BORDEAUX: Masters of the One-Nil Win

By: Sam | July 13th, 2007

As the start of the season looms, it’s time for the France Offside to give you an in-depth look at each of the 20 teams vying for Hexagoal. Today, we meet FCG Bordeaux, the team that continues to do well while never scoring.

The team: First off, you have to know that Bordeaux lost three quarters of their roster to transfers this summer. Darcheville is gone to Rangers, Cid to Bolton, Dalmat to Sochaux, Smicer to Slavia Prague, and the two most talked-about ones, Faubert and Mavuba to West Ham and Villareal. To their credit, they did pick up Matthieu Chalmé from Lille and signed Jussiê to a definitive contract.

They do, however, have one of the best Ligue 1 goalkeepers of the past decade in Ulrich Ramé, who’s played 368 matches with les Girondins, including all of last year’s. They also have an experienced backline, anchored by David Jemmali and Franck Jurietti, Tunisian and French internationals respectively. Marc Planus is also a very decent center-back. Their midfield, however, is obviously hurt by the summer exodus. Johan Micoud is by all means their best player in that department, but he will have to cooperate with the likes of Wendel, Francia and Alonso. Not the greatest. Their strikers are also not that formidable, with Jussiê leading the way with a plethora of young guys like Gabriel Obertan and Perea.

The good thing is that they all know each other pretty well. But, how much will that help? They’ve still got time to beef up offensively, and they’ll have to. Otherwise, they look pretty mediocre. Get ready for some nil-nil stuff.

The coach: The man himself is respected all around France, and around the world. He’s 1998 World Cup champion Laurent Blanc. Bordeaux is his first stab at coaching. “Le Président” was of course part of les Bleus’ 98 squad that gave up all of two goals during the tournament, so you know Bordeaux’s already shutdown-savvy defence will be very strong strategically.

The stadium: The Stade Jacques Chaban-Delmas is one of the stadiums that had matches at France 98, and has a capacity of 34 000. Considering the fact that Bordeaux is known as a very bourgeois city, the firms and supporters are pretty provocative and loud when it comes to heckling. This ain’t Marseille or Saint-Étienne, but it’s still something to be proud of.

The final say: Like I said, this is their weakest team in a few years. Like I also said, they manage to do well even if they do have a bad team. I’m calling fifth place for them. And a Cup final isn’t out of the question either.