Nantes separates from Antoine Kombouaré

Engaged in an uncertain fight to stay in Ligue 1, FC Nantes has chosen to separate from Antoine Kombouaré and to bet on internal solutions for the final sprint, we learned Monday evening from sources close to the club. .

Pierre Aristouy, coach of the U19s, will be responsible for managing the team for the last four matches of the season, ***isted by Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, current coach of the women’s team.

Called to the rescue in February 2021, Kombouaré had managed to snatch the maintenance that season before leading the team to victory in the Coupe de France the following year, its first title in more than two decades.

The FCN is currently 17th and first relegated

But despite an honorable run in the Europa League and a new Coupe de France 2023 final this season, he could not prevent the team from losing ground in the league.

Currently 17th and first relegated, two points from Auxerre (16th) and three from Brest (15th) and Strasbourg (14th), Nantes has not won in the league since mid-February.

And the team has just suffered three heavy setbacks in just one week: a humiliation against Toulouse at the Stade de France (5-1) and two 2-0 defeats against Brest and Strasbourg, direct competitors for maintenance.

President Waldemar Kita therefore chose to separate from the Kanak coach, who was at the end of his contract, in an attempt to create an electric shock.

Two house coaches at the relay

And he entrusted the group to two house coaches, for lack of an obvious external solution and to allow himself the possibility of bringing in someone more renowned for next season in the event of maintenance.

A former striker trained and launched in Nantes, Aristouy returned to the banks of the Loire in 2017 as a coach and had convincing results with the U19s. The Venezuelan Vizcarrondo also wore the Yellow and Green jersey (2013-2017).

Their task will be tough against four opponents who will not give a gift: Toulouse, executioner of the Stade de France and bitter defeat in the 2021 dam, Montpellier, revived by a Michel Der Zakarian who is still angry with Kita, Lille, in full sprint for Europe and finally Angers, red lantern which would be happy to drag the local rival in its fall.

“We are useless, but 16th place is two points away, it is reaching out to us. There is hope. We need a big kick in the ***“, had ***ured Kombouaré Sunday. But it will be without him.

For two years, it seemed to succeed beyond expectations, offering Nantes audiences evenings worthy of the great era.

But the team did not withstand the shock of a daunting schedule between the beginning of February and the beginning of April: Juventus Turin, a new course in the Coupe de France and almost all of the top of the table in the league.

She gradually fell in the standings, without managing to reverse the trend when the calendar finally served her with teams of “her» championship.

The rout in the final of the Coupe de France weighed down Nantes

If the Coupe de France was able to deceive, the rout in the final (5 to 1 defeat against Toulouse) weighed down Nantes, which followed with two identical defeats: a solid start, goals conceded on big errors and an attack too harmless to revive.

Deprived since last summer of Randal Kolo Muani, gone to shine in Germany and in the France team, the team has lost much of its bite.

With Andy Delort still silent in L1 since January, the energy of Mostafa Mohamed and the flashes of Ludovic Blas were not enough: 17th attack in the championship, the team totaled only 35 goals in 34 days.

“We’re in an ultra-negative spiral, we can’t get our heads above water, so we’re all going to have to question ourselves.“warned Captain Alban Lafont on Sunday.

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