Lille

Lille Loses To Le Mans: The Mediocrity Continues

Julien — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:16:59 +0000

LOSC Lille Métropole played their second match of the new Ligue 1 season last Saturday. The match was home againts Le Mans UC 72. Le Mans had a chance for vengeance against us for taking their former manager, Rudi Garcia. Garcia’s results thus far this season have been unimpressive. We lost 1-3 against Le Mans, which is simply ridiculous. Lille rarely conceded so many goals under Claude Puel’s reign (he manages Unstoppable Lyon right now). Yet again, Les Dogues dominated possession for most of the match. And yet again, our efforts were fruitless. Le Mans scored and quieted our supporters. They gained even more confidence after scoring a second goal. Lille came out in the second half lacking confidence. They just didn’t believe in a victory anymore. When Bastos finally scored hope was already lost. We are 19th place in the table. I know it won’t stay that way, but what a shitty start to the season. Our next match is against Stade Rennais. They started off strong drawing OM 4-4. Match details:
Saturday, August 16, 2008 - 19:00 H (local time)
STADIUM LILLE METROPOLE
Attendance: 13,206

Les Dogues
MALICKI
BERIA
FRANQUART
TAFFOREAU
EMERSON (51′ )
DEBUCHY
BALMONT
CABAYE
BASTOS
MAVUBA (c)
DUMONT (79′ )
TOURE
OBRANIAK (51′ )
FAUVERGUE

The Bad Guys
ROCHE
GEDER
CERDAN
CAMARA
STROMSTAD
KEITA (89′ )
THOMAS (c)
MAIGA
COUTADEUR
LE TALLEC
HELSTAD
DOSSEVI (66′ )
BAAL
BEN FREJ (70′ )

Yellow Cards: Tafforeau (45+1′), L.Touré (48′) and Bastos (74′) for Lille - Ib.Camara (12′), Baal (44′) and Le Tallec (64′) for Le Mans.

Goals:
21 ‘ HELSTAD (LMN)
33 ‘ MAIGA (LMN)
65 ‘ BASTOS (LOSC)
82 ‘ MAIGA (LMN)

A Rough Start: Lille Draws Nancy In Opening Match

Julien — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:25:16 +0000

The 2008/2009 Ligue 1 season started last weekend. Lille’s first match was against AS Nancy. Nancy finished 4th in the table last season taking them to the UEFA Cup. Lille finished 7th and led the league in ties. It is very fitting that our first match and another Ligue 1 match ends in a draw and is low scoring. No goals were scored in the entire match. The Ligue 1 yawns continue. No surprise at all that few people watch Ligue 1 outside of France. It just isn’t as exciting title and match wise as the EPL, La Liga, or even Serie A. We were missing Kevin Mirallas for the match. He is still at the Olympics playing with Belgium, which is having a nice tournament. So maybe the score could have been a little different. Maybe he would have scored and earned us our first three points. Well at least we gained 1 away point. We weren’t at home and at the end of the match LOSC was down to 10 men from a Rami red card. Our midfield played really well. Despite missing Claude Puel Les Dogues still played well. There were many chances to score. Lille’s next match is against Rudi Garcia’s former club, Le Mans. Match facts:
Saturday, August 9th- 21:00 H
STADE MARCEL PICOT
17,611 spectators

Nancy:
1 BRACIGLIANO (c)
5 LUIZ
20 CHRETIEN
27 OUADDOU
MACALUSO (73′ )
4 MALONGA
15 HADJI
18 FERET
24 GAVANON
CURBELO (89′ )
26 N’GUEMO
10 DIA
NDIAYE (61′ )
22 FORTUNE

Lille:
16 MALICKI
18 BERIA
20 TAFFOREAU
23 RAMI
2 DEBUCHY
4 BALMONT
7 CABAYE
EMERSON (90′ +1)
8 BASTOS
DUMONT (84′ )
24 MAVUBA (c)
6 FRAU
TOURE (28′ )
13 FAUVERGUE

