LORIENT: I’m Sorry, I Didn’t See You There

By: Sam | July 21st, 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 FC Lorient, the team that’s just… there.

The team: The transfer period saw a good deal of decent players coming and going for les Merlus. First and foremost, gone is their top scorer Pierre-André Gignac who jumped ship in favour of Champions League-bound Toulouse. Steve Marlet, Rahmane Barry and Fabrice Fiorèse are also gone. Into the fold, however, is the emblematic midfielder Marama Vahirua from Nice, who’ll be expected to score lots. Also in is tricky Nicolas Marin from Sedan and young fullback Alain Cantareil from Marseille.

Starting from the back, it’s point-outable that Lorient don’t have a world-class keeper on their squad list. For now, they’ll have to go with so-so Fabien Audard in the back. Their backline is also not very great, except for a few good names like Sylvain Marchal and Michael Ciani. Otherwise, it’s nothing more than a handful of unexperienced young guys. The midfield is something else however, with such respect-commanding players as Ulrich Le Pen, Vahirua, Rafik Saïfi and Marin. Quality alternatives such as Mansouri, Ewolo and Hautcoeur are also there. Then again, there’s not much to speak of at the top, where all Lorient has is a few young strikers such as Kemal Bourhani and Jeremy Morel.

So basically, they’ve got a pretty slick midfield but that’s just about all. Midfield is the most important part, but that said it’s not everything.

The coach: You may recognize the name of Lorient’s long-time on-and-off coach, that of Christian Gourcuff. That’s right, he’s the padre of AC Milan’s young midfielder Yoann. The father has the rare opportunity to say that he’s been a player-coach, as he was with Lorient back in the late eighties. He’s occupied his post now since 2003 and has brought the team back to Ligue 1.

The stadium: The Stade Le Moustoir in Lorient isn’t particularly ripping, and the supporters aren’t either in their 17,000-seater stadium, with lots of locals supporting the Rennes and Nantes neighbours instead.

The final say: It don’t be lookin’ good for these fellas this year. They’re definitely looking relegation in the face.