highlights – MyVideo

Every International break I am reminded how few of our players represent their countries. In fact, often those playing at an Under 21 level are the standout performers.

Malta U-21 0-2 France U-21
Both Mamadou Sakho and Younousse Sankhare started the match, Sakho wearing the captains armband and Sankhare the number ten shirt. Sankhare was replaced in the 58th minute by Steven Nzonzi.

Belgium U-21 0-0 France U-21
Sakho and Sankhare again started and in the same fashion, but although Sakho helped preserve the clean sheet, Sankhare’s best efforts could not provide the spark for a goal.

Benin 1-0 Ghana
Stephane Sessegnon’s Benin side beat a heavily favored Ghana in Group D after an 89th minute strike from Mohamed Aoudou. This win does little but salvage some pride for Benin as they are effectively out of contention for World Cup 2010 qualification. Sessegnon played the full match for his 23rd senior cap.

The Latest Products of the Rumor Mill:

• The management wants David Trezeguet. Good luck with that guys. Why would we need him anyway? A Trezeguet-Hoarau partnership would fail, they each need to play alongside a creative striker.
• Roma defensive midfielder Ricardo Faty ‘dreams of playing for the club’.  That’s nice Ricardo. Makelele replacement?
• Jerome Alonzo wants to come back to PSG. Somehow I don’t see this one happening, unless he pays the club and Willy Grondin (the latter just so he’ll leave).

In terms of interviews, Stephane Sessegnon talks to the press about his temper…

Stéphane, do you think you should perhaps take a little tranquiliser before you play to help you calm down on the pitch?
“(Smiles) I don’t need any medication! I’ve always given it everything when I play football. The only thing is… it’s that you have to use that energy intelligently, control it and also control my attitude.”

Guillaume (Hoarau) recently suggested installing a punching ball in the changing rooms…
“I really hate losing and I hate injustice. That goes for on and off the football pitch, by the way. To feel good within myself, I have to reach my goals. Otherwise I really struggle to contain my frustration. Guillaume might be right, I need to take it out on something when things don’t work out because in the end, I just penalise myself and the whole team.”

Is it only football that’s gets you so excited?
“I’m like that in everything I do. When I do something, I don’t ever want to have regrets so I give it 100 per cent. However, if I’m not good at something, then I can accept it. But I always want to give it my best, because that’s how I was brought up. Obviously it’s most noticeable for me, when I’m on the football pitch. You can’t give me a nasty reputation though or start calling me a nasty player. I have character, but I cop more knocks than I deal out.”
Do you think your opponents are trying to provoke you a little more this season?
“I’ve got a reputation for being a bit of a hot head and obviously they try and exploit my weaknesses. I lot try and get me to explode and I can feel it. Sometimes it’s insults, repetitive fouls, leaving the studs in a challenge, without the referee picking up on it. It’s unfair, but I just have to learn to channel my energy to rise above it.”
You still have a one-match ban hanging over your head with another yellow card in your next ten games. Be careful not to miss out on the Olympique de Marseille match!
“I don’t even want to think about it. You can get a yellow card for next to nothing so I’m not going to start worrying about. And if I start picking and choosing my matches, then that won’t help anything either and I’ll start playing worse. Every Ligue 1 match is important, whether it be Marseille or anyone else, a win is a win and it’s worth three points.”

And another ‘We’re getting stronger’ interview from Kombou.

Other Random Tidbits:

• “The conseil national de l’Ethique ruled that Antoine Kombouaré and Christian Gourcuff were to “ participate in a ‘educational role with children to promote the values of football, most importantly respect amongst the participants.’ The participation will take place in the respective club’s local league.” This is about the whole Maka argument–it’s their punishment.
• PSG have their traditional luncheon with the mayor of Paris.  Go here if you’re interested in pictures. I feel like they do a lot of these meetings with the mayor. Didn’t he visit training a couple weeks back?
• Injured players include Traore (hamstring), Hoarau (hamstring), Bourillon (lombago), Camara (deep vein thrombosis), and Erding (shoulder)

That’s all from PSG this week, as the club did not arrange a friendly for the break.

