Football Season Guide

Nantes come into the 2016-17 season having made an important coaching change, replacing Michel Der Zakarian with Rene Girard. Things had gone a little stale under Der Zakarian, who led them back to Ligue 1 in 2012-13, but who had failed to build on promising starts to the last couple of seasons. This equated to comfort against the relegation battle, but also frustration that the side were not able to perform better than a finish in lower mid-table. The long-term goal for Girard will be to push his side into the top 10. This season, the aim is to do better than 13th – their best finish since returning to the top flight. It promises to be a tricky challenge. Changes to the composition of the squad have taken place largely around the fringes of what was considered to be the first team last term, although USA international Alejandro Bedoya departed for Philadelphia at the beginning of August. Fellow midfielder Remi Gomis was another player who often challenged to feature from the outset. Girard, a pragmatic coach who lead Montpellier to shock Ligue 1 glory, was expected to build his squad from the back and has lived up to his billing by doing just that, drafting in Diego Carlos and Lucas Lima. How these two Portuguese speakers settle could be key. Currently there is plenty of depth all over the defensive line, save the right-back role. Bedoya’s departure means that more will be expected of youngster Adrien Thomasson, who failed to truly ignite after a fine debut season with Evian in the top flight. Guillaume Gillet will anchor the midfield – one of their top players – while Nicolaj Thomsen and Alexandre Kacaniklic have been signed to add quality and consistency to the wings. Thomsen arrives from Danish football, which does not have a good track record of its players shining in Ligue 1. Nantes’ biggest source of weakness comes in attack, where they have a group of clumsy and unreliable strikers. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson might have starred for Iceland at Euro 216, but he has rarely done so at club level, while Emiliano Sala and Yacine Bammou are both mediocre players for this standard.