Last Sunday, Coeurs de Foot was in Grenoble for the final of the Coupe de France. The opportunity also to meet the club of Grenoble-Claix, the GMC2F who had a very good season, this year in Group C of D2, third behind OM and Dijon.

At the start of this meeting, there was the Stade des Alpes Grenoble Grand Stadium, 20,000 seats and which hosted the final of the Coupe de France. A venue in which the players from Grenoble have already played for matches of the Coupe de France, facing Lyon or Saint-Etienne. At the time the club was called Claix Football, a city in the Grenoble conurbation.

Claix has already played a few matches at the Stade des Alpes. A stadium open to women for "big opportunities" like the quarter-finals of the 2013 Coupe de France against Saint-Etienne.

Since this year the club has had a facelift called "Grenoble Métropole Claix Women's Football". As explained by Nicolas Bach, the coach of the team, this is not a merger with a club in Grenoble. These are the "same structures", the "same leaders" but with a "political will" to "give a more dynamic Grenoble club" and also a "small budget increase". A desire that was also expressed by the voice of Nicolas Bach who asked that the big games of the season, against Marseille or Dijon, can be played at the Stade des Alpes.

In the end, these matches were played at the Stade Lesdiguières, another lawn in the city and which mainly hosts rugby matches. A stadium not necessarily "ideal" for football but where the club has been "very well received" and that allows to have a bigger stadium (12,000 seats) and more "accessible" than the lands located in Claix.

Laureen Navas also places these recent changes in a longer-term evolution with a club that has changed, successive coaches who have each contributed their stone to the building to make Grenoble-Claix a club installed in the top of table in division 2.

Midfielder, Laureen was one of the most used players by Nicolas Bach this season. She is a history of the club since she played Claix for ten years, that is to say since she stopped to play in mixed teams in youth. She took part in the club's last rally in 2010. And for the past five seasons, Laureen and her teammates have been among the top five teams in Group C.

Laureen Navas face Nora Coton-Pelagie in the first leg between the GMC2F and the O.M at the Lesdiguières stadium in Grenoble.

This season was also the best of the club. Until February, the GMC2F was neck and neck with Olympique Marseille, a club that has yet a budget "three times greater" than that of Grenoble-Claix. This race at the D1, the club has clung to it with this draw 2-2 in October against OM. A game played in Lesdiguières in front of more than 800 people and saw Grenoble come back in the last seconds of the match thanks to a goal from Laury Jesus.

This match allowed Grenoble to play the leading roles. It is also thanks to an attack that has been the pride of the Grenoble coach this season. 69 goals in 21 games and a last meeting Sunday against Le Puy where the Grenobloises should still stand out offensively, starting with Laury Jesus top scorer in Group C with 24 goals.

A month of February to forget

But the Grenoble season will be a turning point on February 21 with the return leg against OM. In the first leg, Grenoble not only caught OM but also beat Dijon (3-0) and Toulouse (0-2) two direct opponents in the top of the table. In early February, OM was hooked 4-4 at Aurillac, which put Marseille and the GMC2F tied at the top of the championship.

Laury Jesus face Dijon last February. A Coupe de France match that ended in a 4-3 defeat for Grenoble-Claix. This is the first defeat of the season for the GMC2F and unfortunately not the last. Photo: DFCO

But in the space of two weeks, the players of the Isere will experience two against-performances outside that will weigh on the end of the season. It begins February 14 in Dijon with a knockout in the round of 16 against the DFCO on the score of 4 goals to 3. A week later Grenoble-Claix moves to Marseille. A match that ended in a new defeat 2-0.

This match lost in Marseille will be followed by a period of "relaxation", with the "need to breathe" after "as much investment" put by Laureen Navas and her teammates since the beginning of the season. A backlash "difficult to counter" for Nicolas Bach who observes including "less success in front of the goal". The loss to OM opened a sequence of six games without wins, with three defeats and three draws, which allowed the Olympians to widen the gap but also Dijon to pass the GMC2F in the standings.

Olivia Mbala, arrived this year from Canada was one of the players most used by Nicolas Bach this season before getting injured against Marseille in February. She has not replayed since.

These poor results are also rooted in the injuries that affected several players in the group. Olivia Mbala, Gladys Boilard or Anaïs Ribeyra as many essential players who will experience injuries during this period and have not since returned to the team.

"A positive balance sheet"

Despite this difficult second part of the season, Nicolas Bach and Laureen Navas are positive of this first exercise version "Grenoble-Claix". The coach says he saw interesting things on the ground. Same story from Laureen Navas who found that the "level of play" of the team had "risen" thanks to the "stability of the group" but also to the arrival of "new players" who like Gladys Boilard or Julie Perrodin knew the D1 previously.

Gladys Boilard, the captain of the GMC2F this season returned to the club after having made a season in D1 with Albi.

A positive balance to put in perspective of the objectives of the club which include a rise in D1 by 2018. With this in mind that Nicolas Bach returned to the club this season. Arrived in 2010 at the time of the rise in D2, the Grenoble coach stayed in Claix until 2013 before making two seasons in Rodez.

Nicolas Bach, back this season in Grenoble after two exercises in Rodez in D1. A first division that he hopes to find with the GMC2F.

Back in Isère in the summer of 2015, he arrives with this ambition to lead the team in D1. A climb to the next level that will have to wait at least next season with inevitably questioning for the future. For Nicolas Bach, among the points to work, there is of course the "lack of experience" of the group, but also other aspects that affect the extra-sporting.

Progress to be made on and off the field

As Laureen Navas explains, the squad sees cohabiting players for whom football "does not represent" the same thing. Some aspire to evolve at the high level and others for whom football is a "hobby". This is particularly the case, she who studied and now works in the field of management in Grenoble. She said she was lucky to have played at such a high level, but it was not at all something planned at the start.

Beyond this cohabitation, all players are faced with the need to share their time between football and studies or work. A situation that requires that the club can provide accommodations to the players so as to release more time to devote to football. One of the objectives for the future is precisely to be able to establish partnerships that facilitate such arrangements, especially for the players who work.

Anaïs Ribeyra when she arrived in Grenoble in October. She broke all records by scoring 18 goals in 8 games before suffering an injury in February that took her away from land and opponents.

Nicolas Bach described in particular the case of Anaïs Ribeyra arrived during the season and in the space of eight matches scored no less than 18 goals, including goals scored in important matches against Toulouse and Dijon. Except that his pace of life leads him to get up regularly at 6am for days that end at 21h with the training of the club. An infernal pace of life that would be one of the causes of the injuries of Anaïs Ribeyra who has not played since last February. A more adapted schedule combined with better medical follow-up, all aspects that the Grenoble coach believes should help improve the performance of his group.

In the meantime, the players of the GMC2F will play their last game of the season Sunday at the Stade de la Bâtie in Claix face Le Puy. A historic stadium of the club and which should still serve next season. As for the Stade des Alpes, he will probably have to wait for the climb to D1. A form of reward in a way, which the players could benefit as for the posters in the Coupe de France against teams of first division.