Failing to have been able to confirm in Pau (1-0) its brilliant previous victory against Nîmes (4-0), the SM Caen receives Bastia by being separated from Corsica and fifteenth place only by difference of goals.
“The first half in Pau is almost identical to that of Nîmes apart from the efficiency but that makes all the difference notes the coach of the Malherbe Caen stadium. So it’s nice to do a half-time identical to that of reference in terms of quality and control, without the efficiency it becomes an ordinary half-time. Sometimes you can call it bad because everything you’ve done to get chances and not concede is not reflected on the scoreboard.”
The objective will therefore be to find more consistency in the offensive success against Bastia.
The return of Régis Brouard to d’Ornano
The SC Bastia coach played 67 games under the colors of Stade Malherbe Caen (from 1997 to 1999) and qualified for the Coupe de France final as coach of Quevilly in 2012.
His arrival on the Bastiais bench last October allowed the Corsican club to pocket twenty points in the last fourteen days and to reach the quarter-finals of the Cup.
“It’s a good team which has also improved a lot with the arrival of its new coach, confirms Stéphane Moulin. They changed the system. It is a team that is very loyal to the Corsican teams. When I say that, it’s not pejorative. It is rather a quality. These are teams with players who hang on, who fight and who never let go. They showed it at Le Havre as they trailed 2-0 to win 4-2.
They started from quite low when their coach arrived. We finally have a similar course, that is to say capable of good things without always confirming them. Which means that we are a dozen teams in this configuration and that each point is worth its weight in gold.”
Adolphe Teikeu holder a second time
Recruited at the end of November, the Cameroonian central defender could only play seven minutes at Sochaux, the time to injure himself for his first tenure. It should be aligned except surprise this Saturday against Bastia within the three Caen defense.
“It’s the story of the players who have been playing for a long time, explains Stéphane Moulin. We had that with Franklin Wadja too. The human body is so made that, when it has been little used for long periods of time, as soon as it is asked to resume a rhythm with intensity there are often small problems. Today he looks good but he hasn’t played since May.”
The Caen workforce
Jonathan Rivierez has served his match suspension. Benjamin Jeannot and Mehdi Chahiri are the last players to still be present at the Caen infirmary. The Caennais coach will bring back the same eighteen players as in Pau with the exception of the second goalkeeper.
The Caen group: Rémy Riou, Sullivan Péan – Yoël Armougom, Adolphe Teikeu, Ibrahim Cissé, Prince Oniangué, Ali Abdi, Hugo Vandermersch – Djibril Diani, Anthony Gonçalves, Jessy Deminguet, Johann Lepenant, Yoann Court, Steve Shamal – Caleb Zady Séry, Nuno Da Costa, Andreas Hountondji, Alexandre Mendy.
SM Caen – Bastia to follow here live on France Bleu
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