Team Focus: Nantes are Safe in Ligue 1 – But for How Long?

Some pairings just sound right. Friday night’s encounter between Nantes and Marseille was one that had – and always will have – a pleasing ring about it to Ligue 1 traditionalists. The two clubs have 17 league titles between them and even with neither side threatening to add to that tally in the near future, a near-capacity crowd of just under 36,000 crammed into the Stade de la Beaujoire to enjoy their latest meeting.

For fans of the western club, back in the big time this season after four years away, these are occasions to be savoured. They might be wise to do so. The comeback campaign’s target of survival has been attained with something to spare, but 2013/14 has not been without its ups and downs – and one wonders what the future might hold as Michel Der Zakarian’s team aim to consolidate further.

Their current 10th position is even more laudable when one considers the main trauma of Nantes’ season. A fine return to Ligue 1, a 2-0 win over Bastia on the opening day, was taken away from them when it was revealed that midfielder Birama Touré had played despite being under a ban. Der Zakarian’s side were docked three points, while top scorer Filip Djordjevic – whose goal scored in the fixture no longer counted – angrily described some of the club’s employees as “amateurs”.

As his comments suggest, Djordjevic is a strong character, having become so after having been “as whistled as much as applauded during his first four seasons at Nantes,” as Anthont Clément wrote in L’Equipe back in November. He scored 20 times in the Ligue 2 promotion campaign, and Nantes’ fortunes this season have closely mirrored his own.

After a strong start to the season, Djordjevic’s time at the Beaujoire is slowly petering out. There is no doubting the value of his goals in the first half of the season. The striker’s goal at Bordeaux in mid-November helped Les Canaris to a 3-0 win - and 4th place in the table. Since then, Djordjevic has scored just twice.

Considering he only has an average of 2 shots per game, his conversion rate is still commendable, with 9 goals and 4 assists this campaign. Yet one wonders how Nantes will cope without him. Outside the bottom six, only Nice have scored less. It would have been worse without the red herring of a recent 6-2 win at Valenciennes, realised with just 43% of possession in the match and just 9 shots on goal. Leading up to the unloading on Ariel Jacobs’ team, Nantes had failed to score in 8 of their previous 13 Ligue 1 games.

Djordjevic formally announced last month the long-anticipated news that he will move to Lazio for next season, when his contract expires in the summer. While president Waldemar Kita may regret the failure to bank any transfer fee for their star (Lyon had a bid rejected last summer, while Premier League clubs including Cardiff showed interest in buying out the last six months of his deal in the winter), the reality is that they wouldn’t have been able to spend it now.

This is because the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided in March to reject Nantes’ appeal against a two-window transfer ban. This had been imposed over the signing of Ismael Bangoura, whose previous club Al Nasr claimed Nantes had encouraged to break his contract with them unilaterally in February 2012. The €4.5m fee they have been ordered to pay the UAE club is a stinging 14% of their annual budget of €32m.

So Nantes, it appears, must find the answers for next season from within. The defence is a good place to start. Their goalscoring difficulties have not proved fatal with their backline standing as the joint sixth-best in the division. All of their top five performers in their WhoScored.com ratings are defenders, including Friday’s star man Olivier Veigneau, Papy Djilobodji and young Koffi Djidji, who is currently keeping Djilobodji out of the XI. They restricted a Marseille side built to attack to 5 efforts on target, with Veigneau making 8 tackles and Djidji another 4.

In terms of the front half of the team, the win at Valenciennes offered encouragement. Even against opponents in tailspin, it recalled Nantes’ efficiency of autumn. Midfielder Jordan Veretout looked like the possible solution to their creative problem, with a pair of assists and 4 key passes while Serge Gakpé, playing in an advanced role, scored 2 goals from 3 shots (all on target).

It was also achieved without Djordjevic. Nantes have had the opportunity to get prepared for life without their top scorer in recent weeks, as the 26-year-old has nursed a knee complaint. Gakpé, who scored the equaliser against Marseille with a shot from outside the area, has been the solution of late, but Der Zakarian will want more from Fernando Aristegueta, who has started just 3 times in Ligue 1 (but has scored 2 goals). In midfield, Banel Nicolita has only started 10 games since joining from Saint Etienne, for 2 assists. US international Alejandro Bedoya, who has scored 5 times in 21 starts, has something to build upon.

The club’s tradition, of course, looks to its prolific youth academy, which counts Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and record-breaking goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau among its graduates. Veretout, part of France’s Under-20 World Cup winners from last summer, is the cream of the current crop at 21, but more is expected of him. His talent is greater than a return of 1 goal and 5 assists in 21 starts (1.4 key passes per game) tells us.

Djidji could join Vertout as a regular next season as Nantes go back to their roots – as Barcelona may have to if and when their own transfer ban kicks in. With only 1 defeat in their last 8 Ligue 1 matches and considerable grit shown of late, it’s not a forlorn hope for Der Zakarian.

How will Nantes cope with the two-window transfer ban imposed upon them? Let us know in the comments below