Recently I found myself watching their games – at first to check out Aouar, but then focusing on other interesting players in that squad as well: Nabil Fekir, Tanguy Ndombele, the left-back Mendy (not the Man City one, the other one), Lucas Tousart... They can be a bit disjointed at times, but at their best they can play pretty scintillating football: fast, aggressive and and full of invention, particularly when Fekir, Depay or Aouar is on the ball. Depay has been in and out of the team for most of the season, but in the last few weeks he has found new life playing as the #10 or second striker and has been central to Lyon's late push for 2nd place in the League 1 standings. Here's an article with some more background on the state of things in Lyon:
Here's the "diamond" they are talking about:
I have to say Depay was one of my favorite players back in Holland and I was dreading to see him at United (and happy that he failed so spectacularly) – but the talent is still there and at 24 he might still get a chance to play at the top level. Fekir is 24 as well and has been creating and finishing chances with almost Salah-like efficiency and I think the 19-year-old Aouar is showing every sign of a future big player. But Depay's numbers – 16 league goals AND 12 assists or 19 and 16 respectively in all competitions – are truly spectacular. Whatever confidence or personal issues held him back in England seem to be gone and the talent and skill is very much on par with likes of Sane, Barca's Dembele or our Mane. I think Lyon and their collection of talents are certainly worth following.
You do not have the right to be eliminated in this way,” Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told his squad after their defeat to CSKA Moscow in the Europa League last month. Lyon had won in Russia the week before but a 3-2 defeat in their own ground ended their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals and Aulas was not happy. “Individualistic behaviour always ends up being punished!”
With forwards playing for themselves and the team barely playing like one, Lyon’s season was in danger of finishing two months early. Their next game was trip to Marseille, who were five points above them in the league table, so Aulas made his feelings known. His opinionated persona can be problematic but at times it also makes him an inspirational leader. In this case his rage instigated a spectacular turnaround for his coach, his team and, especially, Memphis Depay.
Bruno Génésio has long been the nearly man at Lyon but, with his job on the line before the Marseille game, the manager received a helping hand from the opposition in the build-up. “Forgive me for being vulgar,” said young Marseille midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, “but we want to destroy them.” These words soon adorned Lyon’s dressing room wall, stoking a rivalry that never requires much rekindling. Lyon were at last ready to fight.
For long periods of a rumbustious, streetwise 3-2 win, Lyon finally looked like they were playing for each other. They frustrated Marseille, keeping possession brilliantly in an uncharacteristically mature display. Depay, who had been dropped after the CSKA game, came on and scored a last-minute header, a winning goal that underlined both his ability and his inconsistency.
Memphis Depay shows off his remarkable tattoos. Photograph: Sebastien Nogier/EPA
As his players drifted off to international duty after the Marseille game, Génésio was again given an unexpected helping hand. With the Netherlands lacking attacking options, new manager Ronald Koeman deployed Depay as a centre-forward in a 3-5-2 for their trip to Lisbon. Depay stood out and scored in an eye-catching 3-0 win against the European champions. Koeman praised the forward for “working hard for the team.” He had given Depay more responsibility to create and score goals, and, perhaps surprisingly, Depay relished it. When the Dutchman return to Lyon, Génésio took Koeman’s ideas and ran with them.
Utilised as a centre-forward, Depay has gloriously returned to the form he showed at PSV and at the 2014 World Cup. Lyon have won all five of their league games since the Netherlands beat Portugal, scoring 17 goals and conceding just twice. Depay has been superb, scoring or setting up 12 of those goals.
Previously, Depay had been a little stranded while playing out wide for Lyon. Opposition teams tend to sit in against them, with midfielders doubling up to help their full-backs. Denied space and frustrated by defenders, Depay often tried to dribble his way out, which rarely worked. He also struggled with the defensive responsibilities required by a wide player. “It was impossible for me to play this way,” admitted Depay. “It wasn’t really where I was at my best.”
In central areas – whether as a false nine, playing off another striker or as an attacking midfielder – Depay can seek out space, follow his instincts and play to his strengths: pace, skill and, now that he is much closer to goal, finishing. Depay believes he is capable of becoming the best player in the world so being appointed the attacker in chief has clearly tapped into his self-confidence and sense of self-importance.
Crucially for Génésio, Depay’s rebirth as a striker has solved, almost overnight, a number of tactical issues he had struggled with throughout the season. The diamond used in Lyon’s 2-0 win over a floundering Nantes this weekend allowed his supremely talented midfield quartet to play to their strengths. The balletic 19-year-old Houssem Aouar in particular benefitted from a central midfield role, rather than being forced out wide, as did talismanic captain Nabil Fékir, while the marauding Tanguy Ndombélé is also given the freedom to bulldoze around midfield by holding player Lucas Tousart.
Génésio is again riding high, having come so close to finally folding. Considering his powers of recovery, perhaps his latest salvage operation should not come as a shock. The newly freewheeling Lyon, led by Depay, are back above Monaco in second in Ligue 1 with Champions League football on the horizon once more. Ominously for the rest of Ligue 1, however, the notoriously erratic Depay might have finally found his footing. “I can do a lot better if I believe in myself more,” said the Dutchman after his goal and four assists helped thrash Metz earlier this month. “I like playing in this position.” President Aulas, though always divisive, may have proved decisive again.
Here's the "diamond" they are talking about:
I have to say Depay was one of my favorite players back in Holland and I was dreading to see him at United (and happy that he failed so spectacularly) – but the talent is still there and at 24 he might still get a chance to play at the top level. Fekir is 24 as well and has been creating and finishing chances with almost Salah-like efficiency and I think the 19-year-old Aouar is showing every sign of a future big player. But Depay's numbers – 16 league goals AND 12 assists or 19 and 16 respectively in all competitions – are truly spectacular. Whatever confidence or personal issues held him back in England seem to be gone and the talent and skill is very much on par with likes of Sane, Barca's Dembele or our Mane. I think Lyon and their collection of talents are certainly worth following.
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