Our man in France is back to deliver his assessment of Ligue 1's leading lights so far this season.
Now 12 games into the Ligue 1 season, French football is witnessing one of the league's best seasons yet. With an abundance of talent on show, plenty of shocks and surprises and big stories emerging from France each week, Ligue 1 is currently cementing its position as Europe's most rapidly improving competition. Paris Saint-Germain have now firmly established themselves at the top of the table following their mammoth summer spending spree but Montpellier continue to apply pressure in second place. Lille and Lyon also occupy places in the top five, whilst Marseille have recently begun to arrest their alarming form and have dragged themselves to ninth place. 2008-2009 champions Bordeaux have also been languishing in the lower reaches of the table but have started to pull away following some positive results.
Top five stars in the last month:
Kevin Gameiro:
A lot was expected from Kevin Gameiro when he elected to join nouveau riche Paris Saint-Germain ahead of a clutch of other European sides this summer and the diminutive striker has not disappointed. Currently sat atop the Ligue 1 goalscoring chart with eight goals and one assist from 12 games, the 24-year old is justifying his tag of being the most clinical striker in France right now and has helped fire the capital club to the summit in recent weeks. Although struggling at times to play up front on his own, his goals against Nice and Montpellier have been match winners and his devastating hat-trick against Ajaccio in matchweek 10 took his tally to five goals in six games. The goals help bring Gameiro ever closer to his target of being Ligue 1's top marksman this season but Newcastle might be kicking themselves that they were not able to pair him up with Demba Ba during the summer for what would have made a prolific partnership.
Speaking after the match against Ajaccio he said: "These goals were Inzaghi-esque goals, and you need them in a season. I am happy to have scored this hat-trick, it is the second of my career and I hope it will not be the last one.
"I have missed out on being the top scorer two seasons in a row; I hope the third time will be different. What is more important is that we are leading the table but we should not get carried away because the season will be long."
He has a point but PSG have looked unbeatable at times in the league this season and it is already going to take a huge effort from les Rouges-et-Bleus' title rivals that have been left standing to dislodge them. With the club's key players finding form and having gelled into an efficient and frightening attacking outfit it is hard to see which of their rivals can usurp them, and with the January transfer window not too far away and rumours of a certain Mr Beckham arriving in Paris whilst each home game sells out of tickets, PSG are certainly the club to watch in Europe right now.
Olivier Giroud:
Perhaps not as classy or playing for as big a club as Gameiro but Olivier Giroud is an equally as effective predator. Montpellier's star man has delivered big in recent weeks, with a whopping six goals in six games to tie with his international counterpart at the top of the Ligue 1 scoring chart. Recently called up by Laurent Blanc to the France squad for the first time ahead of their November friendlies, the 25-year old has leapt to the attention of European football fans in spectacular fashion. A hat-trick in a 5-3 routing of Dijon the day before Gameiro bagged his trio was the highlight of his recent half dozen but with la Paillade showing no signs of giving up their place in second, the bustling striker knows that he needs to maintain his high quality form.
Speaking recently about MHSC's top form and their chances of maintaining this unexpected run of form he said: "When I see that we are capable of competing with the bigger clubs, and that we have played all the big boys with the exception of Marseille and yet we are still here, I am convinced that we have what it takes to stay up at the top of the table.
"When you look at the way we have started the season, the self-belief we have, the efficiency in front of goal, we have every reason to approach the remainder of the season full of hope."
The purple patch Giroud is currently enjoying is attracting admiring glances from a number of Premier League clubs. including Alan Pardew's Newcastle United who could be having second thoughts about completing the deal for Sochaux striker Modibo Maiga, who they almost signed this summer. Despite being in good form since winning his place back in the Lionceaux side, Maiga has illustrated his reputation as a mercenary and could well have put the Magpies off due to his behavior in trying to push through a deal in August.
Giroud has all the physical attributes that would suit the Premier league, is in better form than Maiga and has less of an ego for managers to deal with so he could be the better choice. The Frenchman represents good business to a number of European sides however and because he is not cup-tied in Europe, a side offering either UEFA Champions League or Europa League football might fancy that they can lure him away from Herault this January.
Loic Remy:
Another striker who has been in fantastic form of late is Marseille's Loic Remy, scoring five goals and contributing one assist so far this season in the league and another two goals in the Coupe de la Ligue. A bright light in what has been a dull and at times dark season for Marseille, the 24-year old is now establishing himself as an important international player having risen to the top of Didier Deschamps' pecking order and is firmly the number one choice for an OM side with a lack of striking options.
Having forged a strong understanding with winger Mathieu Valbuena in a similar way that Michel Bastos and Bafetimbi Gomis have done at Lyon, Remy has started to drag les Phoceens up the table with his goals. Now sitting in a more respectable ninth place compared to last month's seventeenth, the young striker is finally starting to recognise his potential and deliver the sort of consistency many believed he was capable of. Although the season has not been easy at times, the former West Ham and Arsenal target believes that he has become a better player since the start of the new season.
