Ligue 1 – Brest: Michel Der Zakarian facing the challenge of the Brest defense

After having coached Nantes, Clermont and Reims, Michel Der Zakarian has managed to stabilize Montpellier in the Top 10 of the elite during the last four seasons, but the president Laurent Nicollin has chosen to bring in the coach of Brest, Olivier Dall ‘ Oglio, rather than renewing his contract. The Breton club then seized the opportunity to invite “Der Zak” to do the opposite. “It is an added value“, assured the sports director of Brest, Grégory Lorenzi.”You know your experience and your ability to achieve results“.

He, who was perhaps expected in a more ambitious club, admits to AFP: “I only had Brest and as I wanted to continue training, I came. And then when I arrived in Montpellier, they had just finished 17th, we had good results and I hope that will be the case in Brest“. For this season, his goal is clear:”Do better than last season“.

Switch to 3-5-2

Last year, despite a porous defense, the Brestois stayed away from the relegation zone for a long time, thanks to an attractive forward-facing game and an efficient attack. But the “Team Pirates” may have seen themselves too good. Forgotten the grain of madness, the Ty-Zefs tumbled to 17th place and only escaped the dams thanks to the defeat of Nantes against the Montpellier of “Der Zak” on the last day. “There was relaxation, and a team that took a lot of goals too so it was more difficult to win its matches“, explains the new coach.

To remedy this, this former loyal central defender (7 seasons in Nantes, 11 in Montpellier) and tough guy set up a 3-5-2 pattern that the Brestois had hardly experienced in the past two seasons. Alas … They still conceded 10 goals in four preparation matches, often on defensive errors, against Guingamp (2-2), Lorient (2-3), Saint-Brieuc (1-2) and Nantes (1- 3).

“It is not the diagram that is important, it is how we defend collectively, how we defend individually“, hammered Der Zakarian in front of the press after having stormed on the bench against Nantes.”When there are errors, we can play in 3-5-2, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 …“Still, the main thing is to be ready for the first Championship game:”You will need to have good collective control, good control of the ball, and piss off all the teams.“, he explains to AFP. Not easy for Brest, which will start with a trip to Lyon and then receive Rennes and PSG.

It’s not just defense. Last season, the Montpellier of “Der Zak” did not shine in this area, conceding only 4 goals less than Brest. But the success of the Laborde-Delort duo in attack made the difference. With the outfielder Steve Mounié, with formidable head shots, the instinctive Irvin Cardona, the revenge Gaëtan Charbonnier, abandoned last year by Dall’Oglio, or even the strikes of the right of Franck Honorat, Brest also has arguments in the matter. Der Zakarian plans to leave the captain’s armband to Brendan Chardonnet, the eternal replacement who has become indispensable in central defense and who had been one of the few to try to sound the revolt at the end of last season, but he also speaks of entrusting it in Mounié.