Stade Brestois’s brilliant start to the season which sees them perched just outside the podium positions has been built on a daunting commitment to the unfashionable: hard defensive work. Les Pirates have kept the third-best defence in Ligue 1 and find themselves nestled firmly within the top half of the league and much of that has been due to the security provided by the performances of goalkeeper, Marco Bizot.
The Dutch goalkeeper arrived in France in 2021 when he made the move from AZ Alkmaar to Brest. From that moment on, Bizot has been the undisputed starter between the sticks for his new side, having missed only one game since arriving in Brittany. This level of consistency has undoubtedly helped steer Brest away from the edge of relegation in his two full seasons at the club.
Les Pirates finished 11th and then 14th with Bizot and despite a midseason wobble last season, they were able to pull out of a drop that claimed four teams. However, this year has been a different story for the club and keeper as their new manager Eric Roy, has transformed the team into an entirely different beast.
Bizot’s parents harboured lofty expectations
Bizot has kept seven clean sheets at the halfway point of this season, almost as many as he kept throughout the entirety of the previous season before when he secured eight. This is in part because of the dramatic improvements to his save percentage with Bizot now saving around 80% of the shots that he’s faced compared to 68% and 73% in the previous years. This coupled with the overall defensive improvements made by this Brest side has created a mean prospect for rival Ligue 1 attacks to overcome.
How Brest will cope in the second half of the season and whether they can mount what looked like the most unlikely of podium challenges will likely come down to how long Bizot can keep this high level of performance up. If he can, then it could well represent a historic year for a club whose highest-ever finish was eighth place in the 1986-87 season.
The former Ajax academy product grew up with high expectations, not least from his own parents, who wanted to “make him a superstar.” The Dutchman struggled to live up to those high expectations, but at 32 years old, his career is ageing like a fine wine.
