Catastrophic. Unfortunately, there is no other way to describe the performance of the Pailladins in Boulogne-sur-Mer this Friday. Less than a week after the improvement in Metz in the Coupe de France, which had offered a semblance of hope and made us believe in a general upturn, the reality of the championship caught up with us with disconcerting violence. For the second time this season, Montpellier lost to Boulogne-sur-Mer, a declared candidate for relegation. A defeat that hurts a lot, perhaps even more than the previous ones.
Because it is now a worrying spiral: four defeats in the last five Ligue 2 matches, more than two months without the slightest victory, a game that is falling apart week after week… The decline seems endless. And yet, the eleven lined up was the same as the victorious one in Moselle, symbol of the place taken by youth in this squad. But yesterday, the copy returned has nothing to do with it. Where they had shone against Metz, the Pailladins seemed completely beside their point in the North. Without inspiration, without desire.
We were expecting a redemption, even if Zoumana Camara did not want to talk about revenge at the press conference. We even hoped for a revolt after an already undignified first leg. But nothing. Or so little. Certainly, Tchato could have equalized with a borderline offside action. Certainly, Chennahi found the crossbar in the final seconds. But these isolated thrills are not enough to mask a performance generally comparable to mush, without idea, without rhythm and sometimes without desire.
The rankings are seriously starting to get scary. We will have to wake up – and quickly – because by looking straight ahead without moving forward, we risk soon discovering what is happening behind our backs… and not appreciating the view. Even more so when the next outing is at Bastia, another candidate for relegation.
