Football Season Guide

Brest survived last season largely off the back of a six-game winning streak in early winter, in which they earned nearly a third of the points they claimed all season. It was a particularly remarkable achievement given that they had not won a single match of their first 11 of the season, and at that point appeared to be heading towards the drop. A change to a 4-4-2 formation, requested by the players, was what it took to change their fortunes. Brest survived and so did head coach Michel Der Zakarian, who has managed to retain the bulk of the first-team starters from last season. Of course, Inter pair Lucien Agoume and Martin Satriano have both returned to San Siro after loan deals, with the forward having particularly impressed in his brief stay during the second half of the season. Now the onus is back on Steve Mounie, Irvin Cardona or the much-improved Jeremy Le Douaron to find the net. Wingers were a key strength of Brest last season and so far they have retained Youcef Belaili, Franck Honorat and Romain Del Castillo. With youngster Karamoko Dembele added from Celtic, they have plenty of x-factor and quality in these areas. Indeed, this is their major strength. Pierre-Lees Melou has arrived from Norwich as their main midfield recruit, having failed to make the breakthrough in the Premier League last season. He should be a solid signing, and along with Haris Belkebla, is capable of helping the younger player in this sector of the field. There is little to report by way of change in the defence, which remains a well-balanced part of the side. However, there is a change at right-back, where Noah Fadiga has joined up on loan from Heracles. Brest will hope that he can hit the ground running. Typically strong at home, they had a losing record at Stade Francis-Le Ble last season, and this will be an aspect of their game they will have targeted for improvement this time around.