Maxence Caqueret: The Resurgence of Olympique Lyonnais’ Midfield Maestro

Olympique Lyonnais, which has just won its last six matches in all competitions – or rather five, plus qualifying on penalties against Strasbourg on Tuesday – is no longer the same team. But even more blatantly, Maxence Caqueret is no longer the same player. Because OL still displays real collective flaws every week. When the latest performances from his midfielder are almost perfect.

On Tuesday, it was he who, for the first time in his career, inherited the captain’s armband from Alexandre Lacazette when the latter gave up his place. Then he opened the way for his teammates by converting the Rhone’s first penalty in the penalty shootout which was ultimately won against Strasbourg. Boss behavior, which he currently is.

You have to wet your neck before thinking back to your performances a few weeks ago. At the heart of a chaotic first part of the Gones season, Caqueret sometimes plunged like the others in quite spectacular proportions, highlighting the incredible weakness of OL at the time in midfield, as well as the stagnation of its progress over several years.

The relationship with Sage: “The coach did a lot of good”

But since then, almost everything has changed. Starting with the appointment of Pierre Sage in place of Fabio Grosso. “We all appreciate the coach. He does a very good job. He has this very important role of messenger, and everyone understands that. He is a strength for the squad at the moment, and we are wholeheartedly with him. him”, he rejoiced after the first victory of the Sage era in Ligue 1, against Toulouse (3-0).

Rebelote on Tuesday, after winning the first ticket for the last four of the Coupe de France. “The coach did a lot of good. He knew the club very well and that helped us a lot. In the exchange, what he brings to us every day, he is a very good person,” said he insisted on the microphone of beIN Sports.

Like Lacazette before him, Caqueret lives again with his new coach and appreciates his management of the locker room. But the key is also found – above all? – in the players now lined up around him. Because after Sage, it was a very wasteful winter transfer window that happened there. Exit the double-pivot with Johann Lepenant at the start of the season, forgotten the one with Paul Akouokou in the first leg in Marseille (3-0), inconceivable this trio formed with the same Akouokou and the ghost of Ainsley Maitland-Niles against Clermont (1 -2). While Corentin Tolisso continues to chase his best physical sensations and his volume of play, the native of Vénissieux is now surrounded by Orel Mangala and especially Nemanja Matic.

Alexandre Lacazette and Maxence Caqueret (OL)

Credit: Getty Images

Matic, the trigger

The incorporation of the Serb into the Rhone midfield immediately secured an entire team… and number 25 in particular. “The contribution of his experience and his calm changed everything for Maxence, those around him confided to us. With Matic, it works very well, they get along very well. Maxence listens to everything he says to him, he talks to him a lot, gives him a lot of experience and calm.” In the game, his characteristics as a pure sentinel allowed Caqueret to free himself to evolve a notch higher, to a position of number 8 which fits perfectly with his known qualities – namely his overflowing activity and the harassment of the carrier – and to those that develop. The pocket midfielder (1.74m) is starting to collect decisive actions, with goals against Bergerac in the Coupe de France and Montpellier in the championship, and an assist against Metz. All in just over a month, for three 2-1 successes.

“A lot of things are very positive and I’m very happy that he has regular rewards now, his coach said of him before the victory against Nice two weeks ago. He has just scored two goals. I would like that he gets into this good habit and it also gives him the desire to hit even more on goal, to get even more involved in the area.” Caqueret, for his part, does not make it a priority but willingly lends himself to the game, also aware of the place taken by statistics in modern football. “He is capable of playing every two, three days with the same level of intensity. From time to time, his starts of matches are not up to what he does in the second half. But what “What is important is that it performs well over time”, Sage also underlined. Proof to support this, since he is the most used Lyon player since the start of the season, which has also helped him maintain a certain mental freshness even in the most complicated moments.

In any case, Caqueret finds a radiance that we have not seen since the Final 8 of the Champions League contested by OL in 2020, and which saw the Rhodaniens eliminate Juventus and Manchester City in their path. The era of Maxence “Crackeret”, as some Lyon supporters liked to call him. A time when he had a certain Bruno Guimaraes behind him, and next to him a Houssem Aouar who was predicted to have a completely different future. The first is now a reference to his post in Europe, the second has somewhat disappeared from the radar. Between the two, Caqueret is reborn, and resumes his progression. As is often the case when you cover your back so well.

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2024-03-02 23:36:00
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