Following on from last week’s revelation that Alphonse Areola was the best goalkeeper in Ligue 1 this season, it is time to follow that up with his closest contender. It wasn’t really a close run race in the end, but Montpellier custodian Benjamin Lecomte took the runner-up spot in this season’s goalkeeping charts. The ever-present stopper, signed from Lorient last year, has had a great season in between the Stade de la Mosson sticks, and yet there is something noticeably odd about his positioning as the second best goalkeeper in the French top flight. It is no reflection on his ability or standing in the game of course; no, but what is most unusual is that his Montpellier side actually finished 10th in the table.
The thing is, that 10th placed finish had very little to do with the side’s defending. Far from it – they actually enjoyed the second best defence in the whole league behind title winners Paris Saint-Germain. Conceding only 33 goals all season, Lecomte proved himself an important figure as a last line of defence, though the players in front of him – such as Jérôme Roussillon and Pedro Mendes, for example – all played their part as well. Indeed, Montpellier’s first choice defence is among the cheapest of the top flight back lines in the whole Euro Fantasy League game, with Lecomte’s 4m valuation proving on the cheap side given his end-of-season tally of 79 fantasy points.
His discipline has been great too, picking up only a single booking this season. Seriously, though – 14 clean sheets from 38 games is a great statistic considering the club’s mid-table standing. They only lost nine games throughout the campaign – far less than most, though each of the top four did lose less. Only leaking 33 goals all season would have stood them in much better stead had they been a bit more clinical up front – they only scored 36, giving them a goal difference of a meager +3. That seems a real shame, and a missed golden opportunity to finish higher up the table given their strength at the back.
Lecomte essentially has the summer off after being omitted from Didier Deschamps’ France squad for the World Cup in Russia, having only represented the national side at U19 and U20 level thus far. At 27 years old one wonders whether or not his chance with the senior side will even come at all – especially with the aforementioned Areola being the least experienced keeper in the squad to travel to Russia this summer. However, if Lecomte and co. are able to reproduce their defensive strength while improving their attacking options next season, perhaps a finish higher up the table is on the cards – and the very real possibility of finally being able to represent France at senior level.
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