Player Focus: Corentin Tolisso: European Player of the Month - February 2016

There’s not been too much excitement at the business end of Ligue 1 to say the least but the weekend’s match between Lyon and runaway leaders PSG did bring to end the latter’s 36-game streak without defeat in France’s top tier, and with it the only remaining unbeaten record in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season.

It was an unexpected result that saw Lyon keep their place in third to cap an excellent month in the league for OL. It’s been a season to forget in the most part for a side that promised so much last season. Indeed at this stage a year ago Lyon were a point clear of PSG at the top under Hubert Fournier before eventually falling off the pace, but a dismal start to the current campaign saw the much heralded young manager relieved of his duties ahead of the new year.

The board made the risky call in appointing rookie boss Bruno Genesio and after a 1-0 defeat to Bastia last month it looked like a gamble that may not pay off. However, four wins from five later and OL have leapt from 11th to the top three in the space of a month, with one player in particular coming to the fore.

Indeed, where so many others have failed to reach the standards set from the previous campaign youngster Corentin Tolisso has continued to impress. The 21-year old was in fact the highest rated player across Europe’s top 5 leagues to make at least three appearances in February, taking centre stage in WhoScored.com’s European team of the month.

The midfielder saw his impact cut short due to a hamstring injury but was influential in Lyon’s return to form, making his current absence all the more frustrating for the club. Tolisso, who started all but one of Lyon’s league matches last season to play a crucial role in their title bid, has enjoyed something of a purple patch since the start of the year, culminating in what was an outstanding performance in his last appearance.

The box-to-box midfielder, who can play the holding role in the middle of the park but tends to excel given more license to attack, has had a direct hand in 8 goals (5 goals, 3 assists) in 9 appearances in all competitions in 2016. Given he scored just once and registered 3 assists in 26 outings prior to the turn of the year it’s clear that Lyon fans are seeing the best of Tolisso once more.

That was certainly the case against Caen a fortnight ago, when the youngster put in an imperious display in what was a third consecutive handsome victory for the club. Picking up an assist and man of the match rating of 8.84 against Bordeaux at the start of the month before scoring in a win by the same scoreline at Angers (3-0), Tolisso would earn his first perfect 10 rating from WhoScored.com on Valentine’s Day.

The 21-year old showcased his full repertoire of skills in a thumping 4-1 win, first registering an assist having jumped highest in the box to knock down for Samuel Umtiti before laying on Lyon’s third with a sumptuous pass with the outside of his boot to find teenager Maxwell Cornet. Tolisso completed the rout himself, albeit via a heavy deflection from range, but there was no deflecting from his dominance on the day.

The French youth international won 3 aerial duels - ranking 13th for the season in terms of the total number he has won (75) - created 5 chances, produced 5 tackles and was accurate with 5 out of 5 attempted long balls. It's his range of passing that has perhaps most improved as he begins to take more chances in possession, and understandably so given that of the 90 outfielders to attempt 100 or more long balls this season only five are more accurate (75.3%).

Indeed, last season, despite averaging 56.3 passes per game, only 0.6 were key passes on average and only 2.9 were accurate long balls. This season those figures are up to 1.1 and 4.2 respectively as he has taken on more responsibility, averaging a considerable 62.9 passes per game in total. He is the player that makes things tick for Lyon but is no longer restricted to simple balls played sideways.

The fact that he leads the club in tackles (80) - ranking 7th in the league - highlights just how important Tolisso is to OLs present, as well as their future. It’s little surprise that ahead of the season they tied him down to a new five-year contract - along with fellow sought after prospect Nabil Fekir.

Nevertheless, if when Tolisso returns to action this month he picks up where he left off there is little doubt that Lyon will be fielding calls for a player that has proven to be among their most pivotal this season. The player himself will no doubt still dream that he could yet be answering one a call of his own from Didier Deschamps ahead of Euro 2016.

How impressed have you been with Tolisso's performances this year? Let us know in the comments below