It’s been a long four-and-a-half years for Antoine Kombouaré. It was a few days before the end of 2011 that he was fired by Paris Saint-Germain, with the club he had served so memorably as a player sitting pretty atop Ligue 1. The club’s board got the more cosmopolitan replacement they wanted in the shape of Carlo Ancelotti, though he couldn’t close out the long-awaited title triumph that his predecessor had set up.
Kombouaré has been flying under the radar since to such an extent that you wondered if he would ever find himself in the upper echelons of French football ever again. Granted, he returned to the top flight with Lens in 2014, but with the club in financial crisis, he was tackling Ligue 1 with a hand and four fingers tied behind his back. With a transfer ban in effect, nobody could pin the club’s 2015 relegation on him. It was a miracle that so much went right during a tenure that was never anywhere near comfortable.
Even if Guingamp is a world away from the madhouse he endured in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, one sensed Kombouaré might be swapping one struggle for another when he made his summer move. Following in the footsteps of Jocelyn Gourvennec seemed like an unenviable task, with the 44-year-old having dragged the Brittany club out of the doldrums and back into the top flight. Gourvennec even snared a Coupe de France on the way, taking his team on a stirring European adventure before leaving for Bordeaux.
All power, then, to Kombouaré for having masterminded such an excellent start to Guingamp’s season. After winning at Nancy on Saturday night they top Ligue 1, a daydream maintained a little longer by Lyon and PSG’s surprising losses this weekend. Nobody’s getting carried away. “We mustn’t forget that it’s only three matches in,” said the coach after the win in Alsace-Lorraine. “Let’s hope this luck lasts as long as possible,” said midfielder Lucas Deaux, signed this summer. “In the meantime, it’s very pleasing.”
Yet it’s striking just how much of a Kombouaré side this Guingamp look already. His teams are aggressive - “in the good sense of the term,” he insisted on Saturday - and also committed to attack, with PSG having been playing their best football in years at the point when he was fired. This attitude has been notable amidst an unpromising looking fixture list, with an opening match trip to Monaco followed by the reception of Marseille. Guingamp scored twice against both before repeating the trick at Nancy.
It speaks volumes for their new coach that Guingamp are limpeccably organised. They had only 39.3% of possession at the Stade Marcel-Picot - still the highest amount they’ve enjoyed in any of the three games to date - but made it count, getting in 14 efforts on goal from that. That they did so without key attacker Jimmy Briand - holding onto the former Lyon man this summer was a huge boost - was even more impressive.
Plugging gaps is par for the course in this part of France. Last season, Gourvennec had to find a way to cover the loss of Claudio Beauvue, who had signed off from the Roudourou having broken Didier Drogba’s club record of goals in a single season (27 in all competitions) before joining Lyon. It was always unlikely that one player would be able to do that, and so Briand (7 Ligue 1 goals, plus 7 assists) and Sloan Privat (7 goals), plus midfielders Yannis Salibur (also 7) and Younousse Sankharé (6) all pitched in.
With Sankharé now at Lille, the provision of goals from midfield is as important as it’s ever been, but the identity of the player to step up in the early stages of the season has been a real surprise. That Moustapha Diallo, at 30, has found another side to his game is testament to Kombouaré’s work with individual players. We’re just three games into the season and the rangy Senegalese midfielder has already matched his best season total of two. Having opened his account at Monaco with a sensational effort from range, he arrived late into the penalty box to head Guingamp in front at Nancy like a seasoned penalty box poacher.
Though he still occupies a mainly defensive role, the presence of Deaux allows him to judiciously choose moments in which to break forward, an idea that Kombouaré is actively encouraging. Diallo is averaging 3.3 efforts on goal per match, which is remarkable. He’s also done it without sacrificing the defensive side of his game, either. Diallo has made 3.7 tackles per match in the 2016/17 season so far, way up on his 2.1 from last term. With the experienced Etienne Didot yet to make his debut, Guingamp have substance in the centre of the park. The club also made a step toward securing the future, with 18-year-old midfielder Ludovic Blas - fresh from a key role in France’s Euro Under-19 Championship win - signing an extended deal in the face of strong interest from Lyon.
Choosing the right moment to attack is something that is drilled into the side, and is also exemplified by the man-of-the-match at Nancy, Fernando Marçal. The on-loan left-back set up both goals on Saturday and already looks indispensable for Kombouaré, having already given Marseille’s Hiroki Sakai a very uncomfortable afternoon last weekend. Yet his average positioning is quite deep, underlining a player that picks his moment, rather than being cavalier. In case of emergencies, Marçal has the relentlessly consistent Christophe Kerbrat, who played his 100th Ligue 1 match at Nancy, next to him.
Guingamp are right to enjoy their moment in the sun - weekends like this one don’t come about all the team. Still, Kombouaré’s ability to get through to his players suggests that they could have a few more surprises up their sleeves as the season goes on.
How long can Guingamp maintain their unbeaten start to the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
