Ligue 1 2022/23: Nantes’ dismal defensive demise putting them in danger of the drop – scout report

On the one hand, Nantes fans will be delighted to see their team embarking on a second straight Coupe de France final. Their 1-0 semi-final victory over Lyon a couple of weeks ago sealed their place in the Stade de France at the end of the month where they’ll take on a Toulouse that’s been revitalised since their 2019/20 relegation under new ownership.

On the other hand, at the time of writing, Nantes are in the midst of a terrible run of form in the league, enduring their eighth straight game without a win last Sunday when Auxerre beat them 2-1 to jump over them on the Ligue 1 table.

Les Canaris now sit in 15th place just two points above Strasbourg occupying 17th — the final relegation place in an especially lethal league campaign this term that’s set to see four teams drop out of France’s top flight.

Nantes manager Antoine Kombouaré, who was in charge of the aforementioned Toulouse for a portion of their disastrous 2019/20 campaign, hasn’t minced his words to the media regarding his club’s recent run of form, with notable quotes including: “all the talks we’ve had with them about being careful and keeping our destiny in our own hands haven’t worked”, “I feel like I’m talking to a wall” and one more that includes a very blunt, unflattering description of the team’s abilities where he uses a four letter word which starts s and ends in t. You can fill in the blanks&

This tactical analysis and team-focused scout report will look at Nantes’ recent poor run of form and provide analysis of where it’s all going wrong for Les Canaris, as well as attempt to address whether or not there’s been a significant difference in approach, strategy and/or tactics between this season and last season when they secured a top half finish for the first time since 2017/18.

2022/23 vs 2021/22

Comparing this season to last season in the league, we can make significant assessments in a couple of areas. Firstly, looking at shots, Nantes’ xG per shot is identical to last season right now, indicating that they’ve been creating a similar quality of shot this term as they did last term.

Les Canaris ended last season having taken 10.08 shots per 90, while they’ve taken 10.87 shots per 90 so far in 2022/23. So, they’ve also been generating a similar quantity of shots this season as they did last season.

We’d expect them, then, to end this campaign with a similar number of shots and a similar xG as they ended last season, suggesting a fairly similar level of chance creation.

However, while Nantes