While all eyes are on Hatem Ben Arfa, the Mastiffs challenge Lorient this Wednesday, in a late match for the 20th day.
LOSC will present themselves without two major elements against Lorient this Wednesday (7 p.m.). One of the absences is however more official than the other, since the technician Jocelyn Gourvennec, tested positive for Covid-19, will not be able to take his place on the Dogues bench. The other, more unofficial, is that of Hatem Ben Arfa, who should become a player for the northern club in the coming days. “We are waiting for the green light and I hope everything will be resolved quickly enough for him to join us.“said Jocelyn Gourvennec, forced to appear by video on Tuesday.
No revolution is therefore to be expected for the champion of France, who will therefore later integrate the 34-year-old playmaker, who is about to discover his seventh Ligue 1 club after his freelance season in Bordeaux. And the former Marseillais should logically wait a little longer given his lack of rhythm since his last match last May with the Girondins. And even if his future coach reveals that the player is already “fit“, no risk will be taken in the immediate future: “It has been checked individually and it looks good, but we will do things in order.
Focus on Lorient
In the meantime, place in Lorient, without victory for 13 matches. A series that stretches to a year and four months out of their bases (Reims 1-3 Lorient, October 17, 2020) for the Hakes. A first victory in 2022 would allow the Northerners to leave the anonymity of the soft belly and to find the heights of the European places, more in conformity with their status of champion.
«I don’t want us to get the wrong objective, evaded Gourvennec, assailed with questions about Ben Arfa on Tuesday. We can talk about Hatem all you want in the future. We will have plenty of subjects to discuss concerning him, but we must first focus on Lorient. History to restart the machine after two matches in which LOSC led before being joined, in Lens in the Coupe de France (2-2, 4-3 on tab) then in Marseille this Sunday (1-1).
The attack must restart the machine
Gourvennec thus ensures that the insistent rumors about Ben Arfa, whose arrival in a Ligue 1 club still arouses attraction, do not disturb the preparation for this late match of the 20th day, postponed to the beginning of January. due to several cases of Covid-19 within the two workforces. And even less disturb the future competitors of the former PSG player, who arrives above all to compensate for the departures of Jonathan Ikoné (Fiorentina) and that, imminent, of Yusuf Yazici (CSKA Moscow). It is moreover the loan (option at 12 M€?) of the Turk in Russia which will unlock the signing of the French international (12 caps, 2 goals).
His future partners were able to get a glimpse of the intact qualities of the attacking midfielder, present since Monday at the Domaine de Luchin, the club’s training center. And the entire offensive sector of Lille, silent in 2022, has the opportunity to launch the machine against an opponent within its reach before the expected arrival of the future chief blaster of the attack for the next big deadlines against Paris (February 6) in L1, then Chelsea, in the knockout stages of the Champions League (February 22).
But for now, it is Jonathan David who remains the main threat of LOSC. And the current top scorer in Ligue 1, who remained on four goals in five matches in December, will be fondly remembered by Lorient, against whom he scored the first of his 29 goals with Lille on November 22, 2020 (4-0 ).
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