The arrival of a new manager, Will Still, at Lens over the summer did little to change Spierings’ situation in the north of France, and the midfielder was allowed to leave permanently when he joined Brøndby IF. 

In a press conference, Spierings confirmed that he had failed to adjust to life in Lens. “When I arrived at the club, I felt that I didn’t get along with my teammates and the coaches. It was difficult with almost everyone. I had a lot of trouble with that compared to Toulouse where I had success with a lot of friends.” 

The Dutchman who has represented his country in the underage brackets continued explaining, “The French are not open to new people. When you don’t speak French, it can be difficult. After four games, the coach called me and told me that I didn’t have a place in the team.” 

Spierings a Coupe de France winner with Toulouse

Spierings had a far more successful time during his stint with Toulouse. The midfielder helped the club win promotion to Ligue 1 by winning the second division in 2022, and the Coupe de France in 2023. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

The World Cup winning right back has recently returned to France after spending two seasons in Greece with AEK Athens. Following the expiry of his contract with the Greek club, Toulouse acted quickly to bring in the former Everton loanee on a free transfer. Sidibé signed a one-year contract at the Garonne club with the additional option of a further year extension. 

Since his arrival at Les Violets, the 32-year-old has found himself in a regular starting position – making 7 appearances and already registering one assist. His positive start back in the French top flight has led the former Monaco right back to target a ‘dream’ return to Les Bleus selection. Sidibé has previously made 18 appearances for France. 

Commenting on his aspirations to return to international level, the Toulouse defender said, “As I have always said, we are not going to rush. I know how it goes. If my performances follow and there are needs in this position, that I can respond, I will be the happiest to accompany this new generation. I am a competitor.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith

It would be Les Violets that opened the scoring after Vincent Sierro slid an excellently timed pass to Yann Gboho who made no mistake with his finish as he fired his shot beyond Perri leaving the Lyon stopper no chance. The hosts continued to press on and search for a second but it would be Les Gones who found an equaliser against the run of play. Rasmus Nicolaisen turned Kumbedi’s cross into the Toulouse net. OL equalised without a shot on the Toulouse goal. It was level at the break. 

The game continued to be even in the second half with Toulouse having most of the attacking opportunities thanks to some promising play from the goalscorer. Les Gones had on had 2 shots inside the opening 80 minutes of the match as the home side looked the most likely to find a winner. This almost happened as a deflected shot looked goalbound if not for a good stop from Perri. 

However, it would be Lyon that would find a winner at the death.  Substitute Malick Fofana’s shot was almost cleared off the line by Suazo, but it wasn’t enough, with goalline technology confirming the Belgian had scored. A goal against the run of play with Lyon running out as somewhat undeserved winners. Cherki was involved in a great piece of play beforehand to create the opportunity. 

Fofana’s late goal would be enough to secure Lyon’s second win of the season and secure all three points on the road despite a lacklustre performance. 

Lyon player ratings:

Lucas Perri – 4

Saël Kumbedi – 6, After being unfavourable for a long time, the young Frenchmen showed why he should be in contention. In an attacking sense, the France U20 international was a bright spark in what was an unelectrifying performance. His cross was responsible for creating the equaliser. 

Clinton Mata – 4, Continuing to play out of position, the Angolan international looks immensely uncomfortable. As part of a fragile defence, most of the right back’s defensive work was last ditch or panicked. He couldn’t contain Gboho in the first half which showed in the match’s opening goal.   

Duje Ćaleta-Car – 6

Abner – 5

Maxence Caqueret – 4

Tanner Tessmann – 5

Jordan Veretout – 4

Wilfried Zaha – 4, It wasn’t the Ligue 1 debut that the Ivorian would have been hoping for. The former Crystal Palace attacker was on the periphery for most of the match and struggled to influence the match. He was ultimately replaced just after half-time.

Georges Mikautadze – 4

Saïd Benrahama – 5

GFFN | Liam Wraith

The latter had found minutes hard to come by recently and had not been used outside of the first two games of the season. There were reports that the former West Ham United and Brentford FC player was growing frustrated with his new status in the squad. However, Benrahma’s substitute appearance may have earned him a start in Pierre Sage’s plans. 

On the other wing, Wilfried Zaha could make his long-awaited debut for a club he joined on loan over the summer from Galatasaray. Rotation in the forward line looks to be something that Sage will be able to rely upon during a season where the club hope to go far in Europe, although Alexandre Lacazette keeps his place from midweek. 

Lyon likely lineup v Toulouse

Lucas Perri; Abner Vinícius, Moussa Niakhaté, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Corentin Tolisso, Tanner Tessman, Jordan Veretout; Saïd Benrahma, Alexandre Lacazette, Wilfried Zaha. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Nick Hartland

In December 2022, Martínez Novell arrived in Toulouse as part of Philippe Montanier’s backroom staff. The assistant coach was part of the management staff that helped Le TéFéCé win its first-ever major trophy that season when the club defeated FC Nantes 5-1 in the 2022/23 Coupe de France. 

The summer of 2023 symbolised a significant shift for Toulouse, the club parted ways with Montainer believing that he had underperformed in the league, and in his place, promoted Martínez Novell to the Spaniard’s first head coaching role at the senior level. 

Last season, Martínez Novell led Toulouse to an 11th-place finish (their best league placement since the 2013/14 campaign) and into the Europa League knock-out rounds where the club was eliminated in the play-offs by SL Benfica. 

It was in the group stages of the Europa League that Martínez Novell led Toulouse to a historic victory when they defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the Stadium de Toulouse. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

A disappointing result last weekend had dampened Roberto De Zerbi’s giddy start to life at Olympique de Marseille. Les Phocéens had been the better side against Stade de Reims but walked away with only one point. A trip to Toulouse FC would be a chance for the club to try and exorcise some of those regrets. 

