Three takeaways from AS Monaco’s loss vs. Toulouse
Although AS Monaco were far from their best in their 1-2 loss against Toulouse, they were certainly punished for their untimely mistakes by the away team in a match where Les Monegasques held the ascendancy in terms of expected goals (1.68 to 1.39), total shots (21 to 14), shots inside the box (14 to 5), possession (65% to 35%) and passes in the opposition half (291 to 96).
Fresh from recording a smashing derby triumph over rivals OGC Nice last weekend, this result was obviously a disappointing setback, which was made all the more unsatisfying given it was in front of the home fans inside the Stade Louis II.
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With this in mind, here’s three tactical takeaways from their clash with Toulouse.
Camara’s injury
Losing midfield ace Mohamed Camara inside 25 minutes to injury following a heavy collison wasn’t ideal for ASM considering they were missing many key players courtesy of injury or suspension for this one.
Obviously after the match, the focus came back to his condition, and Adi Hutter gave a brief statement regarding the Malian star, stating: “He has a hematoma, but we don’t know more, he has to have tests tomorrow. We’ll know more after that. There are a lot of players missing at the moment due to injury and suspensions. But I want to congratulate Mamadou Coulibaly who had a very good debut in Ligue 1 after the exit of Mo.”
All associated with the Les Rouge et Blanc will be anxiously awaiting the results of those aforementioned tests and hoping that he gets given the all-clear for their huge upcoming road clash with RC Lens.
Home record a major issue
Les Monegasques’ terrible home record continues, as they’ve now only obtained just one point from the last 12 available, which has cost them dearly of late.
Incredibly, Monaco haven’t reigned supreme at the Stade Louis II since December 3 when they defeated Montpellier 3-0, which notably was their fourth home win in a row at the time.
Equally worrying is the fact they now only have won two of their last seven Ligue 1 matches, a run that’s massively hindering their Champions League qualification hopes.
Having picked up the same amount of points both at home and on the road (where they have the second best away record behind only PSG), they’ll be eager to return to winning ways with two crunch games on the horizon against Lens (away) and Paris Saint-Germain (home).
“Just one point out of twelve at home in our last four matches is not satisfactory. It’s a shame, especially since we are performing well away from home. Sometimes it is difficult to know how we can win a very difficult match in Nice, and then lose against Toulouse,” Hutter explained.
“We are very disappointed for our supporters who pushed us until the end to encourage the team to come back. What is certain is that our performances at home are not good enough at the moment.”
Minamino Monaco’s best
There was no doubting Takumi Minamino was Monaco’s best performer in this encounter, with the Japanese international causing constant headaches for the away team.
So effective at connecting attacks with his clever movement both wide and centrally and combining with his teammates, he was a great source of offensive impetus for Monaco.
Intelligent, awake to vacant spaces and knowing where opponents were situated due to his scanning, the Japanese frequently found room in the final third to get dangerous and keep Toulouse’s defenders on their toes.
Relishing the freedom Hutter grants him, this, in combination with his dribbling wizardry and creative passing, further ensured what a formidable foe he was for Les Violets to face off with.
Always trying to make something happen for his side, his seven touches inside the box, six dribbles, six crosses, four accurate passes into the final third, three shots and one shot assist underlined his admirable impact even though it wasn’t enough to propel his team to victory.