Subs:
Chantome: 6
Sankhare: N/A

Interviews:
Kombouare, more Kombouare, Clement, and Puel.

Photos:
A treasure trove of match photos can be found here.

News Nuggets:
1) Goal.com think PSG want Mascara from Catania. I have better things to do than watch Serie A, like build a scale model of the Eiffel Tower out of toothpicks, but isn’t this the guy who scored all those goals from about 50 yards?

2) The honorary match kickoff at the Parc on Sunday was given by Pauleta, the longest serving season ticket holder, and an academy player.

3) Apparently we’re playing US Boulogne Cote d’Opale tomorrow in the Coupe de la Ligue. Woohoo. I’m so excited I can’t even bother to preview it. It did take me a second to remember they’re in Ligue 1 though. Good thing about this: The match counts for Sessegnon’s suspension, meaning he’ll be back for Lorient. If you really do care about the match you can probably find something about it here.

Allez PSG!

Ah International week. First off, I am delighted to report that none of our three players on duty came back injured, which is completely spectacular. The reasons for the unusually small amount of PSG players representing their countries are:

1) Stephane Sessegnon was suspended from international duty.

2) Mevlut Erding is undergoing surgery for a shoulder problem, which also takes him out of the Monaco game.

3) In case you just came out from under your rock, Raymond Domenech coaches the French national team. That means no Hoarau in the squad.

Now, on to who actually did play. Our glorious Internationals (albeit U-21) are Mamadou Sakho, Granddi Ngoyi, and Younousse Sankharé.

France U-21 3-1 Slovenia U-21
Mamadou Sakho and Younousse Sankharé started, and Granddi Ngoyi came in for Etienne Capoue in the 72nd minute. Highlights here.

France U-21 2-2 Ukraine U-21
Mamadou Sakho was the only Parisian starter in this game, and he scored with his head in the 26th minute off a Bakary Sako corner. A Sako-Sakho linkup. Granddi Ngoyi was brought on in the 63rd for Djamel Bakar, and Sakho was taken off late to allow Gary Bocaly a few minutes. You can find the highlights for the first half here, and the second half here.

Transfer News:
Cameroonian 19 year old Lucien Owona N’Dong has signed for the club. More information here, thanks to an article from the Marseille blogger at the Offside..

Interviews:
The Old Guardien chats with the official website about life at the club, and last season’s top scorer discusses his injury and his progress so far. Finally, our captain talks about the upcoming Monaco game.

In more personal news, I am now a contributor over at Everything French Soccer, which is run by frequent commenter Dave Trotter. Come check it out!

In this post I’m going to talk about all of the PSG transfers this summer, and give them a letter grade, based on how the price suits the player and my impressions of their play so far. But first, the days news:

1) It seems as if Jerome Rothen may finally have found a club.

2) Marseille want Stephane Sessegnon along with everyone else. Well guess what. You can’t have him.

3) Kerlon won’t be coming here, at least not this season.

4) We’ve got Boulogne in the CDL round of 32 on September 22-23.

Transfer Review

In:

Coupet (800,000 €, Atletico Madrid): At first I was skeptical about this signing, considering Coupet’s age and the fact that it forced Landreau out, but I had forgotten about what a brilliant keeper he is after the horrendous Euro 2008 and his disappointing season at Atletico. I think he will serve us very well in goal. B.

Erding (10 M€, Sochaux): Erding is an excellent player, young, with loads of talent, and a knack for finding the net. He will really improve the forward line and has made important contributions already. The price was a little hefty, but he will probably earn it back. A-.

Jallet (2.5 M€, Lorient): A very versatile player who can play anywhere on the right as well as in central defense. A good buy to provide backup and solidity for our right side. He has preformed brilliantly in the 59 minutes he has played, netting two goals and an assist off the bench. I suppose it is to early to judge after playing so little, but for the time being, A.

