At OL Park,
For the first time since his arrival at Olympique Lyonnais as general manager, Laurent Prud’homme held a brief exchange with the media at Parc OL on Wednesday evening. The former boss of The Team joked: “It’s okay, it’s easy actually.” Officialized by the Lyon club on December 5, he has since experienced three victories at the stadium, while OL had only experienced one during the first 14 days of Ligue 1. This unexpected positive series (3- 0 against Toulouse, 0-1 in Monaco and finally 1-0 against Nantes on Wednesday) even allows the seven-time French champion to leave the red zone (15th), with two points ahead of the barrage Toulouse.
“Finishing the year without being relegated feels good,” sighs Alexandre Lacazette, still a decisive scorer against the Canaries. A lot of people had buried us…” This is understandable as OL were adrift, without coherence, without unity and without meaning since the start of this difficult season, whether with Laurent Blanc or with Fabio Grosso. More than the fortunately timed arrival of Laurent Prud’homme, the real man embodying the sporting revival in Lyon is called Pierre Sage. Former U16 coach at OL from 2019 to 2022, then assistant to Habib Beye at Red Star (National, from 2022 to 2023), the 44-year-old trainer became head of the Lyon training center this summer.
“The coach deserves to stay with us”
For the first five professional matches of his life in the shoes of a head coach, here he is with more points collected (nine) than the Blanc-Grosso-Vulliez trio (interim for a single match) combined, which had only obtained only seven units in the first twelve matches of the season. A nice surprise which pushed the northern turn to chant his name on Wednesday evening after the success snatched 10 against 11 against Nantes (expulsion of Dejan Lovren), and the new Lyon sporting director David Friio to throw himself into his arms at the kick of final whistle. An image which takes on a comical meaning when we delve into the official presentation of the former Marseille leader on the OL website: “David Friio takes office with the initial mission of appointing the next head coach of the professional team, at the end of the interim period currently provided by Pierre Sage”.
Forget the Jorge Sampaoli and Bruno Genesio rumors, Pierre Sage will obviously still be on the bench on January 7 for this Interstellar French Cup poster against Pontarlier. In this sense, the players’ lobbying began in earnest after the 3-0 against Toulouse on December 10, with Maxence Caqueret and Alexandre Lacazette in the lead. Rebelote Wednesday evening with a new duo Duje Caleta-Car – Rayan Cherki. “Now we are a team and we are going to have a happy vacation,” relishes the Croatian central defender, who was completely sidelined by Fabio Grosso. The coach deserves to stay with us after these three victories and the very good atmosphere he has created. » As for Rayan Cherki, the decisive passer inspired on Wednesday, his praise is even more focused on “Mr Stone Wise”.
He brings us a lot of keys: he transmits to us all a lot of kindness and an incredible freedom so that we can express our qualities as best as possible. It’s something that we lacked and that we needed to be able to give everything on the pitch. We hope it will last as long as possible. »
Players “a little inhibited”, less than 39% possession at home
It’s difficult to deliver a clearer message to John Textor and his entire gang, as OL promises to be active in the January transfer window. Be careful, Pierre Sage obviously did not transform a sick team. The success against Louis II had all the makings of a perfect hold-up last Friday and the one against Nantes was marked by a fairly dramatic first period. In the end, at home against the 11th in Ligue 1, Lyon had less than 39% of ball possession, with a glaring ratio of 351 passes to 553 for Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men (but 7 shots on target to 0).
“The first half caught my attention: we were a little timid, we couldn’t get the ball out,” regrets the Lyon coach, whose 3-4-3 seems to suit all his players. I think that the stakes, the change of status, and the fact of playing again in front of our audience with a lot of expectations, meant that the players were less in the initiative than expected. But they clung to other values. » Namely the fight, self-sacrifice and solidarity dear to the demanding Pierre Sage. This seeks to reduce among its players “the strong emotional context” which “inhibits them a little”.
“I don’t know yet if I will be affected or not”
His greatest achievement is undoubtedly to have completely resolved with the infernal turnover of Fabio Grosso, capable of starting 20 different players in just seven matches. “It was important to create habits so that we play together again,” says Pierre Sage. To progress collectively, the players needed to play a series of matches and interactions. » Hence the installation of the Caqueret-Tolisso duo in the heart of the game and the Cherki-Nuamah-Lacazette trio in attack, as well as the sidelining of the disappointing Sinaly Diomande, Paul Akouokou, Skelly Alvero and Mama Baldé.
Completely back on track after cold weeks with Fabio Grosso, Rayan Cherki continues: “These last few weeks have been decisive for us, we are getting our heads above water. It does a lot of good for morale and confidence. We know that everything is not decided. Dropping to 15th place doesn’t change anything: we’re still not where we should be.” Count on Pierre Sage to continue to assert the objective of maintaining it in 2024: “There are still 18 or 19 points missing, everyone must have that in mind. It is an objective that takes place over time. That doesn’t mean we’ll take an extra piece of log.” A restrained touch of humor, while the former assistant at Red Star quickly recovers, after having personally anticipated the resumption in January: “I don’t know yet if I will be affected or not”. We have our own idea on that.