Football Season Guide

Monaco endured a disappointing season last time out that ultimately saw head coach Philippe Clement sacked. They collapsed miserably late in the season, with five defeats in their last seven denying them European football and ending their coach’s reign. Adi Hutter has come in for his first experience of French football, having worked in Germany and Austria. No summer overhaul has been evident, with the attacking sector, in particular, remaining untouched so far. Wissam Ben Yedder remains, despite concerns over his form last season, but a poor relationship with the former coach will not have helped than and he will expect that there is more to come this time around, even at the age of 33. Monaco need more generally from their attacking players, though, with a lack of consistency last season hampering them. Injuries did not help, with Aleksandr Golovin, arguably their best attacker for long periods last term, often laid up. In midfielder, there are still doubts hanging over the long-term future of Youssouf Fofana at the club but they are solid in the heart of the park. While Monaco are very young in this area – Fofana is their senior defensive midfielder at 24 – there is strong depth in this area and tremendous potential. Unlocking it will be vital. Change will come in the defence, where the goalkeeping issue has been resolved with the addition of Philipp Kohn. Alexander Nubel was previously a weak link and it is hoped another German can perform better. In central defence, too, Monaco have changed since the start of the year, with Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi both going to Chelsea. Mohammed Salisu has arrived from Southampton as the latter’s replacement in a defence where there needs to be more of a settled unit. There is a lack of depth at left-back, with Ismail Jakobs poor cover for Caio Henrique, and again in this area a lack of experience could be problematic at times. This is a squad that is likely to take time to mature in its current state.