Back in July, with Paris Saint-Germain investing heavily, Lille reinforcing and Marseille also busy in the transfer market, few would have conceived that Lyon could produce such a strong start to the Ligue 1 season, beating Didier Deschamps’ Marseille outfit and in the process condemning the Stade Velodrome side to the bottom of the table.
While Lyon currently face strong challenges from Montpellier, Rennes, Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse – and Marseille have recovered – their powerful start is still a remarkable turn of events, even more so as Les Gones’ new coach Remi Garde had a comparatively quiet summer. And ‘coach’ really is the right term for the one time midfielder, who does not have the UEFA coaching licenses required for the hot seat, and therefore cannot be named the official manager.
The former Arsenal man replaced Claude Puel this summer, whose much anticipated exit was duly confirmed by president Jean Michel-Aulas, as he opted to promote from within. For Garde, the task was simple: Get the best out of a talented squad. Only Gueida Fofana and Baka Kone were notable additions, with Jeremy Toulalan departing for Malaga, though Michel Bastos stayed in France despite looking set to leave under the Puel regime.
And with just two relatively low profile signings and an unproven manager, the pressure was well and truly on, making it all the more surprising that Lyon have started the best of all the predicted Ligue 1 title challengers this season.
Meanwhile, PSG took their time to get off the mark with a raft of new signings, Lille endured their typical August blip and Marseille floundered completely; Deschamps’ men the biggest surprise of all.
In truth though, what has happened at the Stade Gerland should not come as too much of a surprise. What is often forgotten given Lyon’s troubles in recent times is that a talented squad has always remained at the club, with a first team capable of matching their rivals. It is easy to forget such a thing, given the extent of the underperformance during the Puel years, when the former Monaco coach took a group who had won seven titles in a row and guided them to three seasons without a trophy. And he did so spending €110M on players in the last two seasons alone, so the squad should have its fair share of talent.
The jewel in the crown in the current Lyon ranks is Yoann Gourcuff, signed for €22M from Bordeaux last summer. Gourcuff though, having been likened to Zinedine Zidane at points throughout his career, failed to produce what was expected in Puel’s cautious system. Under Garde, Les Gones will look to get the best out of the talented French playmaker, whose close control and creative skill can provide the pivot around which the new team can be built.
But the manager has had to wait, with Gourcuff sidelined through injury since a clash against Toulouse at the end of last season. In his absence, Garde has fielded a 4-3-3 system, making the most of the talents of Bafatembi Gomis and Lisandro Lopez up front. Jeremy Pied and Jimmy Briand have also featured regularly, whilst further down the pitch Bastos’ skill and power has been allied to talented youngster Maxime Gonalons and Kim Kallstrom in Gourcuff’s absence.
At the back, Cris, who so struggled last year as age proved unforgiving, and who has been a remarkable servant to the club through their glory years, is being phased out. Instead Baka Kone has started alongside Diego Lovren, with Aly Cissokho and Anthony Reveillere giving Puel’s men width and shape. And with Gourcuff still to come back, and talented young players in Gonalons, Clement Grenier and Alexandre Lacazette, things look much brighter for Les Gones under the new regime.
Then of course, there is Garde himself, the former Lyon and Arsenal player, who was such a steadying influence in the opening year of the Arsene Wenger era at Highbury over a decade ago. The man who has been both assistant and youth team coach at the Stade Gerland has restored the spirit and sense of fun to Les Gones, removing the shackles and encouraging a return to the freedom and attacking style which brought so much success.
Against Marseille, Bastos was back to his best, supplying the opening goal for Gomis, before firing home with power and accuracy to seal a comfortable 2-0 win. And away from domestic duties, his side have also coped well in Europe, having won a tough Champions League knockout tie with Rubin Kazan. The French side had gone behind but came back to win the first leg 3-1, plotting a route to an eventual 4-2 win on aggregate. The group stage too was also started solidly, with a useful 0-0 draw at Dutch champions Ajax.
Much like Liverpool after Kenny Dalglish took over at Anfield back in January, gloom which had accumulated over several years of underachievement has rapidly evaporated. But there is some cause for concern in amongst the positive start made to the season. Lyon fell behind in their first five games of the campaign, although they successfully fought back every time – and the side recently lost for the first time, with a 1-0 defeat away at Caen.
Though their displays show character to fight back, it also points to a lack of focus at the start of matches. Against teams such as Nice and AC Ajaccio, Les Gones can get away with such lapses, but when it comes to the crunch games towards the end of the season Garde’s side cannot afford the luxury of being able to go a goal behind and come back.
But Lyon will rightly not care about such issues now, with optimism abounding after a stunning start to the campaign. After years of suffering under the overbearing regime of Puel, this is a club revitalised, enjoying the refreshing joie de vivre handed to them by their new coach.
