Football Season Guide

Toulouse have been astutely run in recent seasons, allowing them to bounce back from Ligue 2 and re-establish themselves in Ligue 1 quite comfortably last season. Indeed, their campaign might have been even better, but they seemed to switch off after winning the Coupe de France in the spring, offering them a path to European football. Over the summer, Philippe Montanier has departed and has been replaced by Spaniard Carles Martinez, who was his assistant. He will well know the manner in which TFC’s data-driven approach has succeeded for them, particularly in the transfer market. This summer, though, has been a little frustrating for the men from the Pink City. No fewer than seven players have departed on a free transfer, including their whole starting midfield trio. On top of that, they have seen Rhys Healey go back to England after a season decimated by injury, while Rafael Ratao has returned to Brazil. They have lost, in essence, five of their best seven or eight players from middle to front. Replacing these men and striking up a balance quickly will be difficult. Toulouse, true to form, have recruited diversely spending money to sign NEC winger Ibrahim Cissokho, who will miss weeks with a broken foot, and German midfielder Niklas Schmidt. Striker Franck Magri arrives from Bastia while Cristian Casseres and Cesar Gelabert have also joined. Remarkably, none of these players play in the same league and only one speaks French. The integration process promises to be difficult. In the meantime, Toulouse will have to simply do what they can. At the back, their squad is settled, with three strong centre-backs set to feature in front of a new goalkeeper, presumably Alex Dominguez, who has joined from Las Palmas. On the right, meanwhile, Mikkel Desler is a strong player. The midfield is almost a new entity entirely but in attack there are good options such as Fares Chaibi, Zakaria Aboukhalal and Thijs Dallinga, who soften the blow of so many players departing.