Angers Had No Money To Sign Strikers So Turned To Youth Players. It Worked

Deprived of their apical scorer from past play and incapable to motion a replacement, Angers did not person a prime but to move to 2 18-year-old strikers from their academy. Sidiki Chérif and Prosper Peter person shown that it should person been nan only choice.

The play started pinch a triumph for Angers, but it was a triumph that brought much fearfulness than hope. Esteban Lepaul scored nan only extremity of nan crippled arsenic they beat Paris FC. The Frenchman had been a revelation successful nan 2nd half of past season, arsenic his 9 goals ensured information for Ligue 1’s 2nd lowest scorers. But Rennes were circling and he was gone by nan extremity of August.

Angers scrambled for a replacement and they seemed to person recovered him. Rémy Labeau-Lascary had already posed pinch nan Angers garment and trained pinch his caller teammates erstwhile nan DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, pulled nan plug connected nan deal. Angers were incapable to summation their costs bill, truthful he returned to Lens earlier hastily heading retired connected indebtedness to Brest. A move for Steve Mounié fell done for nan aforesaid reason. Unable to motion players, they had to look to their academy. “We are obliged to create players,” Angers’ adjunct head Lamine Mbaye tells us.

It was a sliding doors moment, a blessing successful disguise, arsenic it meant that Chérif and Peter – 2 “endearing boys” successful nan words of Mbaye – had to beryllium thrust into nan limelight. The teenagers person scored six of Angers’ 10 convention goals this play (three apiece). Mbaye says nan brace stock an “affinity” that has been formed complete years and transcends nan pitch.

Chérif’s chance came first. He made his debut astatine nan property of 16 earlier injuries slowed his progress. “It was an acquisition that made him grow,” says Mbaye. “He realised what he was doing whitethorn not person been perfect, and acold distant from a top-level player, successful position of recovery, of work. When you get injured a 3rd time, you go alert of tons of things. He has grown from those experiences. Maybe he needed that to understand definite things. I person ever had large hopes for him because he made a large effect astatine younker level.”

The sentiment is shared by nan Saumur FC manager, Julien Sourice, who coached Chérif astatine younker level. Sourice says it was a struggle to enlistee nan striker. “He wanted to enactment pinch his friends, which I understood, because he was young, but he was truthful bully and everyone wanted him,” Sourice tells us. Chérif was destined to move connected to a Ligue 1 nine quickly but he made a lasting belief connected his erstwhile manager, who describes him arsenic a “refreshing and carefree” centre-forward. “He is simply a subordinate who brings nan squad up nan field. He is vertical, he breaks done nan lines and gains his metres for his teams. He has ever scored goals. He goes guardant for illustration nary 1 will extremity him.”

Sourice says nan characteristics he saw years agone were location successful Chérif’s capacity against Auxerre complete nan weekend. It was his tally and transverse that forced Clément Akpa to put nan shot successful his ain nett and manus Angers the lead; it was Peter who vanished nan job, scoring Angers’ 2nd pinch nan last whistle approaching. “They are 2 strikers who person a scent for goal,” says Mbaye, who worked pinch nan duo astatine under-19s, reserve and now astatine elder level.

Angers players and unit observe aft their 2-0 triumph against Auxerre. Photograph: Eddy Lemaistre/Icon Sport/Getty Images

Mbaye has been peculiarly impressed by nan maturity of Peter’s performances: “He has amazed maine by really he has adapted truthful quickly, which isn’t easy. To transportation nan team, to beryllium nan goalscorer of nan squad astatine 18, it isn’t easy.” The Angers adjunct head says nan brace “complement” each other. Chérif likes to play retired wide and “burst into space”, whereas Peter is “more of a cardinal player”, a “pivot player” who is bully successful nan aerial and likes to find spaces wrong nan box. He did conscionable that connected Sunday afternoon, showing his striker’s small heart by pursuing successful Lilian Raolisoa’s first effort, which had been tipped connected to nan post.

The 2-0 triumph complete Auxerre lifts Angers to 13th successful Ligue 1, arsenic they look to erstwhile again defy expectations and stave disconnected nan drop. Chérif and Peter will beryllium important players if they are to scope that objective. And successful nan early they could beryllium important to satisfying nan club’s off-field needs too. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, now astatine Eintracht Frankfurt, and Mohamed-Ali Cho, now astatine Nice, some near nan nine for sizeable fees. Selling their academy products is not conscionable a strategy astatine Angers, it is astir survival; we understand that clubs successful England, Spain and Germany are already showing liking successful Chérif.

“We took a measurement into nan unknown,” said Angers’ manager, Alexandre Dujeux, connected Sunday. “But we didn’t cognize really precocious they could go.” Time will show nan heights Chérif and Peter tin scope but we mightiness not beryllium asking that mobility had nan nine signed their apical targets successful nan summer. Merci la DNCG!

Talking points

Paris Saint-Germain left it precocious to hit Lyon, conscionable arsenic they did past weekend, erstwhile they saw disconnected Nice pinch nan last footwear of nan game. João Neves, 1 of nan shortest players connected nan pitch, headed successful nan precocious victor connected this juncture arsenic PSG won 3-2 astatine nan Groupama Stadium. Luis Enrique’s broadside were pegged backmost doubly and undone by 2 agelong balls complete nan top, nan 2nd scored by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, whose long-range spot caught retired Lucas Chevalier, who had ventured into nary man’s land. But overmuch of nan post-match chat revolved astir refereeing decisions, pinch nan Lyon defender Nicolás Tagliafico shown a harsh 2nd yellowish conscionable seconds earlier PSG’s 95th-minute winner. “PSG are nan champion squad successful Europe; they don’t request 16 players connected nan transportation and I’m not moreover counting nan VAR,” said Lyon’s adjunct head Jorge Maciel. The crippled suggests PSG are not presently “the champion squad successful Europe”.

João Neves celebrates aft scoring PSG’s precocious victor successful Lyon. Photograph: Franco Arland/Getty Images

Refereeing decisions were successful nan spotlight successful Monaco, too. They were beaten 4-1 by Lens and person now registered back-to-back convention defeats for nan first clip since October 2024. The crippled was decided successful 5 frantic minutes earlier half-time: Wesley Saïd gave Lens a 2-1 lead earlier Folarin Balogun, who had earlier equalised from nan punishment spot, was shown a very harsh reddish card. Seconds later, nan subordinate he had fouled, Mamadou Sangaré, burst done nan Monaco defence to double Lens’ advantage and put nan crippled retired of sight. Monaco’s CEO, Thiago Scuro, made a uncommon quality successful nan mixed area aft nan lucifer to denounce nan refereeing performance, but his complaints only disguise Monaco’s mediocrity against Lens. They person to respond good aft nan world break to adjacent nan spread to nan Champions League places.

This is an article by Get French Football News