Speaking recently about his form he said: "I've managed to forge an unfailing mental approach to the game.
"Before, I lacked the strength of character that prevents you from giving up when the other side scores a goal. Now that I've had the chance to work with some great players and a competent coach, I'm no longer the Rémy that I was last year."
Whether he can now maintain this form remains to be seen but rumours have already started to surface linking Remy with moves to the Premier League in January and perhaps an old admirer might be tempted to rekindle his interest in the striker...
Franck Tabanou:
A player whose reputation has yet to spread overseas but is making waves in Ligue 1 this season is Franck Tabanou of Toulouse. Not yet a full international but currently producing form that must see him knocking on Laurent Blanc's door, the 22-year old left winger has scored two goals and created three in 12 games so far this season, which is an impressive contribution given that le Tefece have only scored 13 times so far this campaign. The talented left-sided player is an indispensable asset to Alain Casanova's side and his versatility in being able to play in any position on the left of the field has attracted many admirers.
Growing up in Paris, Tabanou was a childhood PSG and has recently been linked with the club in the French press but little is known about him outside of these shores. A hardworking, technically gifted player with a great turn of pace and tremendous delivery already looks set to surpass his total of four goals and five assists last season. Playing on the left of a 4-5-1 in Toulouse's midfield, Tabanou is expected to attack regularly and this season has found himself pushing further forward as evidenced by his two goals so far. His assist against Nancy in gameweek eight was nothing short of magical where he demonstrated his growing confidence and sublime ability by deftly flicking the ball over his opponents head before squaring the ball into the path for Umut Bulut to score. If he continues in this sort of form it is hard to see sides from the rest of Europe not taking an interest.
Benjamin Corgnet:
Little was known about 24-year old midfielder Benjamin Corgnet and his team Dijon before the season started but recently the former amateur league star has taken Ligue 1 by storm. A number of commanding displays for Dijon including leading them on heroic comebacks, or at least half comebacks, against PSG in the Coupe de la Ligue and Marseille in the league recently has brought him to the attention of a number of teams, particularly in France. The classy deep-lying midfielder pulls the strings and is a part of everything good that they have produced lately and he has contributed five goals this season, four of which have come in the previous six weeks.
His link-up play with Brice Jovial and Thomas Guerbert this season has been invaluable to the club and between them they have been involved in all 13 of the club's goals so far this campaign. With Dijon now looking like they are capable of avoiding relegation thanks largely to Corgnet's efforts so far this year, there will be a number of sides enquiring about his signature this January.
Honourable Mentions:
As with last month's choices there are a number of players who ran my top five close but just didn't do quite enough to warrant a place in the selection. Firstly Nene of PSG is very unlucky not to make this cut despite his recent form. Scorer of six goals and author of two assists so far this season, fans of the capital club have been witnesses to some exhibitions from the talented Brazilian winger in recent weeks. Whilst some of his team-mates have faltered and not reached the high levels of performance expected from them, Nene has rediscovered his match winning form from last season and has put in three superb performances to single-handedly win les Rouges-et-Bleus nine points. His five goals against Nice, Dijon and Caen have kept the capital giants at the top of Ligue 1 and a number of clubs will surely be sitting up and taking note of his progress.
Recent Arsenal target Yoann Gourcuff of Lyon must also be mentioned following his recent return from injury. Many Ligue 1 fans were curious to see whether the mercurial French playmaker could return from a five month absence and make an impact on a Lyon side that did so well in his absence and despite having only played in three games so far, Gourcuff seems to have rediscovered the form that made him one of Europe's best midfielders a few years ago. His sublime blind pass assist for Jimmy Briand's goal against Lille a few weeks ago and an even more delightful chipped finish in the recent Rhone derby suggests that once back to full match fitness the 25-year old will finally be able to prove to the Lyon fans that he was a worthwhile investment following the €23million that Jean-Michel Aulas ploughed into signing him two years ago. Recently the OL fans had begun to express their doubts over his long term future at the club but the scenes of joy that greeted his goal last weekend is an indication that they are prepared to give him a little longer to prove himself.
Finally as I did in my last entry I will give English fans a little update on Joe Cole's progress with Lille. It has been a busy month and a half for the 29-year old who has been in impressive form of late. Two goals in the league, one a superb long-range effort against Lorient and the second a sliding finish to wrap up the 3-1 heavyweight victory over Lyon after a lung-bursting run to get into the box and another in the Coupe de la Ligue, takes his tally to three so far. Cole has finally found his match fitness after a couple of months of adapting and this has coincided with him rediscovering his best form. His happiness at Lille is clear for all to see and the fans and his teammates have taken to him very quickly and he is an immensely popular member of the side. Whether he begins to start more games after finding himself on the bench to begin with is the next challenge he needs to address but he has played from the start in the majority of les Dogues Ligue 1 fixtures so far this season and now he is fully fit Rudi Garcia will have less misgivings about putting him into the starting line-up. Cole's presence in France is helping to raise Ligue 1's profile and who knows, by the time I write my next entry, he may have been joined by another English football superstar...
