A regular on the airwaves, Walid Acherchour recently expressed his doubts about the long-term success of LOSC, which he sees on cloud nine since the start of the season.
“I would like to take stock of the first part of the Lille season and for that, I will take a bird's eye view of what they achieved. I was often very demanding in matches with points that I didn't like and the fact that (Lucas) Chevalier mainly stood out in these matches. I also found that there was often a lot of success each time. We've talked enough about all this, and it's just from the daily grind.”thus began Walid Acherchour, wanting to take a step back from Lille's performances. This is a zoom out to better understand the results obtained and plan ahead.
Fourth in Ligue 1 and eighth in the Champions League, qualified in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, LOSC had an exceptional first part of the season in their eyes:
“When we take a step back, the overall context of the club: loss of Fonseca, arrival of Genesio, loss of Bentaleb who was an important player, of Leny Yoro, of Tiago Santos and Angel Gomes due to injury, the rather clever recruitment, starting the season in July…he quotes. To find myself today three points behind Monaco, in fourth position, qualified in the Coupe de France for the sixteenths and above all, to be qualified for the Champions League play-offs after six days, I find it extraordinary. Chevalier recently said that we don't talk enough about Lille and I'm not far from joining him. I wanted to take my hat off to this team which plays with very young players and does not hesitate to do so (Mukau, Bouaddi, Fernandez-Pardo…). There is also the case of Jonathan David which could have been the cause of a lot of tension. I think in another club it could have been different and there they managed it very well. This is also the case for Zhegrova, who said he wanted to leave last summer. They managed to involve him even though he is a special player, thrill on the pitch, but also at night for a leader. For all of this, I want to take my hat off to Lille”says Walid Acherchour, who salutes the teams in place in the North.
But still doubts…
However, this great dynamic is not guaranteed to continue after the break. This is a real question for Walid Acherchour, who sees LOSC on cloud nine. Be careful on the way back down: “Afterwards, this is the second part of the debate, can this last the entire second part of the season? This is the big question in my eyes because I find that they outperform compared to everything I just mentionedhe judges thus. Compared to the Top 5, to the players they have, this is the team that outperforms the most. At the start of the season, if you tell me that this team, with these players, achieves all that, I don't believe it for a single second. I don't mind idealizing the squad because there are some good players with technique, but it remains a big surprise.”concludes the consultant, used to the airwaves.
