The 2019/20 Ligue 2 season has been nothing but exciting to watch right from the start. The race to get into promotion and playoffs spots have been very tight and even up until week 28, you cant really predict which team are going to get automatic promotion or have to go the playoffs first. Table-toppers Lorient alongside runners-up Lens gained automatic promotion to Ligue 1 after it was announced that the season will be wrapped up prematurely. Each team have 54 and 53 points respectively.
Unfortunately for Olivier Pantaloni and his ambitious Ajaccio side, they missed out on automatic promotion by a tiny margin. Ajaccio finished the season with 52 points just one point away from automatic promotion. Looking at how impressive they have been this season, they may even end up finishing top of the table if the season is resumed. But their journey ended there. With the promotion and relegation playoffs cancelled, the third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams, as well as the 18th-placed team in Ligue 2, will be staying in the league for another season.
Pantalonis Ajaccio have been very strong throughout the season with their direct yet effective attack as well as highly intense and aggressive defence. Were going to take a look at Pantalonis philosophy and tactics at Ajaccio this season in this tactical analysis.
Overview
Throughout the season Pantaloni is very consistent with his teams formation. He mainly used 4-4-2 but may tweak it slightly, turning it into more of a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-1-1. Since taking charge of Ajaccio in the 2014/15 season, Pantaloni has been persistent in using back-four formations and he doesnt seem to experiment a lot with various shapes and formations other than 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-1-1, and 4-3-3 (used occasionally in the previous seasons).
In general, his team seem to be keen on maintaining formation, especially in defence. In offence, the overall team shape is pretty flexible but unlike PSG, for example, whose front-four are very flexible and constantly rotate and swap positions, Ajaccios strikers dont swap positions often with the wingers although at times they can be seen roaming wide and receiving the ball in wide areas. More on this later in this analysis.
Pantaloni also wants his team to work together as
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