Bordeaux players celebrate their recent win over Olympique Marseille. (Claude Paris/Associated Press)
Soccer: John F. Molinaro
A cheeky Bordeaux: Les Girondins are a sip away from winning the French title
Last Updated Friday, May 9, 2008
by John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports
FC Girondins de Bordeaux can't be considered a vintage team just yet, but like a good wine it will only get better with age.
Les Girondins, who call the port city of Bordeaux in the southwest of France home, trail Olympique Lyon by only two points for first place in Ligue Un with a pair of games left in the season, and have a shot at winning their first French league crown since 1999.
That the championship is even up for grabs this late in the season is a testament to the relentlessness and spirit of Bordeaux — at the same stage last year, Lyon enjoyed a 20-point advantage over Olympique Marseille. They ended up winning the championship by "only" 17 points.
Indeed, Lyon has dominated the French league to the point that they usually have the title wrapped up by Easter. Bordeaux finished second two seasons ago, 15 points off the pace of Lyon, as clear a sign as any that they were simply the "best of the rest" in the French game and well short of being able to stop the Lyon-opoly.
But Bordeaux has managed to make a race of it this season.
Les Girondins have trimmed what once looked like an insurmountable nine-point lead by Lyon to just two points over the past two months, resulting in the closest title race since the 2001-02 campaign when Lyon overtook Lens on the final day of the season to win the first of their six consecutive league titles.
Lyon controls their own destiny — if they win their remaining two games, they will claim a seventh straight championship — but Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc insists his team hasn't conceded anything and will not go down without a fight.
"We will play our hand right until the end," Blanc told a French radio station.
So, who do we have to thank for turning Bordeaux into title contenders and producing one of the most compelling French league races in years? Look no further than the man in charge.
Blanc makes the difference
Under former Brazilian coach Ricardo, Bordeaux played a tight and defensive style, methodically grinding out results by waiting for their opponents to make a mistake before they pounced. Blanc, nicknamed "Le President," has been far more adventurous than his Brazilian predecessor, scrapping the conservative 4-5-1 formation employed by Ricardo and replacing it with an attacking 4-4-2 setup.
The results speak for themselves.
In his first season at the helm, Blanc, a former defender of some repute who won a World Cup with France in 1998, has transformed Bordeaux from an ultra-defensive unit into one of the league's offensive juggernauts with 61 goals this season (only Lyon, with 70, scored more often).
A change of formation and playing philosophy only tell half the story, though.
Blanc made a pair of player acquisitions that at the time seemed ludicrous, but turned out to be inspired.
Critics snickered when Blanc signed David Bellion last summer. The French forward was coming off a five-year spell in England in which, it would be an understatement to say, he failed to impress — his three years at Manchester United saw him only play a handful of games and he was largely relegated to the reserve team.
But nobody is laughing now — Bellion has scored 11 goals for Bordeaux this season, an impressive haul for a player who didn't score that many goals during his entire time in England.
Alou Diarra, a member of the French team that reached the finals of the 2006 World Cup, saw little action during his two seasons at Lyon, but he has re-emerged as one of the best defensive midfielders in France since joining Bordeaux last summer, drawing comparisons to Patrick Vieira.
Cavenaghi, Micoud shine
Other players have responded to Blanc's approach and have repaid him in kind.
Argentine forward Fernando Cavenaghi, signed from Spartak Moscow in January 2007, floundered under Ricardo's defensive regime but has flourished under Blanc's tutelage — the 24-year-old star has bagged 14 goals since January and is tied for third place in the French league's scoring race.
And then, of course, there is Johan Micoud, the venerable midfield veteran who, like Cavenaghi, under-performed the past two seasons — although, it must be said Ricardo often played him out of position.
Written off more than once during his career, the 34-year-old Micoud has discovered the fountain of youth, thanks in large part to Blanc, who has played him in his preferred role in the centre of midfield where he can pull the playmaking strings and orchestrate the attack.
Blanc has Bordeaux playing an exciting brand of "champagne football" not seen in France for quite some time, while at the same time threatening to stop the unstoppable Lyon juggernaut.
Vive le revolution.
John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBCSports.ca whose chief love is international soccer. Contact John here.
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