FEATURE | No Mbappé, no problem: ambitious managerial appointments offer hope of exciting Ligue 1 campaign | OneFootball

Talent drain is an accepted, almost embraced mode of functioning in Ligue 1. Within the wider ecosystem of European football, the self-proclaimed “League of Talents” is subservient to the spending power of their rivals in Europe’s top five leagues and in its own way, lives up to the derogatory “Farmers League” title, producing a fine crop of players season-after-season. By means of self-preservation, that crop is sold when harvest season comes around twice a year, in January and July – the financial realities of football within L’Héxagone necessitate such a model.

Mbappé one of many big names to leave Ligue 1

It has been a particularly strong harvest this year; the talent pool has been drained. Kylian Mbappé, Khéphren Thuram, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Leny Yoro, and Martin Terrier, have all departed, whilst the likes of Youssouf Fofana, Rayan Cherki, Désiré Doué, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Jonathan David may yet leave before the closure of the transfer window. The emptied talent pool has been replenished not by lavish spending on big name players but by the arrivals of quality managers who have been enticed to Ligue 1, or in some cases retained.

France does not create nor export managerial talent – in stark contrast to the elite development of players – nor has Ligue 1 succeeded in luring top managers, certainly not top managers with their reputations already created and within their prime years.

The notable exception, of course, as is so often the case in France over the course of the past decade, is Paris Saint-Germain. Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti, and Mauricio Pochettino all arrived with the elite manager tag, although none of the aforementioned enhanced their reputation at the Parc des Princes in their respective brief stints.

Elsewhere, managerial appointments have often felt uninspired in recent years. Olympique de Marseille have earned a reputation for burning through managers but none of the perennial challengers, AS Monaco, Lille OSC, Olympique Lyonnais, or OGC Nice have made an appointment that has stuck. Seemingly more so than elsewhere, managers are expendable, their appointment almost an afterthought; player development takes precedence as ultimately, that is what perpetuates the healthy (at least financially speaking) functioning of most clubs in France.

Five out of last season’s top 10 change manager

This summer has marked a radical diversion from this trend. Bringing in the right manager and constructing the project around him has become a priority rather than an afterthought. Understandably, there were no managerial changes at last season’s top three with PSG remaining with Luis Enrique, Monaco with Adi Hütter and Brest with Eric Roy. However, five of Ligue 1’s top 10 did make a change in the dugout, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

The retention of managerial talent is promising. Luka Elsner earned a deserved promotion after his exploits with Le Havre AC, bringing them into Ligue 1 and then keeping them there on a shoestring budget last season. The Franco-Slovenian manager built a solid and compact defence that allowed HAC to secure survival, despite a desperate lack of firepower.

He moves to Stade de Reims – a club with bigger ambitions and bigger means. Time will tell whether Elsner will build on his promise in the Champagne region but it is a positive appointment. It is clubs like Reims that have so often in recent years been guilty of mindlessly picking someone off the roundabout of familiar names that do the tour of Ligue 1’s ventre-mou and relegation contenders.

Elsner succeeds Will Still, who also remains in France. The former Stadiste manager explicitly stated a desire to take a job in England and it cost him his job at Reims. Whilst he has not got his wish, he does move geographically closer to the English Channel, taking the helm at RC Lens. There, he succeeds Franck Haise, who has rightfully earned a stellar reputation after taking Les Sang et Or from Ligue 2 to the UEFA Champions League and to within a point of PSG in the 2022/23 season. He too remains in Ligue 1, despite reports of Premier League interest, replacing Francesco Farioli at Nice.

French football has struggled to create its own managerial talent but the likes of Haise, Elsner and Still, all of whom have made their reputations in Ligue 1, are perhaps indicative of a change. The promotions of academy manager Pierre Sage at Lyon and Didier Digard, who left his post as manager of Nice’s reserve side to replace Elsner at Le Havre are also indicative of the shifting managerial landscape; the tried-and-trusted is no longer on the menu. For the tactical development and diversification of the league, that can only be perceived as a positive.

De Zerbi’s appointment at OM – a positive for Ligue 1

However, by far the most eye-catching appointment is that of Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille. Managerial retention has been a big issue at OM with Jorge Sampaoli and then Igor Tudor lasting only one full season at the Vélodrome. Marcelino, appointed last summer, lasted a matter of weeks, and by the end of the campaign, OM had burned through three managers.

The turbulent campaign leaves Marseille without any form of European football this season. Spending would be more limited as a result, even if some canny sales have significantly increased the budget. However, at the time of De Zerbi’s appointment early in the summer, the Italian, fresh from a successful stint at Brighton and Hove Albion, represented a considerable investment, the kind of investment that Ligue 1 clubs have been so reluctant to make on managers.

De Zerbi arrives in Ligue 1 with his reputation made and despite interest from some of Europe’s elite. It’s almost unheard of, at least in recent French football history. Through his appointment and the retention of some of the well-regarded, developing coaches, the managerial ceiling has been lifted. Quality shouldn’t be in short supply in Ligue 1 this season, even if the talent pool of players has been significantly drained.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle