Football Season Guide

Coming off a rather anonymous season which saw them eventually ending at the foot of the promotion spots, without ever really in contention for a return to the Ligue 1, for the new season FC Lorient anyway aim at building from what good was done last time out. For such reason, the young coach Mickaël Landreau was confirmed at the helm of the team also for the current campaign. Last year, continuity was the key issue for the Merlus, as they hardly ever managed to stretch their positive runs for more than just a few games, and this is what they will have to avoid in the new campaign, if they aim at becoming protagonists right from the start. For sure, the squad had some quality in it and, therefore, the management tried to retain most of their players. If nothing else, coach Landreau will still be able to count on the 32-year-old Sylvain Marveaux, their captain and leader, and that is certainly great news. One major blow, though, is undoubtedly represented by the departure of midfielder Denis Bouanga, who left for a Ligue 1 side, Nimes. He will be missed as he had contributed to the last season with 13 goals and 4 assists. The ageing forward Gaël Danic also left, together with the promising Mattéo Guendouzi, who will be next be playing for Arsenal, and the defenders Ibrahima Conte and Quentin Lecoeuche. The defence is the department the management strengthened the most over the summer. In fact, some experienced players were added and they might very well become two protagonists for the new season: Jonathan Martins Pereira arrived after the end of his stint at En Avant Guimgamp in Ligue 1 while Joris Sainati joined in from AC Ajaccio. The other players who signed over the summer, among them Faïz Selemani, who could also be an interesting addition at right-back, forward Valentin Lavigne and goalkeeper Anthony Lamonge, should not be given relevant playing time.