MHSC: facing Saint-Etienne, in a friendly, a first test for the Pailladins
|Michel Der Zakarian devra composer avec beaucoup d’absents. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON
L’équipe de Michel Der Zakarian va se jauger lors de la troisième rencontre amicale ce mercredi à Lunel face à Saint-Etienne.
Montpellier is picking up the pace. It is preparing to play four games in two weeks to get closer to the intensity of the competition. And, after two matches against Girona (3-3) and Southampton (3-1), with “a hybrid team”, he begins with most of his starters a first test against Saint-Etienne, brought back to Ligue 1 by the former Hérault technician Olivier Dall’Oglio, this Wednesday July 31 (6 p.m.) in Lunel.
Changing defensive behavior
“We want to achieve a good performance in a match where playing time will increase for some players", hopes Michel Der Zakarian. For the Montpellier coach, it is an opportunity to gauge his team's defensive behavior.
📺 Le match de demain contre @ASSEofficiel sera diffusé gratuitement sur notre page Facebook (si pas de soucis technique) 🤞
👉 https://t.co/YuE9KkkkSi⚽️🤝 𝑨𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍
🆚 @ASSEofficiel
🗓️ Mercredi 31/07
⌚️ 18h (live à partir de 17h40) pic.twitter.com/2h3fCAqVHM— MHSC (@MontpellierHSC) July 30, 2024
"We conceded a lot of chances on Saturday. If we don't win the ball back well, it's difficult to attack. Defensive repositioning, harassment to encourage recovery, the need to be close to opponents are all things that need to be improved. We also need to improve communication and reading the game", he reminds us.
Gabriel Barès and Othmane Maamma will be put to the test. Der Zak will be closer to the team likely to start the season against Strasbourg in mid-August. With an experienced central axis, around the Omeragic-Sagnan pair.
A chance for Barès
Furthermore, he will give a chance to Swiss midfielder Gabriel Barès and young striker Othmane Maamma. Returning from a loan to Concarneau (L2), the former takes advantage of Khalil Fayad's injury.
The young Franco-Moroccan winger can assert himself in a competitive sector (Nordin, Tamari, Coulibaly) following the end of last season.
⚡️ 𝑳𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆 :
🗓️ Mardi : MHSC Summer Tour au Cap d'Agde 🏖️
🗓️ Mercredi : Amical 🆚 ASSE à Lunel ⚽️
🗓️ Jeudi : MHSC Summer Tour à Carnon 🏖️
🗓️ Dimanche : Amical 🆚 Fiorentina ⚽️et le 👙 dans la semaine… 👀 pic.twitter.com/uas2itaUw2
— MHSC (@MontpellierHSC) July 29, 2024
Within a workforce, for the moment without reinforcement, Der Zak also deplores numerous injuries. Central defender "Kiki" Kouyaté, recovered from inflammation in his right knee, and left back Lucas Mincarelli, convalescing after a knee sprain contracted in early June in the French U20 team, however, resumed the race. It is up to the Malian international to catch up with the course of the preparation, interrupted after two weeks.
Without Fayad, Jullien, Sauint-Luce and Guéguin
Midfielder Khalil Fayad and full-back Théo Sainte-Luce are nursing a torn thigh. And will be unavailable for several weeks.
Finally, defender Christopher Jullien (knee) and young attacker Axel Guéguin (knee) are recovering. Defensive midfielder Joris Chotard dreams of an Olympic medal with the Bleuets.