“A happy coach, a happy staff, players and a happy club …” Franck Haise did not shy away from his pleasure, after RC Lens’s victory over OM (1-0) on Wednesday night at the Stade Vélodrome in a late match of the 9th day.
Halfway through, here is the promoted 7th in Ligue 1, just behind the big teams of Ligue 1. In addition, the Blood and Gold can be proud of having fallen during the first leg all of our representatives in the League. champions this season: PSG (1-0), Rennes at home (2-0), and therefore OM … In this laudatory hunting table also appears Monaco corrected on its land (3-0).
Goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca does not lose sight of the fact that Lens has spent the last five seasons in Ligue 2: “We know where we come from. Almost a year ago at the same period, we lost against Caen, and we came out of the first two places to reach Ligue 1. Today, we are proud of what we do, we work, we do not not take for others. Our main goal is maintenance. If it arrives faster than expected, the objectives will be revised upwards. We must congratulate the whole team, all the staff and the leaders who built this team, and who do a wonderful job. “
“The anomaly was that Lens went down to L2”
Robert Malm, BeIN consultant, is not surprised by the artesian success: “Lens is in its place. The anomaly was rather that he went down to L2, with the manpower he had at his disposal. In my opinion, Lens is not a promoted, simply a club from L1 down to L2, like Auxerre, Metz or Toulouse. Today, the Sang et Or state of mind is back. “
Malm underlines the success of the Haise system: “It sends play with this system with three central defenders which requires full-backs able to make the efforts in both directions. Haise is gradually imposing his style and giving a new dimension to RCL. “
In the offseason, Lens recruited smart and fair. “Many players were a bet, like Florian Sotoca or Gaël Kakuta, continues Malm. Clément Michelin, one of the best full-backs in L2 last year, is gradually making his way into L1. In midfield, Cheikh Doucouré will be talking about him before long. In front, Simon Banza, child of the club, finally eats his white bread, as evidenced by his goal in Marseille. Ganago was a little lost and he was exploding. As for the young Kalimuendo, he chose Lens to hatch… ”
“Getting back to L1 certainly led them to be very focused on their start to the season,” said Jean-Guy Wallemme, 1998 French champion with the RCL. Their three-behind organization works well. At the beginning, I thought they took a lot of goals but some key games won allowed them to return to L1, the PSG match in particular. The mayonnaise has set and this team is more consistent than some, which places it in 7th position. Perhaps it also benefited Bollaert from a lower requirement with the camera. “
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If Haise is attached to the reality of maintaining, it is not forbidden to dream higher from now on. “We have done enough good things in 20 games to give ourselves a comfortable margin for maintenance,” admits Haise. But what matters is that in our mind, we are not comfortable but in search of progress with each exit. Lens may not have finished surprising.
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