Grondin (Free, Valenciennes): A third string goalkeeper signed after his contract expired. Boring. Well, I guess backup is always good and it can’t come any cheaper. C.

Kombouare (N/A, Valenciennes): The new man in charge has done an excellent job so far, and seems to be especially proficient in the art of substitutions. I think change was needed as Le Guen was not the man to improve on last seasons performances. A.

Note: Sankharé, Ngoyi, Boli, and Baning all returned from loan over the summer.

Total cost of players bought: 13,300,000 €
Number of players/staff signed: 5
Letter Grade: A-

Out:

Souza (2 M€, Grêmio): Souza was on loan at Gremio last year, but was a fairly important part of the side the year before. He has been deemed surplus to requirements and the move has been made permanent. We lost money on the guy, so I’ll give it a B-, as his salary took up space.

Mickaël Landreau (1.6 M€, Lille): I was sad to see him go, but we got a capable replacement for half the price. I was disappointed that we didn’t get more for him though. C.

Youssouf Mulumbu (2.5 M€, West Bromwich Albion): It was a poor move for Mulumbu’s career, but I guess England lured him. He had been on loan with an option to buy, and WBA took that option, so Kombouare had no say in the matter. That means that a grade is N/A.

Chris Mavinga (Free, Liverpool): He is a 17 year old defender who apparently had loads of talent, but refused to sign a new contract with PSG due to interest shown by big clubs. He left for Liverpool on a Bosman. I am disappointed to see young talent go, especially without reimbursement. D-.

Larrys Mabiala (Free, Nice): I was never impressed by Mabiala much and the clubs failure to renew his contract did not surprise me. He has already gifted the opposition a goal with Nice. No regrets, A.

Fabrice Pancrate (Free): I’m surprised the 29 year old is still without a club, as he had some good years for PSG. However, with our forward surplus, he was not a priority to keep and when his contract expired he was allowed to leave. It cleared out salary space, so I’ll give it a B.

Stephane Veron (Free): Our number three keeper last year, Veron’s contract was not renewed. Our new number three is far better than Stephane, so no regrets. A.

Sent Out on Loan: Mateja Kezman (Zenit, option to buy), Everton Santos (Niigata, option to buy)

Total income from players sold: 6.1 M€
Number of players sold: 6
Letter Grade: B

Net Income/Loss: -7.2 M€

So, what are your thoughts on this past Mercato?

Player Ratings:
Coupet: Had a solid game, making difficult interceptions and catches when the need arose. He really is a world class keeper. 7.5.
Ceara: Wasn’t much of a presence today. Obviously didn’t make any huge mistakes but he didn’t get forward much either. A few crosses in the first half, but otherwise relatively quiet. 6.5.
Traore: Had a good game on defense and had a goal disallowed for no reason that I can fathom. 7.5.
Sakho: Same story as Ceara, except for the crosses. 6.5.
Armand: Is forming a good partnership with Sessegnon in attack and was involved in the play leading to both second half goals. Left something to be desired on defense, occasionally letting Hazard through, but it’s probably hard marking the Belgian wonderkid. 6.5.
Giuly: Wasn’t quite as spectacular as he has been, but still a good contribution in attack, causing problems for Emerson. Another 6.5.
Makelele: Had another decent game, not particularly outstanding. He can and should contribute more to the attack. 6.
Clement: Was very good. The volley for the first goal was spectacular and he continues to produce dangerous through balls and could be considered unlucky not to have had an assist. 9.
Sessegnon: Created the second and third goals and was the usual Stephane Sessegnon. That means fantastic. Another assist under his belt. 8.5
Luyindula: Another goal for Dula! Rama must be pleased. He had a good game and worked hard. 8.
Erding: Was good, having a good shot blocked after a through ball by Clement. He was taken off early in the second half for Hoarau. 6.5.

