Hello there, I'm a Lorient supporter and I figured I would come back around here to give you some news about Romain Faivre. I don't pretend to be entirely unbiased about him, but I'll do my best to sum up the debates we have on our forum, so that you can get an idea of what he could bring to your team.
As someone mentioned above, Faivre mostly played as an inverted winger on the right flank, but on a couple of occasions he was positionned right next to the forward as a false nine. He was not great, but overall our team has been struggling this season, and I can’t say he won’t shine in that position.
Faivre leaves Lorient in a weird way, after missing a few games for shady reasons (officially due to injuries, but it didn’t convince us). There was a clash after the last game of the season, where the coach said that some players were not giving their best, and bringing the club down basically. When asked by the vice-captain who these players were, he mentioned four names, including Faivre. We went through a bit of drama last Christmas, and since then Faivre has been out of the picture until it was confirmed that he would leave.
Rumours are rumours, but I’ve been watching and analysing most of the games, and I came to the conclusion that Faivre was probably one of the main reasons why our club started to struggle in Ligue 1 (since January of last year, actually). At first, we used to play a relatively conventional 4231, but Faivre was not really great in that position. He had trouble starting low on the pitch, lacking stamina and pace to move the ball forward. For about 2 months, he really failed to make a positive impression, and the excuse of « he hasn’t played for a while » were less and less convincing after a few weeks. Instead of using another player to fill the role, our coach decided to shift to a 343 where Faivre proved to be much better. We still had trouble playing collectively, and we produced really bad football, but Faivre score important goals last year (some of them really showing great flair) and we somehow got to the conclusion that we needed players to play in this new system.
I’m not really neutral, because I’d rather have a strong team than a strong player, and I’m aware that Faivre is not the only problem here. However, we based our recruitment on the 343 we invented for him, and it was a spectacular failure. As fans, we have never seen such a waste of money, and such a pitiful football being played in this club. Really shameful.
In my opinion, Faivre played a role in this debacle, because he seems to be very individualistic, often keeping the ball for himself and trying to dribble two, three or four players in order to make something happen, rather than going for the obvious pass that would make the team move forward. Sometimes, I would find myself counting how many times he would touch the ball before giving it, and for about 10-15 minutes the number would never go below 7 or 8. There is a consensus on the forum that he plays for himself and his statistics, that he likes to dribble, and that he is not great at defending. As I mentioned, he lacks stamina, and he can’t really run back and forth to cover the flanks and make up for all the time he loses the ball. That’s one of the biggest problems, and we are wondering if he can adjust to the high intensity of the English PL. Most people in Lorient would tell you that he won’t, but after he came back from the mysterious injuries, reports from training mentioned that he was particularly motivated and displayed great pace and energy. Hopefully for you, he was just holding back in Lorient, and he will surprise everyone for the best.
The thing that should worry you the most is that he is a lightweight, and that he loses the ball a lot when he dribbles. I’m not an expert, but I’ve heard many times that the English PL was more physical than French Ligue 1, and that referees were less likely to blow the whistle when there was no clear foul. Yet, Faivre has lost many, many balls because he can’t really stand a challenge from a fullback. He falls a lot, complains a lot, but rarely gets us a good freekick. That might be a problem if your team doesn’t have a very strong full back of wing back to cover the right flank.
As I mentioned, I’m not unbiased, and it wouldn’t be fair to ignore those who think in a different way. Some argue that Faivre was having trouble passing the ball because his teammates were not great, especially the forwards. Their argument is that, since there is no movement, and/or our strikers have poor technical skills, Faivre has to keep the ball in order to wait for them to make a good run or something. Him losing the ball would be a consequence of our strikers not providing enough solutions for him to choose from.
I’d say there is some truth to that, but in my opinion a player like him should be able to influence the game, and not depend on his partners. Moreover, if no one is making the right run, that does not mean that you have to try and dribble the whole team in front of you.
If you made it through to the end, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it provides you with some insights into your kinda new recruit, and maybe you’ll see something completely different when he plays for you. A good coach and a good team can transform a player immensely.
