Ligue 1 - Lille - Ligue 1: The eleven type of LOSC in the 2000s

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Ligue 1 – Lille

On the occasion of the derby against RC Lens this Sunday, FF offers you a typical LOSC team during the 2000s. Rare period when the two northern clubs were at the top of the French Championship.

Guardian

Arrived at LOSC in 1998, Gregory Wimbée was one of the executives who allowed the northern club to return to Ligue 1 in 2000. Only, for the club’s return to the first division, Teddy Richert is preferred to him. But the young goalkeeper, on loan from Bordeaux between 2000 and 2001, seriously injured his Achilles tendon in the first match. Wimbée then resumed his place of holder and became indisputable in the cages of the Mastiffs. But after six years spent in Hauts-de-France, he finally signed up with Metz in 2004, after 225 matches spent under the Lille colors. Even today, he is considered one of the best goalkeepers passed by the club, with Vincent Enyeama (2011-2018).

Defenders

Who other than Pascal Cygan as leader of the defense of LOSC ? Arrived at the club in 1995, the central defender connects the good and the less good during his beginnings. Replaced in the axis, Pascal Cygan becomes monstrous and even receives the Gold Star France Football in 2001, trophy rewarding the most efficient and regular player of the season. Before joining Arsenal and the Premier League in the summer of 2002, the Lens native totaled 200 appearances with Small, all competitions combined. By his side, Eric Abidal logically imposes itself in this hinge. Barred by competition in Monaco, the French decided to join Lille in 2002 and find his former coach under the Monegasque colors, Claude Puel. In just two seasons spent in the North, he has emerged as one of the best defenders in the French Championship. At the end of the 2003-04 season, he joined the reigning French Champion, Olympique Lyonnais.

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On the left wing, it is a former executive of Vahid Halilhodzic’s LOSC who can be found in the person of Grégory Tafforeau. Landed from SM Caen in 2001, he quickly established himself as a holder of his post and even became the captain of the Mastiff team. He also participates in the Champions League three times after the club’s good performances in 2005 and 2006, where Lille finished second and third. After losing his place in the eleven, he will leave the club in 2009. On the other wing, impossible not to place Mathieu Debuchy. Formed at the club in 2003, he also stands out as an indisputable holder in his post. Despite a cruciate ligament rupture in 2006, he managed to regain his place and will play a total of 301 matches with the Mastiffs. He will leave LOSC for Newcastle after ten years at the club and after the Cup-Championship double, achieved in 2011.

Environments

Centerpiece of the Lille midfielder of the 2000s, Jean II Makoun figure logically in this eleven. Trained in Lille after leaving Cameroon in 2001, the native of Yaoundé has always been up to the task during his seasons with LOSC, where he will participate in the Champions League for two seasons. In 2008, he joined Olympique Lyonnais for four seasons. By his side is Mathieu Bodmer which made the happiness of Claude Puel at the beginning of the years 2000. The ex-player of Caen arrives in 2003 and becomes, With Makoun, an indisputable holder in a midfield where he will have brought all his technique and his vision of the game After two great seasons between 2004 and 2006, he joined OL in 2007, then PSG in 2010.