Defensive Issues a Major Concern for Olympique Lyon

Olympique Lyon's campaign only went from bad to worse as they lost for the second time in three weeks, going down 4-2 to Stade Rennais. A couple of weeks ago, they lost to Lille, who have had their fair share of struggles this season. Lyon barely find themselves in the top 10 of the division, with Montpellier closing in.

The difficulties started at the start of the season with club stalwart Memphis Depay leaving France. He was also a vital cog in the team's Ligue 1 campaign last year, where they finished fourth.

Nevertheless, they managed to rope in some of the finest European talents to their club such as Jerome Boateng and Xherdan Shaqiri from Liverpool. However, amidst all this, they failed to address the issue, which has been quite a challenge for them in their recent past - their defence.

Lyon's travails at the back

Les Gones, over the years, have stood out as title-contenders and challengers to Paris Saint-Germain. But not once have they managed to realistically compete against them.

Part of the problem lies in how they sort out their priorities. Unlike their arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille, who have carved out a reputation for being too boring (ignoring Jorge Sampaoli's recent spell!), Lyon's flair has been their dynamism up front.

Whether it is Memphis Depay, Houssem Aouar, or Moussa Dembele, they have never been short of splashing money on attacking players. Subsequently, they have ignored the glaring problems at the back and how that affects the overall balance of the team.

For a long time, many of these backline issues have been papered over by Depay's outstanding contribution. However, with Depay gone and new signings yet to deliver, these pre-existential problems have haunted them badly this season.

Lyon's bad recruits impair the backline

At the start of the season, Boateng and Emerson arrived at the club to add depth and experience to the Lyon backline. With two-thirds of the season over, Boateng finds himself out of the team with Emerson managing to hold onto his spot courtesy of the club having no other quality options at left-back.

Thiago Mendes has also failed to cement his spot in the back-four, forcing Peter Bosz to opt for a back-three in recent outings. The club's defense is essentially being run on the wheels of Castello Lukeba and full-back Léo Dubois.

With 10 games remaining in the campaign, the club's defense has emerged as the second-worst in the division's top-ten. This is quite a fall for a team that is expected to be one of the contenders for a podium finish in France.

With no participation in European football next season looking ever more certain, Lyon will have to address these obvious weaknesses before investing in more talismanic forwards.