Football Season Guide

Nantes crumbled to relegation last season in a campaign that was not helped by the haphazard leadership of the club from board level, which filtered down to the coaching staff and the team itself. Culminated in angry fan protests causing final day match with Toulouse to be abandoned. Michel Der Zakarian has returned to coach the club for a 3rd spell after more than a decade elsewhere. His last couple of jobs have ended with his teams being relegated at the end of the season, most recently a shambles at Caen in 2024/25. Recruited experienced Ligue 2 players while those who have exited the club will not hurt the starting XI particularly. Friendly results have been poor, with a lack of goals. This is something the coach has promised to work on. Using a 3-5-2 formation and set to see Matthis Abline, Chidozie Awaziem and Yassine Benhattab depart as they have not been used in recent games. The depth and age profile of the squad looks excellent for Nantes in virtually all areas of the team. In particular in the attacking areas. Nantes are lacking a natural left wing-back in their squad, while the 3-5-2 formation could affect the impact of promising young attacker Herba Guirassy. While their squad is well setup for Der Zakarian’s 3-5-2, they could wind up with a lack of wide players to provide tactical flexibility.