Saint-Étienne are the second-most successful side, domestically, in French football history, with 10 top-flight titles to their name — a record that was only recently beaten by Paris Saint-Germain.
At the same time as PSG eclipsed Saint-Étienne to become the undisputed top dogs of French football, Les Verts made history of their own, though it was history of the unwanted kind as they suffered relegation from Ligue 1 for the first time in almost two decades.
ASSE are now in their second straight Ligue 2 season, and their second-tier stint didn’t look like ending this term by the midway stage of the campaign when they found themselves eighth at the time of ex-manager Laurent Batlles’ December departure.
However, his successor, Olivier Dall’Oglio — coming off the back of a year-plus absence from the sidelines following his Montpellier tenure and praised time in charge of Brest and Dijon, respectively, in the years preceding that — has successfully breathed life into Les Verts’ season.
At the time of writing, having just beaten Concarneau 1-0 at home this past weekend, they sit second and look to be hitting peak form at just the right time to push league leaders Auxerre heavily all the way to the finish line.
This Olivier Dall’Oglio tactical analysis piece will focus on how Dall’Oglio has significantly improved Les Verts’ defence in his 14 games as manager to engineer their sharp rise up the table, putting them right in the fight for promotion.
Data analysis
After an unsuccessful early-season experiment with a back-three, Batlles switched to a 4-1-4-1 five games into the 2023/24 campaign — the same shape that Dall’Oglio has used throughout his time in the Saint-Étienne dugout.
However, Les Verts were conceding 1.08 goals per league game during that four-at-the-back period under Batlles, essentially leading to plenty of points dropped.
Since Dall’Oglio’s arrival, ASSE have been conceding just 0.38 goals per league game — a stark contrast to their record under the previous head coach and a key reason why they’ve risen up the table during the Dall’Oglio tenure.
Saint-Étienne have been far better able to control their opponents and prevent them from threatening their goal under Dall’Oglio, leading to a far healthier shots against map as seen in figure 1.
Les Verts have conceded just 8.54 shots per 90 under their new boss thus far, compared with 11.5 per 90 earlier in the season.