Substitutes:
Hoarau for Erding ‘61: Had some nice dribbles and played well with Luyindula. Think he’ll be starting next week? 6.
Jallet for Giuly ‘72: Did a fantastic job considering he played 18 minutes. A goal and an assist. He’s becoming a wonderful super-sub. 9.
Chantome for Luyindula ‘85: Incomplete.


Match Facts:
1) We are now tied on points for first with Lyon and Bordeaux, and are second to les Girondins on goal difference.
2) Christophe Jallet is now third in the Ligue 1 top scorers table, with 2 goals in 59 minutes.
3) We are still undefeated.
4) Our average home attendance in the Ligue is 32498.

Photos:

Breaking Transfer News:
PSG officials have broke the news that Mateja Kezman is set to join Zenit St. Petersburg on loan with an option to buy. Kezman has left Paris for St. Petersburg where the deal will be completed wen he passes his medical on Monday [AP]. Your thoughts?

Reactions to the Match:

Antoine Kombouaré (PSG coach)

“I didn’t think we were capable of winning 3-0 against Lille because the first half was very difficult. But we stuck together and we defended much better in the second half. We played well, created chances and scored two great goals. It’s a huge win, and hugely satisfying to score three goals and not concede any. We’re happy to be leading the league, but there’s still a very long way to go. Tonight, I’m a very happy coach and proud of what my players achieved – to have ten points from the first four games is fantastic.”

Péguy Luyindula (PSG forward)

“There were a lot of good things this evening, we played well and earned a big win. We wanted to string a few wins together, especially playing at home. We’re continuing on our merry way and we hope it will continue for as long as possible. On a personal note, two goals in two games is great. It was the least impressive of the three goals this evening, but important because it meant we got the break .”

Christophe Jallet (PSG defender)

“We can be very happy because we’ve got ten points out of 12 and have scored ten goals in four games. Now we can keep working over the next two weeks when we’ll have a very difficult match away to Monaco. We’re just taking the games one after another and I think that if we continue like this then we’ll do well this season. We’re in form, but we can’t get carried away. For my goal, Lady Luck was smiling on me. I tried it and it came off.”

Stéphane Sessegnon (PSG midfielder)

“That was a very important victory. It wasn’t easy and they made us suffer. But it’s a good result: we scored three and kept a cleansheet. Today we’re atop the table, but we need to keep our head on our shoulders. We took our chances up front and we were solid at the back. It’s great to be topping the table ahead of a two week gap. The next game will be a turning point and it’s only going to get tougher from here on in.”

Voila!

Since I’m still relatively new here and getting to know all of you, I wanted to write a post talking about what teams you support, besides PSG of course, as well as your least favorites. I’ll start:

Favorites:
International: France and Sweden, the latter to a much lesser extent.
Ligue 1: PSG is obviously my favorite, but I like everyone. Yell at me or call me a traitor if you like but I don’t have a problem with Marseille. I actually admire several of their players.
La Liga: Barcelona
Premier League: Arsenal
Bundesliga: I don’t have a favorite.
Serie A: ditto.

Least Favorites:
International: Italy and Germany, the latter to a lesser extent (again).
Ligue 1: I don’t really dislike any team, but my least favorite would have to be Lorient. (It’s not just because of this)
La Liga: Real Madrid
Premier League: Liverpool, Tottenham.
Bundesliga: Bayern.
Serie A: AC Milan, Roma.

I look forward to reading all of yours in the comments!

1) Jerome Rothen has decided not to play even so much as with the reserves so he doesn’t get injured, which would effectively destroy his transfer chances. Interested Clubs: Blackburn and Saint-Etienne. Snore.

2) Antoine Kombouare is weirdly indifferent about the Rothen debacle…

“If he finds a club, it’s better for him to leave, but if he stays, it’s all the better, because I need him.”

Huh? I don’t quite understand what you want Mr. Kombouare.

