Since 2012, AS Monaco hadn\u2019t finished lower than third place in Ligue 1, but a cataclysmic season has seen them gasping for air in and around the relegation zone.<\/p>\n
Just seventeen months on from momentously winning the league title, Leonardo Jardim left the club with just six points from ten games.<\/p>\n
Monaco were sitting in the relegation zone and had gone from high to low in an unthinkably short time frame: dismantled, disbelieving and a quivering shadow of their former selves.<\/p>\n
Thierry Henry then returned to his boyhood club<\/a> to try and turn their fortunes around. On the surface, lifting a side of Monaco\u2019s stature out of the relegation zone sounds straight-forward enough, but Henry\u2019s efforts were in vain.<\/p>\n The Monaco board loosened their purse strings to facilitate a series of high-profile signings, namely Gelson Martins<\/a>, Cesc Fabregas<\/a> and Naldo. Money proved no quick fix for the Frenchman, however, and his position soon became untenable.<\/p>\n A 5-1 home defeat against Strausbourg came days before an even more humiliating defeat to Ligue 2 side Metz in the Coup de France. Leonardo Jardim then reassumed his position<\/a> and it has been something of a renaissance ever since.<\/p>\n In times of such adversity, Monaco fans will nostalgically look back at lifting the title in 2017. It was a rose-tinted age, with a star-studded squad that included Kylian Mbappe<\/a>, Bernardo Silva<\/a> and Benjamin Mendy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Along with Tiemoue Bakayoko<\/a>, this world-class trio moved on to pastures new and difficulties were forecasted ahead of the 2017\/18 campaign.<\/p>\n Jardim, however, hung on to the likes of Fabinho, Thomas Lemar<\/a> and Joao Moutinho<\/a> and masterminded a second-place finish. Since then, the only major high-profile survivors of their title-winning starting eleven are Radamel Falcao<\/a> and Djibril Sidibe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Le Monegasques have become known for selling their best talent and, although they are usually able to successfully replace it, they failed to do so going into the 2018\/19 season.<\/p>\n Fans would have hoped World Cup star Aleksandr Golovin<\/a> could have prevented such a dismal plight, but he couldn\u2019t do it alone.<\/p>\n Surrounded by a Monaco squad that has hitherto lacked identity and star-quality, the Russian international managed only one league goal.<\/p>\n Thierry Henry left Monaco<\/a> in nineteenth place and at the heart of a relegation scrap. Ever since, Leonardo Jardim\u2019s reintroduction has overseen a five-game unbeaten run that has taken his side up to 16th place, six points above the drop.<\/p>\n Whilst he may have endured a miserable spell at his former club, Henry\u2019s acquisitions of Cesc Fabregas and Fode Toure have proved vital. Jardim then oversaw the loan arrivals of Adrien Silva<\/a> and Martins, who have been regular fixtures in a reinvented midfield.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, 17-year-old youth product Benoit Mukinayi deserves an honourable mention, who has formed an excellent partnership alongside Kamil Glik<\/a>. The Portuguese boss has had some time away to think and oversee Monaco\u2019s issues, then re-invent a team tactically in tatters but now with far more quality.<\/p>\n In recent times he has reverted back to his favoured 4-2-3-1 which was successful for the opening two games in August. Over time, however, this system quickly lost its potency and Jardim desperately tried to accommodate a plethora of sub-par players into a series of untidy formations.<\/p>\n Upon his return, Monaco\u2019s midfield is now far more balanced with Silva and Fabregas sitting beneath a forward three of Lopes, Golovin and Gelson Martins<\/a>. It is apparent that aside from sensible methodical change, the key difference is quality and top players who can maximise his tactical vision.<\/p>\n Unlike Fabregas\u2019 pass against Lyon, their resurgence is no fluke, and the feeling now is that with Jardim’s upheaval and reinvention Monaco will only get better. It has required a calm, pragmatic response that has moved them away from chaos and into a sense of clarity and direction.<\/p>\n Main Photo<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDismantled and Downtrodden<\/h2>\n
Finding Their Feet<\/h2>\n