Yellow Cards:
23 ‘ N’GUEMO (ASN)
36 ‘ LUIZ (ASN)
39 ‘ BALMONT (LOSC)
63 ‘ GAVANON (ASN)
85 ‘ BERIA (LOSC)

Red Cards: 90′+2 Rami (LOSC)

Strengthening The Offense: Émile M’Penza

Julien — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:15:02 +0000

Belgian international and Manchester City striker Émile M’Penza is another attacking possibility for Lille. Our northern rivals, RC Lens also have negotiated with him. He has 17 goals in 52 appearances for Belgium. LOSC also wants PSG’s young striker, Yannick Boli. Boli is only 20 years old. Here is where we currently stand attacking wise: Nicolas Fauvergue, Larsen Touré, Chris Makiese, Kévin Mirallas, Pierre-Alain Frau are our five main attackers.

LOSC plays their second to last friendly of the season against OGC Nice this Saturday. Kickoff is at 19H local time in Touquet, France. Should be a good match. OGC Nice has picked up better players than we have during this mercato. They signed a promising young Colombian goalkeeper and Rémy from Lyon.

One of Rudi Garcia’s goals for the next season is to finish in Ligue 1 within the top 10 spots of the table. Last season we finished 7th place. Our squad seems weaker this time (Puel is gone and no Sylva, Makoun or Lichtsteiner). I think we can just make it within that area of the table. Certainly, it will be difficult. I still am not fully confident with our new manager.

Another Lillois may move to Turkey. Tony Sylva currently plays there with Trabzonspor. Souleymane Youla may join him in Anatolia. Eskipehirspor wants the LOSC striker. Youla has played in Turkey before for Beşiktaş. Also, Stephan Lichtsteiner has finally transferred to Serie A’s Lazio. He played with Lille for three years.

Lichtsteiner To Lazio For 1.2 Million Euros

Julien — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:24:13 +0000

La Voix du Nord reports that Stephan Lichtsteiner will be transferred to S.S. Lazio for around 1.2 million euros. PSG was another possibility for the LOSC defender.

28 year old Slovakian goalkeeper Lubos Hajduch is another potential replacement for Tony Sylva. Sylva transferred out of Lille to Trabzonspor earlier in this mercato. Saint-Étienne’s Jéremie Janot is still another option.

Kevin Mirallas will play a Belgium olympic squad friendly tonight against the Netherlands to prepare for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Adil Rami extended his contract with Lille to 2012. This secures his spot on Lille’s roster. He was a prospective Olympique Lyonnais.

LOSC played a friendly last Saturday against Belgian Zulte-Waregem. Lille won 2-0 thanks to two goals scored by Balmont (40′, 57′). Match facts:
Squad: Oukidja – Debuchy (Benzerga), Rami (Taravel), Béria (Salibur), Tafforeau (Lebbihi) – Balmont (Yanes), Mavuba (Dumont), Cabaye (Chedjou) – Frau (Touré), Fauvergue, Bastos.
Yellow Cards: Cabaye (32′), Fauvergue (66′, 73′).
Red Cards: Bastos, Fauvergue (73′).

Piquionne No Longer An Option?

Julien — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:37:59 +0000

One of our transfer hopefuls, Frédéric Piquionne, is slipping further away from Lille. OGC Nice’s Maurice Cohen confirms that if Piquionne doesn’t move to Lyon he will transfer to Nice.

LOSC says that only ticket holders for next season will be able to spectate the club’s friendly match on July 25th against Roulers at 19H. The match will be played at Stadium Nord.

Footlille reports that Grégory Tafforeau could play his 300th career match if he plays in our opening Ligue 1 match. Our first opponent of the upcoming season is AS Nancy.

Franck Béria thoughts on our opening match:
“They aren’t the best club for us to face at the start of the season. We have to learn from our last season’s performance. Nancy is a great first challenge for us and we should try to return to Lille with some points. ”

LOSC Official Presentation! New Jerseys Unveiled!

