Three takeaways from AS Monaco’s loss against Angers
On a night that won’t live long in the memory for AS Monaco’s fans and one where there wasn’t too much to get excited about, many talking points still arose following their disappointing 0-1 loss to Angers.
With this in mind, this gives us the opportunity to focus on three takeaways from this encounter.
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Another defeat
Having started the season in exceptional style by going on a 11-game unbeaten streak, the last two games have been tough for Les Monegasques, with their two consecutive losses vs. OGC Nice and Angers leaving them with plenty to ponder.
Surrendering first in the Ligue 1 table and putting themselves in challenging positions in their recent fixtures with their disciplinary issues, by committing some uncharacteristic errors and missing chances they’d usually convert, addressing these problems will be key moving forward.
“I always talk to my players about performances and tonight we can’t accept that. We have to find our strengths, our style of play and our identity, that’s what we lacked in the first half especially. There was a problem with our pressing, we were without ideas with the ball and we played slow football,” Adi Hutter insisted following the first time he’d lost two in a row at the helm of ASM.
“The defence was also disorganised at times. It’s very difficult to find the right words, but it’s a big disappointment, the second in a week. We have to stay united and be combative. My job is to find solutions, but we can’t have lost our style of play in a week.”
While it’s not all bad and the overall performances have been largely sound, the team that currently still sits second in the standings will be doing everything in their power to arrest this slide.
Facing Bologna in the Champions League and Strasbourg in Ligue 1 before the next international break, these clashes represent brilliant opportunities to get back on track and restore some much-needed positivity and confidence.
Henrique a shining light
Caio Henrique was unquestionably Monaco’s best performer on the night, with him offering plenty of attacking thrust and creativity for Les Monegasques.
Keen to get forward at every available opportunity with his nicely timed forward forays, his crafty ball carrying and incisive passing then served as a major source of offensive impetus for Les Rouge et Blanc.
Firing in some terrific deliveries into the final third and posing a major threat to the Angers backline, he yet again underlined his class with his polished body of work.
Also holding his own in a stopping sense, the Brazilian international performed his roles and responsibilities effectively in this phase as well.
By the numbers, his six touches inside the box, six clearances, five ball recoveries, four completed passes into the final third, two chances created, two fouls won and the fact he won all six of his ground and aerial duels illustrated his impressive contribution.
Expect more to come from the elite full-back as the campaign progresses and he builds towards getting back to his best too, with him set to go from strength to strength with every passing match following his lengthy injury layoff that saw him sidelined for the majority of last term.
Angers deserve credit
Despite heading into the match with just one win all season and having only one of their last 33 away matches, Angers deserve immense credit for putting in such a spirited showing against this excellent Monaco.
Getting off to a wonderful start to put their opponents on the back foot, they were eventually rewarded for their strong opening when former ASM man Jean-Eudes Aholou propelled them into the lead with his sublime strike.
From there, it was admirable how they defended resolutely to limit Monaco from generating many quality chances while still posing a threat on the counter.
In his pre-match press conference, Hutter warned Angers had what it takes to push his team all the way, and his comments proved spot on, which he elaborated on in his post-match comments.
“Yesterday, when we did the analysis work, we were clear with my players. We showed them their latest results and they could see that they were in good form with two draws in Marseille and Toulouse, as well as a victory against Saint-Etienne last week. I told them that we had to be careful and not underestimate them because they play good football. That was the case tonight and Angers deserved to win this match,” explained Hutter afterwards.
“I repeat, it was really a bad performance, the worst of the season. Respect to Angers for this victory, and on our side, we have to bounce back as quickly as possible.”
Following their collectively formidable effort to defeat Les Monegasques, up next for Alexandre Dujeux’s men is the mighty Paris Saint-Germain, where they’ll be keen to record another upset against the odds.