All the warning lights in Montpellier are red at the end of the first half of the season

Akor Adams, auteur de seulement trois buts cette saison, symbolise la panne offensive des Montpelliérains. Midi Libre – ALEXANDRE DIMOU

Défense perméable, attaque à l’arrêt, des cartons à la pelle : l’équipe héraultaise, clouée à la dernière place, vit une première partie de saison alarmante. Chiffres à l’appui.

Montpellier has been struggling for the past ten days. The recent defeat against Angers (1-3) at La Mosson, the 12th in the championship, obscures its catastrophic record at mid-season. Seven points behind the relegation play-off team, the Hérault team is suffering a general breakdown. With figures to back it up, all the lights are red and leave little hope for the second half of the season, which opens on Friday (7 p.m.) at La Mosson against Monaco.

Nine points

Montpellier has never tipped over at mid-season, nor after 17 days with nine points. He has taken four in eight days under the direction of Michel Der Zakarian, dismissed from his functions on October 20, and five in nine days under that of his successor Jean-Louis Gasset.

So far, he has only collected two victories against Auxerre (3-2) and Brest (3-1), as well as three draws against Strasbourg (1-1), Lille (2-2) and Nice (2-2).

With a comparable record, only Sète in 1947-1948 (9 points, 16th at the end) and Ajaccio in 2011-2012 (9 points, 16th at the end) have stayed up. The other fifteen teams, which had a similar start, have plummeted to Ligue 2.

42 goals conceded

42 goals conceded and not a single clean sheet. The defense falters and enters history halfway through the season. Only Nice had conceded as many goals after 16 days during the 1978-79 season. Goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte conceded at least one goal in the last 23 days. A series far removed from his first experience in Hérault.

Indeed, during Der Zakarian's first two seasons on the Hérault bench (2017-18, 2018-19), Montpellier had only conceded 33 goals and 42 goals respectively over the entire season (38 matches).

Serbian recruit Nikola Maksimovic, who arrived at the end of October and is unavailable until the end of the season, was absent at Le Puy (4-0) and against Angers (1-3).

The greatest number of cards

Montpellier is on a roll. It has the highest number of warnings and expulsions in Ligue 1. More than double the number of yellow cards as Angers, another candidate for survival, and its famous slab. Central defender Modibo Sagnan and midfielder Rabby Nzingoula stand out with seven warnings each.

Six expulsions (Coulibaly (2), Dzodic, Savanier, Kouyaté, Ferri) are added to this very bleak picture. Five more than all the other candidates for survival. And, the highest total in the five major Championships, identical to Hellas Verona.

Zero points away

Eight away games, eight defeats. Not a single point away. In Paris, Monaco, Lyon, but also in Reims, Le Havre, Saint-Étienne… Not to mention the humiliation (4-0) at Le Puy (N2) in the Coupe de France on December 21.

Montpellier, and its flying wingers: Tamari, Nordin, Maamma or Coulibaly, are no longer taking off. And are ruining the Hérault habits, more comfortable away in the past than at La Mosson. In the last two seasons, he had obtained more points there than at home.

Three goals for Adams

Three goals in fifteen games. Center forward Akor Adams lacks efficiency, symbolizing an attack that has run out of steam (16 goals). Author of eight goals last year, he is struggling to take over from Elye Wahi (19 goals in 2022-23).

Jordanian winger Mousa Tamari (no goals), intermittent Wahbi Khazri (one goal) and playmaker Téji Savanier (2 goals) are not doing any better than the Nigerian. A lack of efficiency at all levels.

I subscribe to read the rest