The Expert: Sharp-shooting Delort lifts Toulouse ambitions

“You’re going to have a few headaches with Andy.” It’s not the sort of line that you expect from an agent speaking to the head coach of his client’s new club, but that’s exactly what Toulouse boss Pascal Dupraz heard down the line when he took a call from Jean-Christophe Cano, shortly after Andy Delort completed his return to Ligue 1 with Téfécé in the January transfer window.

It’s worth noting that Cano was chuckling at the time and anyway, Dupraz was happy enough. “It doesn’t matter,” said Dupraz. “He (Delort)’s a passionate boy, with character, who loves football and who never gives up. That works for me, totally.”

It’s working even better for Dupraz after Delort’s electric start to his career with Les Violets, with Saturday’s spectacular overhead kick opener in the 4-1 over Bastia marking his third goal in just three appearances for his new club. It reminded his father Éric, a keen amateur player in his day, of young Andy’s days “gorging” on VHS cassettes of his idol Jean-Pierre Papin. It was a strike straight out of the JPP locker.

With that said, Delort has a style all of his own. “The way that he plays reflects his personality,” his close friend and former Ajaccio teammate Carl Medjani told L’Equipe at the weekend. “He’s a generous guy.” As Toulouse fans are quickly grasping about their new favourite, Delort is not a player who does things by halves. In his first full season as a top-flight regular last term at Caen, he was known for peppering goalkeepers, launching 3.9 shots per game, and opposition defenders, winning 4.4 headers per match.

An unsuccessful sojourn in Mexico with Tigres – alongside former Téfécé idol André-Pierre Gignac – hasn’t changed him. Delort’s 3 in 3 are the product of 4 shots per game, more than anybody else in Ligue 1 averages this season. Admittedly it’s a smaller sample size than his competitors but still, it’s worth noting that the closest elsewhere in the division is none other than Edinson Cavani, with 3.6.

There’s a clear difference between the two, of course. Cavani has pretty much the best supply any striker could ask for. Delort, on the other hand, creates plenty for himself, as well as continuing to provide that physical outlet. He’s winning 4.7 aerials per game since his return, more than any other forward in Ligue 1 outside Montpellier’s Steve Mounié, who clocks an astonishing 8.5 per match.

Already, Delort has changed Téfécé’s outlook. He arrived shortly after a 3-0 home humbling by Saint Etienne, another club that were interested in his services (and Christophe Galtier’s side could well be making an audacious play for the podium right now if they had him in tow, given Nice’s recent wobbles), which was a fourth straight loss. Toulouse failed to score in all four of them. Since he debuted, they’ve taken 7 points in 3 games, inspired by their new signing.

All of a sudden, Toulouse have the right to be ambitious. Dupraz’s team have been by no means prolific this season, and are still only the eighth-highest scorers in the division even after Delort weighing in during recent weeks. Yet they do have something to build on. Dupraz, famed for his rousing changing room speeches, has a strong base to a side that he miraculously steered away from the relegation zone last term.

Only Paris Saint Germain, Saint Etienne, Monaco and Nice have shipped fewer goals than Toulouse this season. Much of that is down to the excellent form of defenders Christophe Jullien – who averages 7.2 clearances per match – and, at his side, left-back François Moubandje, who clears 3.6 times per match while contributing 2.1 interceptions.  The commanding Jullien also wins 4.9 aerial duels per game.

This backline, well marshalled by 18-year-old goalkeeper Alban Lafont, is excellently protected by the youthful central midfield pair of Alexis Blin (20) and Yann Bodiger (22), with the latter having impressed intermittently since the Alain Casanova era. They make 3 and 2.4 tackles per game respectively.

Dupraz’s bedrock has been enough to avoid a repeat of last season’s dramas at the bottom. Now, Delort’s form could enable them to raise their sights even higher. The potential appeared clear early in the season, with Toulouse in fourth spot going into the late October clash with Lyon, which they were unfortunate to lose. Now, they are less reliant on skipper Martin Braithwaite, the team’s top scorer with 10 but who had scored only once since early November until Saturday’s brace against Bastia. Both he and Delort have scored three times since the latter’s arrival.

There already seems to be a discernible click between the pair. After opening the scoring on Saturday, Delort swept an excellent ball wide to find Braithwaite’s run inside the left channel, enabling the Danish international to score the second. They share plenty of characteristics, notably a willingness to shoot on sight. Having averaged 3 shots per game last season, Braithwaite is up to 3.4 this time around, perhaps inspired by his charity challenge which sees him donate €1000 to a worthy cause every time he scores.

Whether this can be enough to elevate Toulouse into the European spots remains to be seen, though they’re just three points behind sixth-placed Marseille and six shy of Saint Etienne, in fifth and enjoying a good run. What looks certain is that they will entertain Le Stadium. In this sense, Delort is already proving worth his weight in gold.