Julien — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:31:58 +0000

LOSC’s official presentation was yesterday at Stadium Nord. Around 3,000 supporters came to witness the unveiling of the new jerseys. They were designed by Canterbury. What do you think? Richard’s comment yesterday said the third jersey looks a little like Borussia Dortmund. For those that don’t know, it is colored that way because of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region’s Coat of Arms:

It is based on the Flanders (La Flandre in French, Vlaanderen in Dutch) flag:

Awhile ago northern France was part of the Low Countries, which also included present day Belgium and Netherlands. That is why many northern French cities/towns have a French and Dutch name (Lille is Riijsel in Dutch and my family’s town, Douai, is Dowaii). Our culture still has some Dutch influence. A few nordistes/ch’tis (French northerners) are even French separatists that want to be a part of a unified Netherlands. The Dutch culture is pretty strong in northern France. My dad jokes that we aren’t even really French, but Belgian.

It looks like Olympique Lyonnais have chosen John Mensah over our defender Adil Rami. According to Football365, Mensah is going to sign a 4 year contract with Lyon worth 8 million euros.

Footlille says that their may still be a chance for Lille to sign Sébastien Puygrenier. I disagree, since LOSC leaders think he is too expensive. ASSE seems to think so as well. They aren’t even ready to hand over approx. 5 million euros to Nancy.

Nicolas Fauvergue says that Lille is reaching their top level of play:
“We are working very well. We had a tough week that helped us to progress physically. Already against Calais we were better.”

Grenoble wants Larsen Touré to come back. He was loaned to the club last season. There were rumors that the Isérois would sign him. They might just want to have him on loan again.

New Jersey And Stephan Lichtsteiner Moves To Lazio

Julien — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:16:05 +0000

Here is a picture of LOSC’s third kit for next season. It uses the yellow and black colors of La Flandre française (Flanders). The club has a new outfitter, Canterbury. They specialize in Rugby uniforms.

Rudi Garcia said that more LOSC players will probably leave this summer. Lichtsteiner looks to be out and Olympique Lyonnais wants Adil Rami. According to Mercato365, Stephan Lichtsteiner transferred to S.S. Lazio for 2 million euros. His contract is for 5 years. Stephan was in Rome today for his physical. Where Lille currently stands transfer wise:
Departures/Potential Departures
Kluivert (let go)
Fauvergue (Ligue 2)
Lichtsteiner (Lazio Rome) COMPLETED
Makoun (Lyon) COMPLETED
Maric
Mirallas (PSG, Marseille, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne)
Schmitz (Valenciennes) COMPLETED
Sylva (fc - Trabzonspor) COMPLETED
Tahirovic (FC Zurich) COMPLETED
Youla

New Players/Potential Recruits
Balmont (Nice) COMPLETED
Bratu (Dinamo Bucarest)
Dernis (Saint-Etienne)
Desmarets (V.Guimaraes)
Janot (Saint-Etienne)
Juanma (Levante)
Lyng (Aarhus) COMPLETED
Mavuba (Villarreal) COMPLETED
Oulmers (Charleroi)
Piquionne (Monaco)
Tenorio (Al Saad)
L.Touré (May return on loan from Grenoble)

We still need at least one attacker, defender, and goalkeeper (Janot deal is close).

Lille Close To Signing Spiderman (Jérémie Janot)

Julien — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:41:19 +0000

Lille might sign spiderman! Two current goalkeepers that could replace Tony Sylva are Jérémie Janot and Antti Niemi. LOSC is close to signing Janot from ASSE, but Fulham’s Niemi is an alternative if the negotiations don’t pull through.

Rudi Garcia says that the club isn’t rushed for transfers. He said the club still needs a striker and goalkeeper. Garcia also said that the club prefers being patient. I think we also need at least one more defender.

Metz central defender Sébastien Bassong is signing with Newcastle instead of Lille or Lens. Bassong says that it is a great choice for him.

Garcia is trying to keep Kevin Mirallas and Aurélien Chedjou from going to the Olympics. He is afraid that losing both will hurt the club:
“We hope that the club will have a complete squad for the start of Ligue 1, but the Olympic Games complicates things. It isn’t definite, but we might miss Chedjou and Mirallas.”

