Montpellier losing ground on European qualification

The appointment of Olivier Dall'Oglio as Montpellier's new head coach was welcomed with positivity. Many felt the need for the club to go beyond regular top-ten finishes.

Michael der Zakarian had done a tremendous job with the club until that point in time. He established the French coastal outfit as one of the more consistent line-ups in France. In his four seasons in charge, Montpellier finished outside the top ten just once.

Under der Zakarian, the club not only progressed in terms of results but also in terms of philosophy as well. The club started accepting the norms of modern football and managed to compete against the title contenders with an offensive style of play.

New regime at Montpellier

Dall'Oglio's first move, apart from his control of the transfer business, was an alteration to the club's playing style. He switched the style to a more balanced 4-2-3-1 deploying two holding midfielders instead of one under der Zakarian. The arrival of Valentin Germain from Olympique de Marseille also allowed Dall'Oglio to play with a lone man up front.

The club got off to a stuttering start, losing their opening game to Jorge Sampaoli's Marseille. Subsequent draws to Reims and Bordeaux caused an initial fall in the team's rankings. Results nonetheless improved miraculously in early November, with the club winning as many as six Ligue 1 outings in nine.

However, the club's fortunes have changed drastically after the turn of the year.

Montpellier managed to win just one league game in January after subsequent defeats to Strasburg and lowly Troyes. To further complicate their chances of a top-four finish, they began this month with a 3-1 defeat to bottom-ranked Saint-Etienne.

Fragile mentality a major setback

One of the main reasons why der Zakarian failed to take the club beyond the realms of a top-ten finish was the club's failure to handle pressure moments. Their recent defeat to Saint-Etienne drives that point.

Despite leading the game 1-0 for more than eighty minutes, they allowed Saint-Etienne to hit back. It happened after a mistimed pass from defender Arnaud Souquet was converted into an equalizer by Romain Hamouma. The home team again capitalized on a sloppy error in the 91st minute as Arnaud Nordin sealed an easy cross home.

As a result, the club have now managed to take only six points from their last five outings and sit two points off Strasburg with an extra game played.