention of adding to the venerable Coupe de France a modern nemesis called Coupe de la Ligue, and programming them at the same period.
This cup is the least respected of the two ...
Jan 11, 2012 | Read this article...
AS Lyon Duchère vs. Olympique Lyonnais: Round 2, FIGHT!
AS Lyon Duchère vs. Olympique Lyonnais
Coupe de France, Round of 64
Coupe de France greets us on the other side of the winter break, and OL travels to, well, Lyon. The fourth division team of Lyon Duchère, the youth club of Eric Abidal, hosts Olympique Lyonnais, the big boys this ...
Jan 08, 2012 | Read this article...
OM Christmas Wish List
[caption id="attachment_2408" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Joyeux Noël et bonne année!"][/caption]
First off a happy holidays to all OM fans and readers of the Offside! I just want to express for sincerest thanks to all those who read and contribute to this site!
Thought I'd put my xmas list up for Marseille ...

Next Time...
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So our very own Andre Ayew lost out on winning the 2011 CAF player of the year. Out of a near endless pool of talent, Andre made it to the very end of the ballot along with Barcelona's ...
Dec 22, 2011 | Read this article...
Not a Retirement Home
For as long as Deschamps has been with Marseille the team has been consistently linked with Italian strikers. Undoubtedly the result of DD's Serie A connections, I've always viewed many of these rumors in apathy. Mainly due to the fact that an overwhelming majority of these strikers are either in ...
Dec 21, 2011 | Read this article...
Valenciennes vs Lyon : Dear Santa, I've been nice this season, can I climb on the podium?
An ocean of luck, that's what Lyon have been bathing in for the last month or so. Even last saturday, OL have won their last home game of the year, for the first time in ten years: another sign of the success of Lyonnais in December. A miracle in the Champions League, followed by other very favorable news (Nicosia, for C1, the neighbor La Duchère for La Coupe de France, a string of referee decisions that got us to win) four straight wins in the Championship ... Everything smiles to OL. If he has not played to the Euromillions Lottery this week, Jean-Michel Aulas really should have.
Dec 21, 2011 | Read this article...
That Hurts!
[caption id="attachment_2395" align="alignnone" width="664" caption="Rockstar "][/caption]
Matthieu Valbuena is going to give me a heart attack. His late game Rambo antics have yet again left me without a voice. While today’s win against Lorient was not quite as epic as the late one against Dortmund, it came damn close....

Last Hiccups Before Christmas
Olympique Lyonnais vs. Evian TG FC,
Matchday 18, Ligue 1
Finally a Champions League Knockout stages draw that spelt relief for Lyon. In their 9th consecutive appearance in the Round-of-16, they meet APOEL FC; the Cypriot side that managed to finish ahead of Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk in ...
Dec 17, 2011 | Read this article...








