AJ Auxerre must stem the bleeding as Will Still chases defensive reset | OneFootball

AJ Auxerre have shipped eight goals across the opening two Ligue 1 matches and, as the only side yet to collect a point, travel to Lyon on Friday at 19:00 needing a rapid defensive reset.

According to L'Équipe, the last Ligue 1 team to concede eight in the first two rounds and lose twice was Reims in 2022 under Oscar Garcia, with Will Still as his assistant.

Still’s first weeks have been bruising, a 2-5 collapse at Lens on 22 August after going down to 10 at 0-1, then a 1-3 home defeat by Angers on 29 August.

He accepts the idea that defensive problems are quicker to fix than attacking ones, yet the spine has changed, with goalkeeper Donovan Léon, midfielder Elisha Owusu and forward Lassine Sinayoko all gone. The 33-year-old says maturity must be rebuilt.

His verdict is blunt: Auxerre have been naive in key moments, especially on set plays against Angers, and must defend as a unit with renewed edge. The response, he insists, is work, repetition and video, trusting persistence to take hold.

Questions linger over goalkeeper Mamadou Diop, 26, a Mauritania international with eight caps, signed for €2m on a four-year deal from Grenoble in L2. Centre-back numbers are swollen, with Bryan Okoh, Francisco Sierralta, Sinaly Diomandé, Clément Akpa, Telli Siwe, Christ Makosso, Elikya Legros and Axel Tuanzebe.

Tuanzebe arrived on a free on Tuesday, previously at Manchester United and lately Burnley, and the Congolese defender, capped 17 times with one goal, is expected to add experience, but he will not feature in Lyon. Okoh faces a long absence after a serious knee injury, markets remain open to move on one or two, with Sierralta prioritised, and Still must quickly settle a pairing while enabling full-backs Lamine Sy and Fredrik Oppegard or Akpa, even Sékou Fofana on the left, and a midfield three with Arthur Piedfort or Pierre Ekwah holding, to function as an effective screen.

Source: L'Équipe

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”