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Touch of Genesio – Olympique Lyonnais starting with a bang

Olympique Lyonnais, around a decade ago, were a real European force, with Juninho Pernambucano, Fred and a young Karim Benzema all playing a part in seven back-to-back Ligue 1 titles.

Nowadays, the French top tier is dominated by capital club Paris Saint-Germain and their almost infinite resources, but Lyon are certainly staying competitive in the division and have a strong squad this season, masterminded by Bruno Genesio. So what exactly are they doing right, where others struggle?

  • Homegrown Talent

France has always been a hotbed for footballing talent, proven by this years World Cup where they never seemed to leave second gear but won the tournament with relative ease.

Lyon are certainly a critical part of that puzzle for bringing those players into the top tier, with Benzema, Anthony Martial and Corentin Tolisso being graduates of the youth system, and that is certainly the case in today’s team, with Houssem Aouar, Nabil Fekir and Portugese goalkeeper Anthony Lopes all being developed from within.

Under Bruno Genesio, a former player himself, the team has gone from strength-to-strength in recent times and look like getting even better.

  • Tactical Bravery

Lyon entered the Champions League this year against some tough opposition, in Hoffenheim, Shakhtar Donetsk and Manchester City, and looked like the least likely to progress from the group but have managed to finish second behind City and now have a knockout game to look forward to.

This comes, in large part, from Genesio’s willingness to attack teams, even Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. This has meant they have been somewhat more open at the back but have put together some beautiful attacking plays and are capable of hurting almost anyone through their attackers, Memphis Depay, Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir.

  • Shrewd Transfer Business

Lyon, and Chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, are renowned for being financially shrewd and able to operate with sniper-like precision in the transfer market. They have been able to lose players like Alexandre Lacazette, Samuel Umtiti and Maxime Gonalons without losing much in the way of quality.

The ability to pick a good player is rare in football but to do that on Lyon’s budget, that is truly special. Maxwel Cornet, Lucas Tousart and Tanguy Ndombele have all been crucial parts of their team this year and were all picked up for small fees, in today’s market. Aulas is mentioned in the book Soccernomics as being a particularly efficient operator and if you want to hear more on that, I would definitely recommend that book.