Sunday, December 06, 2009

  21:00 - LOSC Lille Métropole / Olympique Lyonnais 

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Former Lille boss Claude Puel’s Lyon side drew four times in November (Liverpool, Marseille, Grenoble and Rennes) and lost a Champions League tie to Fiorentina. The bald statistics don’t tell the entire story. The 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool saw OL qualify for the last sixteen of the Champions League. At the end of October OL were second in Ligue 1, two points behind champions Bordeaux. Heading into the festive period OL are... second in Ligue 1, two points behind champions Bordeaux.

Makoun: "Played with the handbrake on"

Yet that is small consolation to Makoun, who in November secured a World Cup place with ex-PSG coach Paul Le Guen’s Cameroon. “We can’t close our eyes and pretend our bad run hasn’t happened,” said the midfielder. “Some players have been inconsistent, especially in the league and at times we haven’t played to our true level, both collectively and as individuals. We can’t afford that. Sometimes we’ve played with the handbrake on and we haven’t put in the effort together.”

The 26-year-old reiterated his confidence in Puel. “When things aren’t going well, people like to fire off against an individual. But Puel has never taken a player to one side and told them not to attack. His discourse places an emphasis on the collective so that we can best express our qualities. Our squad tries to win every match and we don’t know how to play for a 0-0.”

Heavy traffic from Lille to Lyon

Like Puel, Makoun joined OL from Lille in the summer of 2008. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has granted the signing of plenty of large cheques down the years to attract players from Lille. Makoun’s reported fee was 14 million euros. Not all of the signings have been successful. Kader Keita joined in 2007 for a club record 18 million euros, only for the attacker to be shipped out to Galatasaray this summer after two largely disappointing seasons.

The versatile Mathieu Bodmer joined OL at the same time as Keita for an estimated 6.5 million. And in 2009 OL poached Michel Bastos from Lille, also for a reported 18 million euros. The attack-minded Brazilian wide man has flourished at OL, winning his first caps for Brazil as a left-back in coach Dunga’s side in recent friendlies against England and Oman. Barcelona defender Eric Abidal is another player to have been transferred from Lille to Lyon in recent times.

Brothers in football

The links don’t stop there. LOSC president Michel Seydoux’s brother Jérôme is the second biggest shareholder in OL after Aulas. Lens president Gervais Martel jokingly said: “It’s useful having two brothers in the upper echelons of the clubs when you look at the transfers down the years.”

 The Seydoux brothers reacted to Martel’s comments in a September 2009 interview with L’Equipe Magazine. Michel Seydoux said: “Jérôme and me never talk about transfers. If Lyon are looking at a LOSC player then it’s something that happens between the clubs and not between brothers. That simply never happens.”

Yet with Michel Seydoux going on record this week with news of a 20 million euro budget deficit, the message is that LOSC will continue to be a selling club, prey for rich predators, be they OL or other superannuated outfits. Seydoux said: “We’re not looking to sell Hazard, but other players who have been here for a long time might feel ready for a new challenge.”

>> Lyon squad page: Check out the former Lille players!