Month: April 2022

Absent, injured, fragile. These are the words most commonly associated with AS Monaco’s Aleksandr Golovin in recent months, but as he returns to the field, he endeavours to reconstruct that narrative.

The Russian midfielder’s recent statistics don’t make pleasant reading, not least for his manager Philippe Clement, who admitted as much in Friday’s press conference. “In 16 months at Monaco, he has only played the full 90 minutes in four matches. I was surprised with this statistic.”

In that time, he has amassed almost as many injuries as he has goals. Following a hamstring injury that ruled him out of action for four months in the 2020-2021 season, Golovin slowly built back his fitness, managing consecutive 90 minutes for the first time all season in the final two games of that campaign.

In last summer’s Euros, he then went on to play in every minute of Russia’s unsuccessful attempt to get out of the competition’s group stage. It looked as though he was back, that those injuries and fitness issues that had gnawed away at him for almost the entirety of the campaign were finally behind him.

His body would fail him once more, however, and once again limit the influence of a player, who, on arrival in the Principality, was one of the most coveted midfielders on the continent. This time, Clement isn’t willing to take any chances, highlighting in his press conference the incremental approach towards his much-anticipated return. “We have to create a foundation for him so he can play more matches,” he began.

The Belgian then compared the Russian midfielder’s rehabilitation to the construction of a car. “His motor has to be ready…but it’s not just that, it’s the bodywork as well which has to be stronger, and we have to work on both things.”

In his role as engineer, Clement is taking his job seriously and with the necessary diligence, knowing what his playmaker can provide should he succeed. Asked whether Golovin could have that “X factor”, Clement said, “He has the qualities to be that.”

It is not solely the physical aspect that must be managed, but the physiological aspect as well. Clement is known for his man-management skills, and both himself and his playing staff have noted the “good dynamic” around the camp. Often, that manifests itself very visibly on the training field.

Whilst Golovin has had to contend with issues not so irregular for someone who has been sidelined as long as he has, there is also a specific set of circumstances to be managed. “He was frustrated to have so long where he wasn’t available,” said Clement.

Recently, the Russian midfielder has also been subject to online abuse due to Putin’s invasion in Ukraine. Although Golovin has not spoken publicly about the war, Clement did say in early March that, “he doesn’t feel good about what is happening in Ukraine.”

Clement then revealed on Friday: “There are lots of opinions in the world, certainly on social media. Lots of those opinions come from people that send messages to the players, and sometimes it isn’t pleasant. We speak to the players in such situations.”

With an excess of noise surrounding the midfielder off the field, his recovery from injury is now allowing him to do his talking on it. Having managed 68 minutes in AS Monaco’s 3-0 victory against PSG before the international break, he managed 87 against Metz on Sunday, before being replaced by Guillermo Maripan.

It is a signal of a positive trend, of a return to full fitness, that incidentally, was potentially aided by the banning of Russia’s international team from competing. Subsequently, Golovin stayed with the Monaco squad throughout the international break, and as Ismail Jakobs told Monaco Life, they used that time to “work more on the physical side of things.”

Golovin’s performance on Sunday was far from bombastic. Although he was a tidy, metronomic force in the final third (of all the Monegasque attackers to have played more than 45 minutes, he lost possession the least), it is clear it will take him time to re-assert himself as the kind of playmaker who is decisive and incisive in that area of the pitch.

Having been absent for so long, it is not just fitness that will be an issue in this period of re-adaptation, but also reconstructing an understanding with his team-mates. Operating in an area of the pitch where time and space is at a premium, his role relies on an almost telepathic, instinctive understanding with his team-mates. Given he has yet to have a run in the team since the arrival of Clement, a managerial change which also entailed a change in system and formation, it was unsurprising that those link-ups were lacking against Metz.

Nonetheless, the minutes undoubtedly would have done Golovin some good for the “bodywork” and “motor”, but also mentally. As Clement says, “The most important thing for a player is to do good things on the pitch.” For everyone around the club, not least Golovin, there is a hope that the talk of his nationality, of his fragility and his fitness will all be consigned to the past, and he can set about doing what his manager asks of him.

Photo by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

Having secured qualification for the play-offs in the Euroleague thanks to victory against Milan on Thursday and Alba Berlin’s loss a day later, AS Monaco Basketball’s attention returned to domestic competition on Sunday.

Defeat for the German side at the hands of Turkish side Anadolu Efes confirmed the Roca Team’s place in the play-offs, becoming the first side from the French division to do so since 2001. Even more impressively, they also became the first side to qualify for the Euroleague play-offs in their debut season.

Understandably a largely mental, but also physical, hangover was displayed at the Salle Gaston Medecin on Sunday as they welcomed Orleans in the Betclic Elite.

The Roca Team struggled to find a rhythm for large periods of the contest. Despite taking an early lead, thanks in large part to the efficiency of Donatas Motiejunas within the key, the home side weren’t at the races. That drop-off in intensity can easily be attributed to their exploits just days earlier.

Primed to profit were Orleans, who led for the vast majority of the match, only to come up short at the death. It was yet another test of mental strength through adversity, although this time, they couldn’t rely on Sasa Obradovic to muster up a collective spirit from the sidelines.

The Monaco manager was ill over the weekend, and it was therefore assistant manager Mirko Ocokoljic who replaced the Serbian on the sideline. Since his return to Le Rocher, Obradovic has instilled a winner’s mentality that is present, even in his absence. Consequently, despite trailing by 16 points towards the end of a catastrophic second-quarter, there was little doubt that they were still very much in the game.

The Roca Team successfully reversed the trend in the second-half, but a commendable resilience from Orleans kept the lead steady by the end of the third-quarter (56-69). It was in the fourth-quarter that Monaco would dig themselves out of the hole, and secure the smash-and-grab victory.

As is so often the case, it was Mike James (24) who led the comeback. His prodigious talent is being more and more supplemented by an ever-burgeoning collective might, as Motiejunas (17) and Danilo Andjusic (13) also made notable contributions.

It was in fact the contribution from the latter that proved most decisive. Consecutive three-pointers reversed the deficit and handed the Roca Team a slender lead with just a 1:30 to go. Once in the lead, they never looked like conceding it, the fourth-quarter rout (34-15) ultimately securing the victory (90-84).

The side now join Boulogne-Levallois on 18 wins at the top of the Betclic Elite table, as another play-off qualification looks a foregone conclusion.

Post-match, stand-in manager for the day Ocokoljic praised his side’s mentality. “It wasn’t a question of tactics, but of strength and will. At the end, the guys showed all of their pride and desire to win every meeting.” The Serbian added, “It is satisfying to win this match after having overcome a big gap.”

Next up is Chalons-Reims in the Betclic Elite on Tuesday, before the final match of the Euroleague regular season against Alba Berlin at the Salle Gaston Medecin on Friday.