Le Mans FC pre-season friendly against FC Nantes

My analysis

It's going to take character to succeed in Ligue 1 and be ready both physically and mentally to know how to turn matches around!

Although he was a bit more low-key last year in terms of leadership, I'm convinced that Lucas Bretelle is going to light up Ligue 1 with his technical precision, and that he'll also manage to assert himself a bit more in the dressing room. He was excellent during his first 45 minutes, delivering some great through balls that were unfortunately poorly finished up front.

One thing is also certain: Patrick Videira won't be doing any favours for his players, no matter what status they earned last season. If a player has a bad game, there's no guarantee he'll start the next one, so it'll be worth keeping a close eye on the predicted lineups.

In the second half, despite a superb goal from Harhouz, Le Mans were less impressive in open play and nearly conceded against this weak Nantes side. Worth noting that Jean Vercruysse looks to have regained good physical condition and could be pushing for a starting spot. Also notable were the solid performances from Voyer and utility man Rabillard, as well as the very promising cameo from Gaudin, who could act as the first-choice backup in central defence if no new signing arrives during the transfer window.

I'll try to catch another pre-season friendly and put together a new article with the "picks" I'd take, in my opinion, for this Le Mans FC side!

To wrap up, based on last season's scorings, it's likely that this back-three defence will perform at AA level, and in the event of a CS, the defensive stack could be very interesting.