“If you play stupid all the time, you’ll eventually be punished,” Antoine Kombouaré had stated pointedly near the end of FC Nantes’ campaign last season. The club had flirted with disaster but avoided a third-ever relegation from Ligue 1 through the misfortune of others.
Nantes lost the last two games of the campaign but results elsewhere meant that the club were already safe coming into the final game of the season. For the manager, survival was the goal but it was not enough. The team needed to change. Something quite a few of the Nantes’ players agreed with…
Alban Lafont led the way telling reporters in the mixed zone of their 4-0 defeat to AS Monaco, “I won’t be seeing you next year.” A statement that pointed towards a bleak summer full of departures as La Maison Jaune’s most talented players rushed to the exit, and one that Nantes were quite public about accepting. Mostafa Mohamed, Pedro Chirivella, and Nathan Zézé were also heavily linked with moves out of Upper Brittany across the summer window.
However, as deadline day approached on Friday, all four Nantes players remained at the club and were involved in this weekend’s 3-1 victory against Montpellier HSC which saw the club briefly climb to the very top of Ligue 1.
‘In Nantes, it’s often very difficult, so we’re not going to brag’
Results elsewhere would see Nantes end the weekend in third place behind Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. A highly respectable position, but one that would not impress the manager. “I don’t give a damn… In Nantes, it’s often very difficult, so we’re not going to brag.” What was far more important to Kombouaré was that this start had secured the club seven points from three games.
“We know that we’re going to go through difficult times during the season, it’s good to have this cushion,” Kombouaré explained refusing to get carried away by his high-flying side. A logical position to take when the club have finished the last two seasons only a few points above the relegation spots. Recent history suggests Nantes cannot afford to rest on their laurels, but there are promising signs.
La Maison Jaune’s struggles in selling their players has been an exceptional stroke of fortune as high asking prices have managed to ward off interest and keep a largely unchanged squad from last season. This could have been a negative with the players being unsettled, but there has been no outward signs of frustration at their situation. Instead, there has been the feeling that Nantes have grown as a collective with all players committed to the campaign.
‘I have the impression that we really function as a team’
Even the record-breaking signing for the club was a symbol of continuity as Matthis Abline was secured on a €12 million deal from Stade Rennais. The forward had spent last season on loan in Upper Brittany, and it was clear that Nantes were dedicated to bringing him back.
As the right-back Marcus Coco explained over the weekend, “We all know each other a little better now. We can say things to each other face to face, we’re frank with each other and that’s good. We are much more focused, more invested, and I have the impression that we really function as a team.”
This has been an edge that has kept the club unbeaten in games against Toulouse FC, AJ Auxerre, and Montpellier. Three matches that hardly represent the toughest on offer in Ligue 1, but these are matches that are against teams that Nantes would expect to be competing with at the tail end of the season.
The fact that they have been so comfortable in these games is a really strong sign, and while the league is long and difficult patches must be expected. The longer Nantes can keep up their promising start to the season the bigger the cushion they can create, and with fixtures against Stade de Reims, Angers SCO, and AS Saint-Étienne coming up, there might just be a bit of hope that the good times will last.
This week’s Ligue 1 subplots
- Angel Gomes from Premier League wonderkid to deadly playmaker. The former Manchester United academy product’s and Ligue 1 star is about to become an England international. Read his story HERE.
- It looked like another disastrous evening for Olympique Lyonnais as they fell 3-1 down to RC Strasbourg Alsace. However, a second half comeback would see Les Gones secure their first points of the evening in a breathtaking 4-3 victory. Read the full story HERE.
- “Thank you to the pitch,” Will Still stated after his RC Lens side recorded a foul tempered draw away at AS Monaco. The manager would blame the conditions on the injury to one of his latest stars. Read the full quotes HERE.
