Under the microscope: Istres - a young, cosmopolitan squad
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Despite having conceded the second most goals in the league this season (896), Istres are counting on star 'keeper Romain Mathias to keep turning in the strong performances to keep them out of the drop zone. With 282 saves to his name, Mathias has only been outdone by Joze Baznik of Aix-en-Provence and Milan Bomastar of Chartres this season.
In defence, Les Violets welcomed a number of reinforcements last summer in preparation for their return to the top flight. Coming straight from Sporting CP, Edimilson Araujo brings a wealth of experience from his European and international campaigns with the Portuguese national team. He forms a complementary pairing with Lubin Gensoulen, a product of the Istres youth academy and undoubtedly one of the revelations of the season within the club's senior squad. With the second-most assists in Gilles Derot's squad this season (97 assists), the 22-year-old is establishing himself as an increasingly reliable option, as evidenced by his growing playing time despite competition from Araujo and Torben Petersen, who has proven more effective scoring goals (94 goals) than cooking them up for his team-mates (56 assists).
On the opposite flank, youth is the name of the game. Belgium's Raphaël Kotters, another product of the Istres youth academy, is the squad's second-top scorer (108 goals) and a consistent threat, but Louis Joseph (24) and Italy's Thomas Bortoli (23) have proven themselves to be full of quality and improving with each passing week.
In central midfield, Nicolas Bono has almost no rivals as he is so crucial to his team's play. Given theside's limited resources and relatively thin squad, the Argentinian has plenty of scope to showcase his talent. In his first season in the top flight, the centre-half has shown that he is a veritable Swiss Army knife in terms 84 goals and 132 assists.
Despite coming off the back of an excellent season in the Proligue, Josep Folques could hardly have expected to have such a good season in his first campaign in France's top flight. Last week, the Spaniard surpassed the 100-goal mark in the Liqui Moly StarLigue, maintaining a 70% success rate throughout a campaign in which he has not missed a single one of the 28 fixtures so far. The man who will be joining Cesson Rennes next season has established himself as one of the leaders of the squad and will undoubtedly be one of the men to watch at Coubertin.
As for the right flank, it has been one of Istres' biggest projects this season. With only two professional right-wingers, the side from Provence were already somewhat limited. However, Gilles Derot thought he could count on the experience and talent of Josip Bozic, who was coming off an impressive season with Tremblay, another team promoted to the top flight. However, the Croatian's first season in the elite was nothing like he had hoped. With several injuries over the course of the season, he has so far only been able to play in 14 matches, leaving the right wing to right-backs Raphaël Kotters and Thomas Bortoli and young wingers Marin Langlais and Thomas Martinon, both graduates of Les Violets' youth academy.
Finally, the pivot position is masterfully managed by Guilherme Borges. At 26, he is one of Istres great finds. Having arrived from Ademar Léon last summer, Borges needed no time to adapt and immediately established himself as the main attacking threat in Gilles Derot's squad. With 126 goals scored at a 74% clip, the South American is not only Les Violets' top scorer, he is one of the revelations of the season. After a perfect five-goal performance against Nantes and Les Rouge et Bleu in the first half of the season - not to mention a ruthless eight-goal turn against Montpellier, the Brazilian international will need to be kept in check.
As demonstrated a few weeks ago in their victory over Nantes, Istres are capable of giving the big boys a run for their money thanks to a squad that is small in numbers but not in talent. All of which means that Istres are well on the way to securing their top-flight survival.
(Credits L. Valroff/PSG)