Injuries, unbalanced squad and fan unrest as Strasbourg see Europe slip away | OneFootball

Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw at Angers on Sunday ended their push for European football next season, capping a campaign that once promised trophies on three fronts.

According to Le Progres, an overstretched, shallow squad, exposed by injuries, saw their charge fade across Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Europa Conference League.

The result leaves them outside the European places, at best eighth on 53 points if they beat Brest on Wednesday at 19:00 and Monaco on Sunday at 21:00. Their cup runs ended to Nice 2-0 and to Rayo Vallecano 1-0, 1-0.

Despite heavy investment, around 10 signings for over 100 million euros, Strasbourg leaned on youthful bets rather than proven performers and were left short.

Head coach Gary O’Neil has acknowledged a lack of quality and depth. After Angers he said he was angry and that standards, culture and togetherness must improve to become a top side.

From late March they lost top scorer Joaquin Panichelli, 16 Ligue 1 goals, and captain Emmanuel Emegha for more than three months. Winter departures of centre-back Mamadou Sarr and head coach Liam Rosenior to Chelsea further weakened the group, with O’Neil calling January difficult and saying the squad became weaker rather than stronger.

Tensions with sections of the support also grew over multi-ownership, with ultras staging strikes. A mid-September photo shoot of Emegha in a Chelsea shirt, trailing his end of season move, inflamed anger.

Source: Le Progres