3) Remind me why we’re supposed to believe that PSG is tracking strikers playing in the Argentinian Second Division?

4) From rumors like that one, I have drawn the conclusion that we’re really not buying anyone, and that if we do, it’s not someone I want. Raise your hand if you want Diomansy Kamara at PSG. I thought so.

This would also help PSG’s image in the United States, which, from reading the 200 some comments on this article, seems very negative. The commenters seem to believe that PSG and its fans have a “racism problem”. As a PSG fan, I find this extremely offensive. I assume they are referring to this incident as well as other smaller incidents. First of all, this has nothing to do with the club, as well as the vast majority of supporters. The racism can be at least partially attributed to the mentality of the city of Paris, as well as the nation’s current government. Looking at you Nicolas Sarkozy. Anyway, the commenters also seemed very ignorant of the club in terms of sporting matters, many of them stating that Donovan would probably pair up with Kezman in the starting attack. What the hell? They must have just glanced at the team sheet on Wikipedia, and recognized one name in the forward section from his Chelsea/Atletico days and assumed he was starter. Fail.

To wrap up the Donovan info, Jen over at the LA Galaxy Offside has told me that it has been confirmed that the clubs have made contact, but it’s still a rumor that the deal has already been signed.

In other transfer news, Goal.com has linked PSG with a move for out of contract former Valencia player and Spanish International, Miguel Angel Angulo. Blah. Surprisingly, other clubs are interested including Everton and Bolton. To me this guy is a less good version of Fernando Morientes. I say that because I know nothing about him, he played at a big Spanish club forever, looks like Fernando, is available for free, and Ligue 1 clubs are interested.

Also, Mathieu Valbuena is a target for Paris, since he isn’t wanted at OM. They have set an asking price of 7 million euros, but he could also come on a season long loan. That sounds pretty good if you ask me.

Don’t worry, you’re match report is coming soon! But, just because you readers are so awesome, here are the highlights:

It’s really bad quality, so I’ll find something better, but if you didn’t see the match…

In:

Richard Soumah: The Guingamp winger has been touted as the replacement for Jerome Rothen, assuming he leaves (see below). L’Equipe has reported that PSG will pay around 3 million euros for the young midfielder. Here’s what Soumah told Le Parisien:

“PSG are a team I like and it’s a club that I want to join, I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in it as it’s a big decision and lots of things need to be sorted out. But if Paris are thinking about me, it’s a challenge I’d like to meet.”

I’m a fan of this transfer, as he really impressed me in the Coupe de France last season, and it would also be a slap in the face to Lyon and Marseille if we get him as both were reportedly interested. Since it is being reported by both Goal.com and the highly reliable ligue1.com, I think there’s a good chance of this one going through if Rothen leaves. if. 60%.

Out:

Jerome Rothen: I’m getting sick and tired of this one. Everyone is saying his departure is inevitable, yet they’ve been saying that all summer and the only club that seems remotely interested is Blackburn. The way the management’s going about this, what with lining up a replacement and all, you’d think the bids were flying in. Who knows, maybe they are, maybe I’m just badly informed, but something tells me he’ll still be around come September. 50%.

Mateja Kezman: has been attracting the interest of Spanish side Malaga, who apparently want him to help bolster their bid for Europe. I don’t think he’s really bolstered anyone’s title bid since about 2004, but who knows, maybe Malaga will be the right atmosphere for him. I just know that PSG isn’t. Glad to here this one and I hope we can recoup the cash we payed for him. I think that this is pretty likely, given that the club don’t much like him, he doesn’t much like the club, and he’s wanted elsewhere. 80%.

Here’s a nice little training and injury report from our friends over at Goal.com.

Resources:

Ligue 1 Fixtures

Ligue 1 Live Updated Table

Here’s mine:

Out:
Rothen-5 mill
S. Traore-1 mill

In: (8.5 mill budget)
Kerlon-6 mill (gotten really into this guy)
Jonathon Brison-2.5 mill

Go to it!