Football Season Guide

Grenoble enjoyed a strong season last time out, finishing ninth in the league, which was their best ranking in four years. It was also above what they might reasonably have expected at the start of the season, and now the expectation is for head coach Frank Rizzetto to continue that positive work after taking over in January. Rizzetto plays a 5-3-2 formation that is not particularly high on flair or offensive excitement. After taking command last term, he actually lost more games than he won, conceding more goals in the process. When things clicked for Grenoble, they tended to do so impressively: 10 of the 20 goals they managed under the coach arrived in just three games. Can we expect more of the same from Grenoble this season? Probably. The squad has not been overhauled in any particular manner, and while Junior Olaitan has been sold to Turkish football, there have been no particularly important players lost. Although he has not been replaced, Mamady Bangre has returned from a successful loan at Pau and should take his spot. Otherwise, it’s likely to be a similar setup to last season. Offensively, Grenoble will be seeking to find a more consistent threat in attack after only Pape Ba hit double figures. He departed in January, underlining how problematic this was for GF38. More is expected of Ayoub Jabbari, in particular. In pre-season, Grenoble have continued to show a worrying lack of efficiency and it seems this could be a major issue. The midfield should still revolve around Jessy Benet, who is a creative force and a set-piece master. At times he can be a luxury player, so despite being important, he does drop out of the team at certain times. At the back, meanwhile, Stone Mambo has arrived from Rodez to help provide competition for starting places. The defence is youthful, but not dangerously so, and if there were to be serious problems these would likely have arisen last season following a long-term injury to the now-retired Loic Nestor.