The match against Marseille merely served to offer evidence to the claim that De Zerbi commands the hottest football in Europe at the moment. The players from Marseille kept moving, not a second's break, finding space in every possible nook of the pitch. Their dynamism left the backline for Montpellier with little defense overwhelmed. In fact, each time Montpellier tried to defend, there was always available space for the group in behind and they punished their adversaries with quick, incisive attacks. It was one of their better games of late.
While Montpellier did contribute to making Marseille’s game easier due to a less solid defense, we can’t ignore the fact that De Zerbi also orchestrated very well an attacking strategy that would work efficiently. The flow in the game and quick ball circulation really made Marseille appear far superior in this match. Where it matters most, Montpellier must with immediate effect correct their defensive weaknesses if they want to get out of this negative trend and compete better in the league.
Montpellier is a team that is currently in last place in Ligue 1. It is very difficult for them to get out of the relegation zone considering their very weak defense. Montpellier have won 4 points in 8 matches, but that will not have much effect because Angers and Le Harve are still stronger. Le Havre has the same points as Montpellier, but Le Havre is slightly stronger in defense so they concede fewer goals than Montpellier.
Until week 8, Ligue 1 looked quite tight. The competition for first place between Monaco and PSG is tight, I mean both teams have the same performance and points at the moment. PSG and Monaco both have 20 points currently in 8 matches, but Marseille who has a gap of 3 points behind should not be ignored. Marseille can threaten the top spot with its good performance, so there is no time to rejoice for PSG and Monaco at the top.
Only 3 points adrift, Marseille shouldn't be forgotten. Though the limelight shines more on Monaco and PSG at the moment, the journey of the season is long, and everything can happen.
Marseille has the potential to catch up so long as they keep up the good work. A poor result or two from PSG or Monaco can open up great opportunities for Marseille to press and threaten the top position. So, yes, competition in Ligue 1 is still very open. It will be interesting to see how these three teams compete until the end of the season.
It was a nice game for Marseille because they were able to get a good win in this match, seeing how they competed I was quite sorry for Montpellier because they didn't get a goal back, even though they had several chances but couldn't score them into goals.
There are too many weaknesses in Montpellier that must be improved, especially their defense, of the many matches played, their defense is the worst, they are fresh food for other teams to get goals and even if they want better defenders, I doubt that they have a lot of funds to buy, they can only improve their defense with their players and get serious training.
The defense line of Montpellier is a big problem that is clearly needed to be fixed right away.
With fragile defense such as this, it is difficult for them to compete competitively. They become an easy target for the opposing team to score goals. And if they do not have funds to strengthen the team through transfer, then the only way is to improve the performance of existing players, and in this case, specifically to strengthen defense, more intensive training.