But for fifteen minutes Marseille were forced to endure a vibrant Toulouse. The visitors struggled to find a way past the compact and strict wall of purple shirts that prevented them from passing balls through the midfield. 

There were early nerves in a Leonardo Balerdi-less defence as Lilian Brassier and Derek Cornelius quickly tried to forge an onfield partnership in the absence of the injured Argentine, and this almost resulted in an opening goal for Toulouse. Brassier’s attempted clearance was fired directly into his centre-back partner and to his fortune trickled wide. 

The hosts start would unravel to an innocuous mistake from Charlie Cresswell. The defender’s pass towards Zakaria Aboukhlalwas picked up by Quentin Merlin who drove the play forward with Luis Henrique. The Brazilian winger slipped a ball into Mason Greenwood whose shot from a tight angle opened the scoring in the 16th minute. 

It would be a nightmare two minutes for Cresswell as shortly after the restart the centre-back’s pass would once again fall short. Elye Wahi picked up the ball and flicked the ball onto Luis Henrique who assisted Greenwood for the second time this game. 

At 2-0 down Toulouse needed to keep it tight and focused, but things would go from bad to worse before the end of the first half as Frank Magri was sent off for a high boot on Geoffrey Kondogbia. 

The second half faired little better for Les Violets and in the 53rd minute, Cresswell’s disastrous night would be capped with an own goal as his hand deflected Luis Henrique’s shot into the back of the net. 

It almost felt like an exhibition match as the game wore on. Marseille were in cruise control as they held 76% possession against a ten-man Toulouse. However, the night would not end without a slight blot on an otherwise perfect display. 

Geróimo Rulli who had almost nothing to do throughout the game was beaten in a foot race to a loose ball past the Marseille defence. Shavy Babicka was the first to reach it and was able to pass by Rulli and shoot into the open net to record a consolation goal. Marseille would not care. On their 125th anniversary, the club would end the evening on top of the Ligue 1 table, albeit with their rivals still to play. 

Marseille Player Ratings

Gerónimo Rulli, 5

Quentin Merlin, 7

Lilian Brassier, 5

Derek Cornelius, 6

Michael Amir Murillo, 5

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, 8

Geoffrey Kondogbia, 7

Luis Henrique, 8

Amine Harit, 7 – Harit continues to make life difficult for Roberto De Zerbi. It looked as if the former Schalke man would be making way for the new signing Valentín Carboni this season, but another great performance means that Harit looks undroppable. The midfielder has an exceptional eye and was crucial in the third goal spotting the run of Luis Henrique. 

Mason Greenwood, 8 

Elye Wahi, 5 – A far better evening than his performance against Stade de Reims. He was vital in the second goal. However, there are still a few concerns. The striker struggled to hold up the ball and seemed to lose possession frequently in his duel with Rasmus Nicolaisen. 

Toulouse selected player ratings 

Guillaume Restes, 6

Charlie Cresswell, 3 – A terrible evening for the new signing from Leeds. The defender will be devastated to be at fault for all of Marseille’s goals. He was substituted not long after his own goal. 

Frank Magri, 3

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Whilst he has been included in Carles Martínez Novell’s squad, it looks unlikely that he will start the match. Instead, it is expected that Yann Gboho, Frank Magri, and Zakaria Aboukhlal will constitute Toulouse’s forward line against OM. The latter was heavily linked with a move away from Le TéFéCé in the final hours of the transfer window, however, he remains with the Ligue 1 side. 

Martínez Novell is therefore expected to name a completely unchanged side to the one that drew against OGC Nice last weekend, with former Leeds United defender Charlie Cresswell poised to feature once again in the heart of the TFC defence.

Toulouse likely lineup v Marseille

Guillaume Restes; Mark McKenzie, Rasmus Nicolaisen, Charlie Cresswell; Aron Donnum, Cristian Casseres, Vincent Sierro, Warren Kamanzi; Yann Gboho, Frank Magri, Zakaria Aboukhlal. (L’Éq) 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Maupay’s arrival came as a result of an injury to Faris Moumbagna, who is expected to miss a significant amount of the season with injury. Leonardo Balerdi and Ismael Koné are also sidelined for OM, however, many of those who will miss out against Le TéFéCé will miss out because of their ostracisation from the first-team set-up.

Jordan Veretout, Chancel Mbemba, Azzedine Ounahi, and Ulisses Garcia were all put in the “loft” and told to find new clubs this summer, however, all ultimately remained. It remains to be seen whether they will play any part for Marseille this season, but they certainly won’t play any part against Toulouse. 

Marseille likely lineup v Toulouse

Geronimo Rulli; Quentine Merlin, Lilian Brassier, Derek Cornelius, Michael Murillo; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Geoffrey Kondogbia; Luis Henrique, Amine Harit, Mason Greenwood; Elye Wahi. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

King came to prominence at Bournemouth, where he logged 53 goals in 184 appearances for the Cherries. He signed for Fenerbahce two years ago for which he featured 54 times. The Norwegian international will reunite with fellow countrymen Aron Donnum and Warren Kamanzi at Toulouse. Toulouse only scored one goal since the start of the Ligue 1 season. Le Téfécé were held to a goalless draw at home against Nantes before sharing the spoils at Nice (1-1). Toulouse will host Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille this Saturday.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Will Still’s arrival at Lens did not relaunch Spierings’ career at Lens. The Dutch midfielder was not part of Lens’ matchday squads since the start of the Ligue 1 season. Spierings put pen to paper over a three-year deal with Brøndby IF. Lens have confirmed that Spierings has been freed from his contractual commitments with the Ligue 1 side, which means his contract has been terminated with immediate effect.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval