In football, novelty alone is often exciting. Especially in situations where the monotony of familiarity goes beyond breeding contempt and extends into disillusion. The very prospect of a new champion offers the faintest glimmer of hope that variety may briefly reign.
In the Big Five leagues (and most others to be fair), we usually see the same procession of teams, invariably winning or competing for the championship. Whereas England has only seen three teams win the top flight in the past 15 years, Italy and Spain have both witnessed five each, while Germany are relatively more competitive with six different winners. However the current favourite for each of the aforementioned leagues is a previous champion, a club that has won multiple league crowns in that period. Moreover, even in seasons that said team has not won the title, it has featured prominently, either in Europe or in the league. Basically it's one of the usual suspects who look odds on to win again, in each of those four countries.
Then we come to France. LOSC Lille are leading the league at the time of writing. Impressively, they are also on course for a double, having reached the Coupe de France final as well, against PSG. Now, fans in England may remember them beating Manchester United in the 2005 Champions' League group stage, before themselves succumbing to United in the 2007 Champions' League Round of 16, albeit controversially.
However, this team has not won the league title since 1954 and last won silverware with the French Cup in 1955. As recently as April 2000, they were in the second division and have a bit of a reputation of being a selling club. In the past five years Michel Bastos, Jean Il Makoun, Kevin Mirallas and Stathis Tavlaridis have all moved on, in addition to ex-manager Claude Puel, who joined the Bastos and Makoun at Lyon. In all, Lille has only ever won the title twice, to go with its five Coupe De France trophies.
Despite this, under new coach Rudi Garcia, at the helm since 2008, Lille have turned a new leaf, and fashioned a new rugged team. Garcia has melded together new arrivals like Pierre Alain Frau, Gervinho and Rio Mavuba, with the old core of Yohan Cabaye and Ludovic Obraniak and sprinkled in talented youngsters like Adil Rami and Belgian sensation Eden Hazard, both promoted from the youth team. Recruiting experienced custodian Mickael Landreau from PSG has also added balance and grit to the team.
If Lille do go on to win the title, they would be a new name on the honour roll and a welcome respite from the recent list of winners and top dogs.
Looking at the past 15 years in Ligue 1, Lyon have dominated by winning SEVEN straight titles from 2002-2008 and finished in the top three every year since 1998. Bordeaux followed up their 1999 win with a title in 2009 but had a relatively lean decade in between. Marseille, no longer the dominant force of the early 1990s, are the defending champions and have been resurgent of late with four consecutive podium finishes culminating in their triumph last year. And although Monaco and Nantes both won two of their titles in the past 15 years, the last of them was the team from the Principality triumphing in 2001. And while Monaco did reach the Champions' League Final in 2004, alongside three more top three campaigns, they have since faded and are now some way off from competing for top honours altogether. Nantes meanwhile, has dropped out of the running altogether, alternating between the first and second divisions, since its relegation from Ligue 1 in 2007.
One would have to go back to the 1998 Ligue 1 season to get a similar taste of novelty, when Lens won the title, followed by Metz, featuring a young Robert Pires. Lille have some experience of nearing the summit, finishing third in both 2001 and 2006, while being runners-up in 2005. This season, they looked likely to win with a six point cushionat one stage, but recent results have caused them to look nervously over their shoulders at Marseille. The southern port club are sitting a couple of points behind, but have a game in hand.
Despite my inherent impartiality as a journalist, I personally hope Lille go on to win both the League and Cup, and achieve a famous double. It would revitalise both the sport and league competition in the country, while returning the team to the Champions' League and spread some of the wealth around. However, with smaller teams like Lille, success or the very prospect of it, often causes more problems than it can handle as bigger clubs come hunting for their players. Retaining their star names over the January transfer window was a coup, but if Lille do hold on to capture the Ligue 1 title, the ensuing summer months may prove too much for chairman Michel Seydoux to resist.
Well who are Lille? Most of you will barely know the team since mainstream media typically ignores the lesser lights. Well, let's meet them:
Manager Garcia usually goes for an attacking, robust 4-3-3 but will often fall back to a more traditional 4-4-2 when defending a team or playing away.
In net, goalkeeper Landreau has been an ever present, with poise and experience augmenting his excellent technique. His tally of 11 French caps may well be added to in the summer if he keeps up his good form, although his injury in 2009 stunted his career at a time when he should have been peaking.
At the back, youngster Rami, on loan from Valencia, has been a revelation at centre-back, alongside Cameroonian Aurelian Chedjou, with the pair starting 28 league games together. Brazilian Emerson da Conceicao and Frank Beria patrol the left and right side of defence respectively, while experienced Czech defender David Rozenhal (recently at Newcastle, Lazio and Hamburg) provides important minutes off the bench.
Lille's midfield is one of their strengths, with several talented players blending creativity and gritty determination to provide the catalyst for Lille' title charge. Mathieu Debuchy is one of the pillars of the side as he alternates between playing as a right side midfielder, nominal right back as well as a deep lying playmaker. Beside him are captain Mavuba and club stalwart Cabaye, both displaying the classic tenacity and ball control that define box-to-box midfielders. All three have started 31 league games and played almost every minute of Lille's season so far. Additionally, 31 year old Florent Balmont is often a fourth midfielder who provides a steadying hand to proceedings. His experience of over 200 top flight games, including a treble of championship winning seasons with Lyon in the mid 2000s, brings pedigree to the lineup.
Up front Belgian forward Hazard can play anywhere along the frontline and although at his best whilst on the wing, or just behind the main striker, has recently been deployed to lead the attack as well. The traditional striking duties fall to Ivorian Gervinho and Senegalese Moussa Sow with their usual remit being to bomb forward and create havoc amongst opposing defences. The pair has scored 33 goals between them and is the main source of goals for a team that is solid but hardly prolific. Experienced super sub Frau, once a gunslinger at Lyon, has weighed in with five goals while Hazard has added another six but Lille are built on their defensive prowess.
Garcia, a creature of habit, likes to name two subs on the bench who are very similar to his players on the pitch. He will bring one or both of Polish Obraniak and Brazilian Tulio de Melo on to change things or shore up a win. The duo has featured in 23 games apiece but has only started two. Obraniak for Cabaye is a common substitution as one tireless runner is replaced by another. Similarly the need to preserve the young Hazard, both late in games and with an eye on the future, is often manifested by his replacement by De Melo, scorer of three goals himself.
With a core of 15 players who have played over 90% of Lille's season so far, the team is prone to both physical and mental fatigue as evidenced by relatively lacklustre displays over the past few weeks. However Garcia is a master at motivation and if he can rouse his troops for the final leg of the title run in, his team will finally taste Ligue 1 glory. And what a triumph it shall be.
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