Strasbourg 5–4 Monaco. Read that again. Five goals conceded on the final day, in a match that swung from 1-4 to 5-4 in a blur of defensive chaos (14). This was not a freak result. It was the season distilled into 90 minutes: breathtaking going forward, shambolic at the back. When you score four away from home and lose, the problem is not luck. It is structural.
Coach Sébastien Pocognoli knew it. "Il y a une remise en question à faire," he said afterward, calling for a full re-evaluation (3) (4) (9). He is right. This Monaco team has talent, and Lamine Camara's early goal in Strasbourg was a reminder of that quality (14). But talent without shape gets you 54 points and 7th place.
The table does not lie
Monaco finished behind Lille, Lyon, Marseille, and Rennes. No Champions League. Instead, a Europa Conference League spot, confirmed only after RC Lens lifted the Coupe de France (12). That is the reality: the club has drifted from the Champions League regular it once was. The season ended with a rival manager, Antoine Kombouaré, casually boasting his side "slapped Monaco 4-1" (13). Those words should echo through the summer.
Get the next AS Monaco FC brief by email
This article went out to subscribers as a brief. Get the next one straight to your inbox, free.
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
A squad caught between two directions
The transfer market is already stirring. Flavio Nazinho is arriving from Cercle Brugge for roughly €5 million, with the Belgian club's CEO calling it "the first player in nine years we can sell to Monaco" (6) (10) (15). He is expected next week for his medical (15). Left-back depth addressed. Useful, not transformative.
The Nübel situation is clearer now: Bayern Munich have told the goalkeeper he has no future at the club, with Max Eberl stating bluntly that if Neuer and Ulreich extend, "it will be difficult for Alex with us" (1). That opens the door for Monaco to make the loan permanent. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier is also on the radar from PSG (16). One way or another, the gloves need sorting.
But the real anxiety sits further up the pitch. Maghnes Akliouche is wanted by Manchester United, PSG, and Liverpool (2) (5). Lamine Camara is on Newcastle's list, with football insider Pete O'Rourke noting Monaco "develop them and then sell them for the right price" (11). That model sustains the club financially. It also makes climbing the table harder every summer.
The youth concern
A footnote to the week, but not one to ignore: Monaco's U23 side lost 8-1 to Cercle Brugge in an end-of-season friendly (6). Friendly or not, an 8-1 scoreline suggests the pipeline needs scrutiny. Pocognoli's "remise en question" should not stop at the first team.
Echoes of better days
Leonardo Jardim, the architect of Monaco's 2017 Champions League semifinal run, was in the news this week comparing Flamengo's Pedro to Dimitar Berbatov and reflecting on their Monaco days (8). It felt like a postcard from another era, one where Monaco punched above its weight in Europe. That version of the club feels distant right now.
What to watch
Nazinho's medical and official unveiling should come within days. That is the easy part. The bigger questions: Does Nübel stay permanently? Can Monaco resist the offers that will arrive for Akliouche and Camara? And does Pocognoli get the defensive reinforcements his re-evaluation demands? The summer has started. The work has not.
