Football Season Guide

Valenciennes attained rather comfortable survival last season as they ended 13th in the standings, but the club hopes for better. Since being relegated from Ligue 1 five years ago, they have never finished in the top half of the standings, with five successive finishes between 42 and 45 points. Last season, VAFC were one of the most exciting in the league to watch. Their 38 games produced 113 goals, while a year earlier they tallied one more. The departure of Reginald Ray and arrival of Olivier Guegan, formerly of Dijon, is set to change that. Guegan’s pre-season matches have already showcased far greater defensive solidarity but also a less exciting attacking sector. In part, this has come about from the absence of midfielder Julien Masson, who is currently in the midst of a transfer to Angers that has stalled over knee injury fears. Other exciting players such as Gaetan Robail and Sebastien Roudet have also gone, though. Valenciennes have not replaced them to this point, with the functional Baptiste Guillaume arriving on loan from Angers – a very big signing. The club, however, do seem to have put all their eggs in one offensive basket, though, while Masson’s stalled move is creating a very sizeable hole in their fragile finances. The defence, though, looks far more robust. Valenciennes have been playing in a 3-5-2 formation this summer, with Lilian Brassier and Maxime Spano coming into a back three that is completely new look. With Frederic Nong and Baptiste Aloe also available, there appears to be good depth in that area now. Wing-backs Joeffrey Cuffaut and Laurent Dos Santos, meanwhile, are primarily defensively minded. Creativity is where Valenciennes really lack. Gautier Hein has arrived from Metz and Malek Chergui has joined from Grenoble, but neither is anything like a guarantee to thrive. If they are to have a significant shortcoming, this is likely to be it, and their pre-season matches would seem to support that.