LOSC played a friendly yesterday 19h at Linselles against Calais. Lille won the match 1-0 thanks to a goal from Fauvergue (39′). Rudi Garcia continues to shuffle around the line-ups. He admits that a starting 11 for next season is coming together. We still don’t know who our new captain is. Tafforeau played in the match, but Cabaye wore the armband. Dumont and Malicki also wore it during this offseason. Match line-ups:
Starting
malicki
beria chedjou franquart tafforeau-
balmont mavuba cabaye (cap)
frau fauvergue obraniak

After 61′
malicki-
van dam rami benzerga bastos
touré debuchy dumont (cap) obraniak (lebbihi 71′)
hazard mirallas

The club’s schedule for the week:
Wednesday: Practice at 9h and 15h, closed to the public.
Thursday: Practice at 9h30 and 16h30, closed to the public.
Friday: Practice at 9h30 and 16h30, closed to the public.
Saturday: Practice at 9h30 (closed to the public), friendly against Waregem at 19h.

Bonne Fête Nationale (Happy National Celebration)!

Julien — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:48:33 +0000

Today is France’s national holiday Fête Nationale (Bastille Day for Anglophones). Sorry, no Lille updates today. This quatorze juillet like many others I remember and thank all the Frenchman that risked their lives fighting for France: strangers and relatives. From the oppressive kings to the fascist Nazis they fought on. Personally, I thank my great grandfathers that were a medic and alpine soldier in WWI. And of course my grandparents that had to endure the atrocities of Nazi occupation in wartorn Northern France. Vive la France! Vive la république!

Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L’étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes !

Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons !
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !

S.S. Lazio Close To Signing Lichtsteiner

Julien — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:48:59 +0000

Mercato365 reports that Stephan Lichtsteiner is close to signing a contract with Lazio. Since the beginning of the Euro 2008, Stephan said he wanted to leave. Other clubs that were interested in the Swiss defender include Real Madrid, Olympique Lyonnais, FC Porto, Atletico Madrid, PSG, and Dynamo Kiev.

Grégory Malicki said that Claude Puel’s departure changes things for him. Puel promised Malicki the number one goalkeeper spot. Rudi Garcia may have other things in mind. Well at least Malicki can find solace in wearing the captain armband during our friendly against Reims. He wore it for half of the match. Then it was given to Yohan Cabaye. My hope is that we find another goalkeeper, because I can’t stand Malicki’s style. He lacks Tony Sylva’s composure and he flops in goal like a fish.

Ben Khalfallah has chosen to prolong his contract with Angers SCO instead of transferring to Lille. Lille’s Peter Franquart also extended his contract, but with Lille to 2012.

Yesterday, Lille played a friendly against Stade de Reims. We won 2-0. The two goals were scored by Michel Bastos. Several players did not play: Maric, Yanes, Plestan, Beria, Tafforeau, Makiese, Obraniak, Lyng and Baseya. Our first half line-up:

Malicki

Debuchy Rami Franquart Emerson

Touré Chedjou (Frau 55e) Dumont Balmont Bastos

Mirallas

An interesting 4-5-1 formation was used. Ideally, I wish we used a 4-3-3 but we don’t have the attacking power to do so. In the second half Garcia moved to the 4-4-2. Many players were substituted so we don’t get a good look at how the formation would really work with our starting eleven:

Oukidja

VanDam Chedjou Benzerga Lebbihi

Frau (77e Youla) Cabaye Mavuba Salibur

Hazard Fauvergue

Rudi Garcia’s post friendly reaction:
“There wasn’t much rhythm during the match, because we were lacking physically. But that is normal after the work week. I noticed several good things with some game phases in the triangle as well as the goals that were scored. We did not suffer defensively, because we were well organized. There are still some areas that need to be improved upon on an individual and collective level.”

Michel Bastos’ reaction to the Reims friendly:
“I prefer to play on the side, but the manager likes versatility. The benefit is that he learned from this match’s line-up. He talked to me beforehand about it and I explained to him that there wouldn’t be any problems for me.” Bastos scored the two goals for Lille during the match.