Valenciennes had a season that promised a playoff challenge but ultimately finished in a whimper as they dropped into the lower half of the table. They had spent much of the campaign, however, flirting with the top five, yet a poor run of eight losses in their last 14 games saw them quickly drop off that pace.
By the end of the season, they had appeared to have given up their playoff challenge. Teddy Chevalier had been offloaded in January after a disappointing season in attack, while winger Kevin Cabral, who was their joint-second top scorer in all competitions, had been sold to LA Galaxy.
They had, too, suffered serious injury issues in the run in, and their momentum had been sucked out of them, despite a fine season from centre-forward Baptiste Guillaume, who returned a very creditable 14 goals.
Ultimately, Valenciennes did not share the attacking load around sufficiently. To that end, Arsene Elogo and January arrival Gaetan Robail were bitterly disappointing, with right-back Joffrey Cuffaut coming from nowhere to chip in 10 goals, despite the 33-year-old not accumulating that number in his whole career previously.
One source of optimism towards the end of the campaign in an attacking sense was young midfielder Aymen Boutoutaou, who was excellent as he was given more responsibility.
Meanwhile, the midfield benefited from the arrival of defensive player Jaba Kankava in January, as he brought impetus to an area that had lost some of its early lustre. In particular, Sessi D’Almeida’s bright early performances faded, while an injury to Julien Masson handicapped the side.
Similarly, the defence was often chopped and changed. The experienced Laurent Dos Santos did not play as regularly as he would have wished, while only Cuffaut recorded more than 30 appearances for the season. In goal, meanwhile, a dispute with goalkeeper Jerome Prior, one of their outstanding players, saw him dropped at the end of the season.
Valenciennes lost all momentum before the summer, and their task is to find it again before the new season starts.
