MHSC: after the heavy defeat in Paris, Montpellier has seven days to end a black summer

Kouyaté, Tchato et les Pailladins voudront oublier cette soirée au Parc des Princes. MAXPPP – Le Parisien/Arnaud Journois

Entre clôture du mercato et rentrée politique, Montpellier va vivre des jours importants après sa débâcle à Paris.

PSG wants to blend into the Parisian landscape. During the Olympic intermission, just before the cauldron was lit again on Wednesday, it covered itself in praise, if not gold, for its first steps at the Parc des Princes. To live up to a summer of always.

At the dawn of its second season, Luis Enrique's PSG is following in its own footsteps. Better still, he is following in the wake not of Barcelona, ​​but of Spain, the master of Europe with a more muscular and vertical game (Euro, Olympics, Real).

🎙 Michel Der Zakarian après PSG 6-0 MHSC#PSGMHSC pic.twitter.com/vjLs62cwd6

— MHSC (@MontpellierHSC) August 23, 2024

Friday, Paris, “who wants to make history”, has left a deep imprint on the threshold of the Parc and plunged Montpellier towards the abyss in the direct line of a summer in reverse.
The day after one of its worst defeats in history, thirty years after a debacle in Nantes (6-0), it begins an important week and a complicated political return for its president.

Saturday (7 p.m.) at La Mosson, it is preparing to face the Nantais, who are also suffering the full force of the television rights crisis and are heading off with low-tide ambition. Basically, they have the profile of the alter ego.

The margin is slim

To negotiate this first turning point, Montpellier, one point in two games, must put back in place the head, the game and especially the defense, of which Barcola, Dembélé, Hakimi… have illuminated the cracks without restraint.

Of course, Der Zak's team will not play every match in front of such an armada. Of course, he will not expose his shortcomings of the day (Kouyate's lack of rhythm, absence of a left-back, Tchato learning) to the excess of his risk-taking. What is Der Zak's margin? ?

It is slim, very slim. He is recovering some strength on the bench with the end of the convalescence of midfielder Khalil Fayad and left-back Lucas Mincarelli. But he will have to do without Arnaud Nordin, suspended. Beyond adjustments, he will have to deal with the possible upheavals in his squad.

Read also: PSG-MHSC: “It was going too fast for us”, “They were unlucky to come across us at our best”, post-match reactions

Montpellier, “who needs to sell”, enters the final stretch of the transfer window which closes on Friday 30 August (23:00). He is waiting for offers for midfielder Joris Chotard, followed by several German clubs and Porto. And, for striker Mousa Tamari, the exit door blocked from the inside. The Jordanian international wants to continue playing in Europe and only has contacts with clubs in the Middle East.

Everything is at stake now. Just like in 2021, with the combined departures of the Delort-Laborde duo, or in 2023 with the record transfer of Elye Wahi (Lens), the president Laurent Nicollin, the sporting director Bruno Carotti and the president's advisor Michel Mézy have anticipated the recruitment.

Nicollin faces controversy

Even if the weight of history, and the fate of the club, weigh more than his choices, Laurent Nicollin knows all its workings. However, he is not moving towards this end of summer and the political return in absolute serenity. For the first time since 2017, and the assumed succession of “Loulou”, he is exposing himself to a wind of criticism. Not local people, dissatisfied with results that match his budget, but French football.

His support for Vincent Labrune, president of the Professional Football League (LFP) who is responsible for the failure of the renewal of TV rights, and his position on DAZN, a new broadcaster alongside BeIN, scratch his curves, which until now have been shown as an example.

On September 10, for the election of the future president of the LFP, he will be playing for high stakes. For now, he is focusing on the sporting future of his team. And his club.

I subscribe to read the rest