Fuente: © UEFA (English)
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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Où sont les buts?

/noticias.info/ by Christian Châteletfrom Paris

As another weekend of league football beckons in France, the authorities are keen to spice up the low-scoring Ligue 1.

Low scoring
The first 50 games of the 2005/06 season have brought an average of less than two goals a game - one of the lowest scoring rates in Europe. And the French Professional League (LPF) is eager to reverse this trend and see French teams get value for money from their strikers.

Dry spell
The French league might be a spawning ground for young talent, but the country's top three divisions have been going through a dry spell in terms of goalscoring. The average goals per game ratio for last term in Ligue 1 was just 2.1.

Goalless draws
For 2005/06, the average so far is 1.9 goals a game with a quarter of all fixtures ending in goalless draws. In the fifth and most recent round of fixtures, five of the ten matches were shutouts, with 15 goals scored in the rest including AS Nancy-Lorraine's 6-0 win against Stade Rennais FC.

Talent drain
Considering how the national team continues to boast some of the world's best strikers, this drought remains something of a mystery. Some blame the fact so many talented forwards leave for wealthier clubs abroad before they can make their mark in Ligue 1.

Frei stays
That was possibly the case with success stories like Djibril Cissé, Stéphane Guivarc'h and Sylvain Wiltord, but as Rennes proved in keeping hold of the league's 2004/05 top scorer - Swiss international Alexander Frei - there is no absence of quality forwards in Ligue 1.

Defensive tactics
Others cite the dominance of defensive tactics for the lack of goals in l'Hexagone. Inspired by the defensive-minded approach that won France the 1998 FIFA World Cup under Aimé Jacquet, some claim a whole generation of coaches have become addicted to negative football.

Perilious posts
Such a tendency has arguably been exacerbated by an increased lack of patience with coaches. More than half of Ligue 1 sides parted company with their trainers last season because of poor results, making the remainder more keen to battle for a draw than risk defeat.

Bonus points
LFP president Frédéric Thiriez is now considering reintroducing a system that was used in Ligue 1 in the early 1970s which gave extra points to high-scoring teams. "I asked Michel Hidalgo, who has just joined the LFP, to consider possible bonus points," said Thiriez.

Unusual rules
Under the rules that were in place in 1973/74, any side scoring three goals in a match was awarded an extra point. The following campaign, the scheme was adjusted to give a bonus point to any team winning a game by three goals or more, but the incentive system was soon abandoned.

Hidalgo study
Hidalgo, who won the 1984 UEFA European Championship as France coach, is studying the options. "I will work with the whole football family and give my report in December," he said. "I think all the coaches in our league fear conceding the first goal. When you're 1-0 behind in France it's very difficult to win." notas_de_prensa_archivo