At 23, the Nantes goalkeeper impresses in Ligue 1 and stands before Monaco in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. His good performances could even hoist him up to the France team.
Although Alban Lafont is only 23 years old, he can no longer be considered a hopeful, quite the contrary. From the height of his ninety-six meter tall, the Nantes goalkeeper has even become an experienced player with Quentin Merlin and other nuggets from Nantes. His first professional match, Lafont played it more than 6 years ago, it was on November 28, 2015 with Toulouse FC (2-0 victory against OGC Nice). Since then, the Franco-Burkinabè has played 237 others, including 189 in Ligue 1. On fire against Paris SG on February 19 (8 saves) and author of remarkable performances with the FCNA since the start of the season, Lafont now presents himself as a of the best goalkeepers in Ligue 1. And stands this Wednesday evening against Monaco in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France.
The surprise in Deschamps’ list in March?
His name will inevitably agitate the next transfer window and perhaps even Didier Deschamps’ future press conference with the Blues on March 17 for the next rally. Behind Hugo Lloris (35, 136 caps, Tottenham) and Mike Maignan (26, 1 cap, AC Milan), the number three position is currently awarded to Alphonse Areola (29, 3 caps, West Ham), in lack of playing time with the Hammers and the profiles Benoit Costil or Steve Mandanda do not represent the future … A summons with the world champions would reward the course of the native of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. “Today what I like about Alban is that he has become much more proactive. He is a boy who is extremely good on his line but who also tries to use his morphology to take up more space whether in the areas in the outings or in his placements. » recount at Figaro Christophe Lollichon, goalkeeping coach at Chelsea since 2007.
SEE ALSO – Lafont’s incredible match against PSG on February 19 (3-1)
Promising start and total confirmation in Nantes
Trained in Toulouse, Alban Lafont was thrown into the deep end in 2015 by Dominique Arribagé who saw in him a way to compete with the other two goalkeepers in his group: Ali Ahamada and Mauro Goicoechea, both looking for a clean sheet for 19 met. “It was a daring bet, but it was also an opportunity to shake up a group that needed it”, he explained after the victory of his team (2-0 against OGC Nice). The teenager who was only in second in high school, lived a daydream and became the youngest goalkeeper to start a match in Ligue 1 since Mickaël Landreau in 1996. After this match, Lafont did not leave the goals of the violets, achieving 7 clean sheets and being no stranger to the maintenance in extremis of the TFC, despite his few flaws due to his young age “Before, he was a reaction goalkeeper. It’s normal when you’re young because he was looking primarily to protect his goal so we are a little less in the management of spaces. » plants Christophe Lollichon, who has observed him since the start of his career and sees great potential in him.
Author of 3 promising seasons, the Pitchoun decides to take off and leaves Toulouse, but keeps his love for the purple jerseys since he joins Fiorentina for 8.5 million euros. Unfortunately, the results will not be as expected. “In Italy it was not easy, it’s another methodology which is a little different from the French philosophy. It probably took him a little time to digest what we could ask of him. observes the specialist in the matter after years alongside monsters like Petr Cech, Thibaut Courtois and more recently Edouard Mendy in London. Despite the difficulties and the poor ranking of Fiorentina (16th at the end of the season) the Viola will still finish 6th best defense in Italy, ahead of AS Roma. With Lafont as an X factor.
If Alban continues to progress like that to be extremely consistent in terms of regularity of performance, I do not see what can prevent him from being a candidate for this group France
Christophe Lollichon, goalkeeping coach at Chelsea
After a rather mixed year in Italy, the French porter chose to return to the country. His club lends him to Nantes where he will aim to revive. It will sometimes be complicated, especially in the first part of the 2020/21 season when FC Nantes, in a crisis of results, finds itself coached by 4 different coaches: Gourcuff, Collot, Domenech and Kombouaré. It is ultimately the latter who will restore Lafont’s confidence:“When I arrived, I saw a goalkeeper in difficulty, who was doubtful. (…) The best thing to do was to put the blue heater on, that’s what he did, ” says the former coach of Paris SG who continued to develop the qualities of his player as Christophe Lollichon noticed: “When he was young, his kicking game was not a strong point. He worked, he can still improve but I think it was one of the most important axes of his progress.»
Since then, Lafont has definitely become the innkeeper of the canaries and has been able to hold the helm of the Nantes ship, even when it was at the heart of the storm, especially last season when it was necessary to pass the dams to stay in Ligue 1. His good form could even catch the eye of coach Didier Deschamps, probably looking for a third goalkeeper since the drop in form of Steve Mandanda and Benoît Costil. “He is necessarily a candidate for the France team but he must continue to work, explains Christophe Lollichon. If Alban continues to progress like that to be extremely consistent in terms of regularity of performance, I do not see what can prevent him from being a candidate for this group France. The Coupe de France semi-final against AS Monaco this Wednesday evening could put him a little more in the spotlight, two weeks before the first international gathering of the France team. The timing is ideal.
