Laurent Blanc is currently posted to Al Rayyan in Qatar speaks to his players during the Qatar Cup semi-final football match between Al-Rayyan and Al-Sadd at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in the capital Doha on February 18, 2021. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) – AFP
- The departure of Christophe Galtier leads Losc to look for a new coach for next season.
- Several names stand out from Laurent Blanc to Thiago Motta via Lucien Favre.
- The decision should fall in the coming days.
No time to savor that you already have to think about the rest. Sacred champion of France on Sunday, Losc must already find a new coach for next season. After three and a half years ended in apotheosis, Christophe Galtier decided on Tuesday to leave Lille a year before the end of his contract. Since then, Olivier Létang, president of Losc, has been working to find a replacement.
“We will calmly begin to discuss with some high-level coaches, always with the club’s interest as a priority, namely sporting ambition and competitiveness” declared the manager on Tuesday evening. on the Losc site. If nothing is done yet, several profiles emerge to take charge of the new French champion automatically qualified for the Champions League.
Laurent Blanc has the profile but should not come
Benefits : On paper, the 1998 world champion ticks a lot of boxes. Coach of the PSG from 2013 to 2016, he knows very well Olivier Letang, ex-sports director of the club of the capital, with whom he worked in close collaboration. Its current staff also knows Losc and the region very well. Franck Passi, his assistant, coached the club from January to June 2017. His physical trainer Philippe Lambert is a Northerner who worked at Losc but also at RC Lens. Four-time French champion with Bordeaux (2009) and Paris (2014, 2015, 2016),
Laurent Blanc knows the Ligue 1 well but also the Champions League that Lille will play next season. In the media, his name is also an asset to digest the pill of Galtier’s departure.
Disadvantages: After five years of inactivity, the 1998 world champion left at the beginning of 2021 to coach the Qatari club of Al Rayyan with whom he is under contract until June 2022. Blanc is not free and has not coached for a long time. in Europe. On the OL short-list in 2019, he was even beaten on the wire by Rudi Garcia. His reputation, justified or not, for nonchalance also works against him. The financial aspect will also be important. In a northern club in economic difficulty, like most French clubs, not sure that his financial emoluments are at the level of what Losc is able to offer him. According to our information, it seems very unlikely to see him land in Lille next season.
Lucien Favre, the trainer who prefers the Bundesliga
Benefits : The 63-year-old Swiss coach has something to embody the change of era at Losc. After the forced march of the Lopez era, the northern club decided to return to the formation neglected for the past three years. Jean-Michel Vandamme has just returned to Losc to take over the training center. And the leader knows very well
Lucien Favre who was on the verge of coming to the bench at Losc after the departure of Rudi Garcia in June 2013. But Michel Seydoux then decided in favor of René Girard. Since then, Favre has come a long way. In France, he led Nice to the third step of the podium in 2017. Party at Borussia Dortmund in June 2018, he finished second in the Bundesliga twice before being sacked last December. Free from any contract, Lucien Favre is looking for a new challenge.
Disadvantages : Listed in the Bundesliga, the Swiss technician does not necessarily want to return to France where the means and competitiveness are more limited. Every time a French club has contacted him since leaving Nice in 2018, he has closed the door. Not sure either that the Losc is able to align financially with the salary claims of the coach.
Leonardo Jardim can’t wait to get back on a bench
Benefits : Since his dismissal from Monaco in December 2019, Leonardo Jardim has been free from any contract. The 46-year-old Portuguese technician is in need of a sideline and ready to embark on a new challenge. Champion of France with Monaco in 2017, he had managed to lead the club of the principality the same year in the semi-final of the Champions League. His experience in Ligue 1 is no longer to prove. Jardim is also renowned for throwing young players into the deep end which may correspond to the new Lille project. Finally, the Portuguese speaker can easily communicate with the many Portuguese members of the workforce (Fonte, Xeka, Sanches, Djalo) if they stay at the club.
Disadvantages : Apart from Monaco (2014-2019), Jardim has not coached other French clubs. On the media front, the Portuguese is not known for his flamboyant communication either and risks suffering from the comparison with Galtier. Finally, if he is free, Jardim does not necessarily want to return to Ligue 1 and would like to export to another European championship. Financially, Lille will be unable to offer him the salary he received in Monaco.
Thiago Motta, the big odds
Benefits : PSG executive when Olivier Letang was sporting director, Thiago Motta knows the new president of Losc well, who is not insensitive to his profile as revealed recently The voice of the North. Free from any contract since his dismissal from Genoa in December 2019, the former player, now 38, is also affordable due to his lack of experience. His face can embody the new policy of the northern club turned towards training.
Disadvantages: Thiago Motta clearly suffers from a big lack of experience on the sidelines. After having coached the U19s of PSG for a year, he left to take command of the Italian club Genoa in October 2019. Result: a fiasco. After 10 games (5 defeats, 3 draws and 2 wins), the club was the red lantern of Serie A and Motta had to return his apron two months later during the winter break. Without any coaching experience in the Champions League, his arrival on the bench of the champions of France would be a huge surprise. But would clearly announce the lower ambitions of the northern club.