Lyon sinks, Grosso falters and Domenech hits hard

Difficult days for Fabio Grosso. Lyon is always last and the Italian coach is surrounded by the media who call his bench into question. And Raymond Domenech’s lunge could not be missed, as France coach was punished by the former full-back, with the last decisive penalty, in the final of the 2006 World Cup, in Berlin. “Elsewhere – declares Domenech – he would have already been exonerated”. The final word naturally belongs to the club’s owner, John Textor who, according to L’Equipe, could meet the Italian in the next few days, even if for now there is no official meeting scheduled.

choices

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In the meantime, the media trial has opened after Sunday evening’s home defeat against Lille. A 2-0 which according to the media highlighted the management limitations of the former Frosinone coach who, for example, on the eve of the match had announced the benching of captain and striker Lacazette, only to then make him start and change him after 45′ , together with two other players, always at the break. The decision at 2-0 to remove a striker to insert a defender also raised concerns. A choice that startled Domenech, head of the Ligue 1 coaches’ union and influential commentator on EquipeTv: “In the community it is said that the French coaches are too defensive, but the Italians are worse. Grosso says he wanted to tighten the lines by inserting a defender to avoid conceding a third goal. If it had happened in Germany they would have kicked him out that same evening.”

battle

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Last in the standings, in two and a half months since taking over from Laurent Blanc, Grosso has collected four defeats in seven matches (1 win, two draws): it is the worst start for a Lyon coach since 1990 and the times of a certain Domenech. In any case, for Equipe the Italian is in the balance and a lot will depend on the conversation with the American owner Textor who chose him to relaunch a team that has so far failed to take off. But Grosso doesn’t give up and is ready “to do battle”. The safety zone is only five points away, with a match to recover: the one against Marseille, on 6 December, canceled due to the attack on the Lyon bus and where Grosso was injured in the face, hit by a bottle. On Saturday, however, there is a complicated away match at Lens, vice champions of France in a positive series since 20 September, except for a defeat in Eindhoven in the Champions League.