Last Saturday, Jean-Victor Makengo (19 years old) earned his first start in L1 with Le Gym, during the game against Toulouse (0-1). Having already featured as a winger against Saint-Etienne, where he came on following injuries to Allan Saint-Maximin and  Vincent Marcel, the man who was trained as a central midfielder, started on the left of an attacking three against the Téfécé. A choice dictated by the conjuncture and his versatility which ended with a good performance.  

A strong header and a penalty not given 

With a style based upon power and technique, "J.V" quickly showed his ability on Saturday. After five minutes to be precise, when he left his left wing to burst into the Violet's box. Getting up above Michelin, he headed like a centre forward, but it was turned away by Lafont. A good way to start the game.  

Just before the break, he got the better of the full-back once again, this time with the ball at his feet and in the box. The youngster was caught by the defender but Mr Gautier didn't award what looked to be a certain penalty. Two moves that should have allowed Le Gym to take the lead.  

Precision

Even though these two moves show that the former Caen midfielder was one of the most dangerous Niçois on the pitch, they don't tell the full story about the tidiness of his game. Just one stat is needed to get an idea of that. Even though he wasn't the Aiglon with the highest number of touches  (49 touches of the ball compared to Seri's 162) – which can be put down mainly to the position he played in -, the number 27 wasn't the least accurate. Quite the opposite, with a 97 % pass completion, Makengo was the most accurate starter on Saturday, amongst both the Niçois and the Toulousains. A way of showing that his natural game hasn't left him, despite being out of the middle.  

His view on the position  

"I have already played in this position, the coach has made me work on it a lot. I have been given lots of advice, I was told to do as I know how to, to break through, to go and provoke. That is what I tried to bring. When you are a player who likes the middle, you have a tendency to cut inside, because it creates a man advantage. The coach isn't against it, it just needs to be at the right time..." 

C.D.

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