Troyes were having a good season before COVID-19 ended it all, with the side pushing for promotion to the Ligue 1 sitting on the 3rd place in Ligue 2. On March 6th they entertained relegation threatened Paris FC. Troyes were dominant in attack and had the upper hand. This resulted in the opening goal by Tchimbembé in the 21st minute of the game. They couldn’t, however, make the most of their chances and were relatively inconsistent at the back. This made it possible for Paris FC to profit from their mistakes and equalize in the 39th minute via Kanté. While Troyes pushed in the second half with an attacking 4-1-4-1 formation, they weren’t able to break the 4-2-3-1 formation by Paris. Particularly the low defensive block was something Troyes struggled with.
Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Player Profile:
- Nationality: French, Congolese
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 25/03:1999
- Club: ES Troyes AC
- Career: ES Troyes (Y)
- Position: Centre Half
- Secondary position: Defensive midfielder, left back
- Preferred foot: Left
Stone Mambo’s natural position is central defence, but in this game against Paris FC he played on the left-back position. Troyes employed a four-man midfield and Mambo acted as a third central defender in the defensive phase of the game and was very active going forward, in the transition from defence to attack.
Mambo is 1,83 meters tall and physically impressive. He did well in the aerial duels and ground duels, as he uses his body well to position himself for the duels. Directly after the duels, he showed good ability in transition as he immediately moved forward and upped the tempo. He’s strong in the 1v1 because of his thinking and doesn’t dive into tackles, because he doesn’t need to correct his timing.
What’s remarkable about Mambo is that he passes most of his balls forward. He’s always looking for an option going forward and all of his passes into the final third were successful. But his dribbling, however, is non-existent. He doesn’t make runs down the line in order to provide crosses. He keeps to his passing and gets back in his defensive position.
Rating: A2
There’s a lot of potential with Mambo and after seeing this game, I believe he could prove himself on a higher level. Obviously I need to see more of him, but I think he could easily play on Ligue 1 level.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: French, Congolese
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 21/04/1998
- Club: ES Troyes AC
- Career: ES Troyes (Y)
- Position: Right midfielder
- Secondary position: right-wing attacker, left midfielder
- Preferred foot: right
Warren Tchimbembé is a 22 year old midfielder with an eye for attacking movement. His technique is great and his first touch gives him a lot of advantage going forward. In this game against Paris FC he played as left central midfielder in the 4-1-4-1 formation. It wasn’t easy for Tchimbembé to move forward though, as Paris FC had a tight defensive with their 4-2-3-1 annd Tchimbembé had to be creative.
He is strong on the ball and likes to dribble. He tries this often as he could see opportunities and tries to reach the attackers, but this was not without risk. In transition, he was quick to trail back and assist the defence.
What stood out was that he tried to move to the left flank and look for passing options from there or make a run down the line, and cut inside. This was rather successful as he opened the score after 27 minutes into the games, making it 1-0 to the hosts. Although he was confident in going forward in the first half-hour of the game, that changed into indecisiveness later in the game. After the 1-1 was scored by Paris FC, something changed in his head and he was different. He went past defenders, especially when he moved to the position of left midfielder in the 4-4-2, but his crosses were not of sound quality.
Rating: B1
I’m not sure. I saw a lot of willingness and potential with Tchimbembé. Technically gifted and and eagerness to attack and make a difference. His mentality dropped after the 1-1 and that is concerning.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Mali, Ivory Coast
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 17/12/1996
- Club: ES Troyes AC on loan from LOSC Lille
- Career: AS Real Bamako, LOSC Lille B, LOSC Lille, Paris FC (L), LOSC Lille, Cercle Brugge (L), LOSC Lille, ES Troyes AC (L)
- Position: central midfielder
- Secondary position: defensive midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Kouamé played as the right central midfielder in this game and remained in that position in both the 4-1-4-1 and 4-4-2 formation, Troyes employed most of the game. He is a strong, agile midfielder who can runs from box to box. His pace makes it easy to get from place to another and assist both the attack and defence.
He is very enthusiastic on and off the ball which makes him have a good mentality and he wins duels, but it also leads to faults and potential yellow cards in the process. He is very sharp in the 1v1 and makes sure he does his part, in the defensive phase of the play.
Most of his passes were direct towards the right, were the upcoming full-back would make a run down the line. Although he could see this could add to the attacking threat, his vision was not great. He is technically gifted, but on the ball he lacked leadership and composure.
Rating: B1
He is technically gifted, is strong and has pace. A box to box midfielder with potential, but he has too many errors in this game. Need to watch more to assess him fully.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: French
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 19/08/1997
- Club: ES Troyes AC
- Career: Saint-Etiènne (Y)
- Position: attacking midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Dylan Chambost is an attacking minded midfielder who played as an attacking midfielder. He switched from the right flank to the left flank during the game, as he wanted to surprise the opponents with his positioning. He is technically gifted, has a good first touch and is always looking for an opening towards goal. Although he has a good pass, he does not take any risks. He provides crosses and uses the long ball to reach his opponents, instead of the high-risk through ball.
He does shy from duels, as he often passes the ball before entering a duel. At times he does seem solely occupied with the attacking side of the game and does not part in the defensive duties. He just won one duel in the entirety of the 77 minutes he played against Paris FC.
His mentality could definitely be better, as he did lost the ball many times because of it. If an action or pass would not be successful, he showed signs of giving up. That affected his game.
Rating: B1
He is a technically gifted player with a potential for a lot of creativity, but his mentality disappointed me. His mentality is what makes him a player that could progress to the Ligue 1 or make him stay in Ligue 2.