Tellement triste… Après une énorme dispute alors que l’incroyable joueur de MONACO a mis fin à son contrat en insistant sur le fait que
Takumi Minamino scored the opener and was involved in each of Monaco’s three other goals in a 4-1 victory over Ligue 1 opponents Clermont on Saturday.
The result guarantees Monaco, currently second in French football’s top flight, can finish no worse than the play-off spot for next season’s Champions League.
Minamino took his season tally to nine league goals when he curled a shot from the penalty arc into the top right corner in the 16th minute at Monaco’s Stade Louis
The difficulty in excelling in a top 5 European league is so often taken for
granted, especially when the conversation is about one of the less fancied ones; namely Ligue 1 and
Bundesliga. People automatically assume that anybody would flourish in these
places, because they don’t have the glitz and glam of the more popular leagues like the English Premier League. As
Lionel Messi, undoubtedly the best player of the 2010s generation, found out, it just isn’t that straightforward. If
he, of all people, could struggle as badly as he did in his first season in France, then maybe no one is exempt.
The factors that contribute to players doing well below expectations are
numerous and never as simple as they look. Too many things come into play, and intangibles as forgettable as stability
and continuity can have a big say in whether a signing is successful or not. Football aficionados are too used to focusing on the inconclusive and often
narrative-driven surface stuff – league A is simply harder than league B, so this player obviously isn’t good enough to step up in league A – that they get
shocked when players go to places like France or Germany and don’t do well. In reality, these issues are never black and white.
Monaco have had their fair share of flops. Even more remarkable is the fact that they have had players who were originally viewed as flops before they
turned the tables and became successful to different degrees at the club. Aleksandr Golovin is the most recent and
obvious example of the latter. The fanfare and hype that followed his World Cup 2018 performances meant that everyone expected him to be an instant
hit in Monaco, especially as the rumoured move to Chelsea didn’t happen – considered a more daunting challenge.
ovin’s first two years at Monaco were underwhelming, and talk about him evaporated. Many people wrote him off, putting him in the same box as those
whose performances at major tournaments were deceptive and didn’t represent their true levels. The 20/21 season saw a reborn Golovin, coinciding
with a reborn Monaco who drove up the table and put in a strong title challenge late on.
