The Lille manager boasts a key Champions League ally, having played for the Frenchman at Monaco |
|  | SIR ALEX FERGUSON and the head coach of Lille, Claude Puel, are already one handshake in debt from last season. The 13 months since the Manchester United manager declined the hand of his counterpart after a tetchy fixture in Paris may have been kind to the quality of United’s football, but the discomfort remains in Ferguson’s memory. Earlier this season he mentioned Lille’s performances of last year, recalling that the French club held a one-man advantage for 30 minutes in the first match without putting a shot on goal. That contributed to United’s first-round exit from Europe. | |
When they face United in February, Lille will be making their debut in the last 16 of the European Cup. They were in most respects the juniors of the names in the pot — almost all ex-holders of the European Cup, or clubs from capital cities — for the knockout stages and in the lead-up to the tie, we shall doubtless be hearing the phrase ‘little Lille’ often, not just because it trips quite nicely off the tongue. Certainly, the Champions League is too big for their current facilities, Lille’s new stadium not yet ready to accommodate European football. Having found it hard to fill the Stade de France last season, they have been playing at Lens this campaign, where they have conceded goals — three in three ‘home’ group matches — but remain undefeated. They achieved qualification with an impressive result on paper: a 2-0 victory in the San Siro against Milan. But the Italians had already assured themselves of leadership of the group, and were not in the best form anyway. Lille also needed AEK Athens to slip up the same night and the Greeks obliged. Still, Puel has over his five years in the job created a competitive side, who went into the weekend’s French championnat fixtures third in the table and boasting Ligue One’s top goalscorer, the midfielder Mathieu Bodmer, a versatile player who is emerging as something of a totem for Puel’s team. Bodmer’s also a man Ryan Giggs will remember for the power of his elbow. United considered reporting to Uefa what their manager considered may have been a deliberate use of the elbow by Bodmer on Giggs during the Old Trafford clash between the clubs last season. Come the reunion, Lille will miss the Ivorian forward Kader Keita for the first leg through suspension, but have pace up front through Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie and control in midfield through the Cameroonian Jean Makoun. And Puel has access to some expert briefing on how to beat this season’s resurgent United. One of his closest confidants in the game is Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager. Puel, 45, played for seven years under Wenger at Monaco, and said recently: “That counts for a lot. I liked his method of dealing with a squad and his calm way of giving players responsibility.” His own style of coaching, Puel added, owed much to Wenger’s, though he still envied the Arsenal manager’s coolness and ability to take a rational, detached view of the job. The two men are still in regular contact. “At times when I have had to take an important decision,” said Puel, “he’s one of the first people I turn to for advice.” Puel has had several offers to upgrade his status. Porto are believed to have put him high on their shortlist, when they were European champions, to succeed Jose Mourinho. Lyon, the serial French champions, had also shown interest. “I want to finish this adventure,” he said of Lille, “and hopefully to win a title, having built ourselves up from practically nothing. In the Champions League, our target now is to get through, even though the draw has made that very difficult for us. Along with Lyon, Manchester United are certainly the best team in Europe at the moment.” Ferguson watched Lille draw with St Etienne last weekend. In France, they are considered tough, strong and unyielding. “It’s not always nice playing against a team with so many men protecting the goal,” said United’s French striker Louis Saha, “but I think we’re a lot more confident than we were last year.” |
