Top 10 Managers of the Season #10: Rudi Garcia

Europe is full of upcoming young managers with immense potential set to be unplugged in the bigger leagues of the Barclays Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. But few are as talented and knowledgeable as the 47-year old LOSC Lille boss Rudi Garcia. If Walter Mazzarri is the so-called messiah of Napoli, if Andre Villas-Boas is the new face of modern European managerial dynasty, Rudi Garcia is the epitome of football entertainment in a clean-sheet obsessed Ligue One. One thing for sure is that his players and the general French public love him for his attacking philosophy and the gravity of his extraordinary achievement, for he not only brought the French domestic league title to the Stade Lille-Metropole after a gap of 57 years but has given the footballing world a bunch of players that for years would be world beaters and entertainers in the biggest leagues in Europe. It is due to his extraordinary achievements that he has featured in Sportskeeda’s Top 10 Managers of the Season series.

The New Face of French Football

After Lille had secured a domestic double by winning the French Cup final and the Ligue One title in consecutive weeks, the city’s mayor paid tribute to Garcia and his squad for one of the greatest feats in French football history. Martin Aubry, head of the French Socialist Party and the Lille mayor was quoted as saying,

“The dream we’ve been waiting for since 1954 has become reality and fills with happiness all the people of Lille, of the north, and all football lovers who have become passionate about this team. LOSC have reconciled the French with football and made us forget about the World Cup.”

The triumph of Lille is a great personal achievement for Rudi Garcia since being elected as the club’s coach in 2008. For the last three years he had assembled a squad full of fluent and talented young professionals that did their respective jobs with utmost motivation, ambition and above all respect for the coach. The manager himself admits that this season’s double winning feat is the result of the past two years’ immense hard work coupled with stability and flexibility. In a post match conference immediately after Lille’s 2-2 draw with PSG that secured the title, Rudi Garcia invited his entire back room staff to celebrate the moment. In the news conference Garcia said,

“There is a lot of pride. There was a lot of work from the players. They realized that work was the essential quality. It’s a victory for the squad. They don’t realize that in 10 or 15 years, it will be unique and they’ll become friends for life.”

These are the words of a man who is passionate enough for the game to give due credit to each and every human being involved with the victorious Lille side. An attacking midfielder in his day, Garcia has gone about his job like a man on a mission. His tried and tested 4-3-3 formation turned Lille into a goal machine, outscoring their more illustrious opponents in the forms of Marseille, PSG, Lyon and Bordeaux throughout the season. With 65 goals in 37 games, LOSC are the league’s top scorers with pundits and critics alike showering praises on Garcia’s attacking mentality. The 47-year old former Saint-Etienne and Le Mans manager maintains that the success is the result of constant hard work for the past two seasons.

Garcia etched his name in the history books when he broke Lille's 57 year old jinx and took them to the Promised Land

His 4-3-3 strategy has provided young talents such as Gervinho, Eden Hazard and Moussa Sow, Adil Rami, Aurelien Chedjou, Yohan Cabaye and Rio Mavuba the perfect platform to showcase their free flowing attacking game. These players have not only helped the Northerners secure the League double but also pointed out the fact that Rudi Garcia is one of Europe’s brightest young managers when it comes to taking the best out of raw young unheralded talents. The use of just 22 players throughout the season is testament to the fact that the Lille manager believes in a small close knit squad that would be easy to gel and bond in a long season although it remains to be seen whether this philosophy works next season when the French champions rub their shoulders against the continent’s elite in the Champions League. What would be more interesting to see is the fact how Mr.Garcia copes with the highly anticipated exits of 15-goal man Gervinho, Eden Hazard, Adil Rami and Yohan Cabaye to high profile football destinations next season. The test is probably tougher come next season and Rudi Garcia would again have to re-build a squad of ruthless and loyal talents that would rule French football for sometime to come and push the coach to the pinnacle of managerial achievements if he follows up with his own personal achievements.