2023-05-01 10:39:00
THE MONDAY TACKLE. The victory of the TFC in the Coupe de France is a nice symbol of rebirth for this club, but a terrible disavowal for some clubs.
By Adrian Mathieu
© OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
Published on
Subscriber-only audio playback
Lhe list is getting longer and longer. After Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux, Guingamp, Lille, Monaco, Nantes, Stade Rennes and Strasbourg, it is now Toulouse who have won a trophy under the QSI era before Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais.
For more than a decade, the two supposed locomotives of French football behind the untouchable Paris Saint-Germain have been disappointing. And Toulouse’s success in the Coupe de France accentuates this feeling.
Two clubs, a decade of disappointment
Since the takeover of the capital club in 2011, OL and OM have often hidden behind the staggering means at their disposal to explain the dust that is beginning to invade their trophy cabinets: it would simply be impossible to be able to compete with the stars of Camp des Loges and hope to win a cup. But over the years and the cracks of the Parisian project, it is clear that even David can triumph over Goliath in France.
No, the Paris Saint-Germain of Mbappé, Messi and Neymar are not invincible and with a bit of good will and a sensible project, we can absolutely win a title in this particular era of French football. Jean-Michel Aulas has often railed against the powerful Parisians, but several small Gallic villages resist again and again, and have proven for a decade that PSG can falter.
And this year of the Coupe de France ridicules the Marseillais and the Lyonnais even more. While they were in a good position to get the Old Lady, the two clubs collapsed incomprehensibly. Difficult to decide between the worst elimination: OM who beat PSG in the round of 16 before being knocked out at home by Annecy, 16e of Ligue 2, or OL who miss a match at La Beaujoire against Nantes in great danger this season in Ligue 1.
Winner of the competition after a masterful final and a wide 5-1 success over FC Nantes, the TFC has had an extraordinary trajectory for three years. Last in Ligue 1 at the end of the season stopped by the Covid in March 2020, it has changed in size, and in particular in ownership. The Southwest club was bought by an American investment fund and its management team relied on data to perfect its new project. From the antechamber of the elite to its return to the fore, Toulouse has regained its colors and even won a trophy 66 years after its last success: a nice snub to the two Olympics.
France’s UEFA index at half mast: whose fault is it?
OL and OM are at a crossroads at the end of the 2022-2023 season. Olympique Lyonnais is now owned by American businessman John Textor, who has promised big maneuvers for this summer. For France to rediscover its colors on the European scene and preserve its UEFA index, a dominant Lyon is essential. However, after having terrorized Ligue 1 in the 2000s, OL put their claws away for a long time… By multiplying casting errors among players, coaches and also their staff, Jean-Michel Aulas, of whom we praised the management so much, has been adrift for quite a while.
On the OM side, even if he were to not win the championship, we will not have shunned our pleasure this season in terms of the game. Igor Tudor offers intense football which is certainly energy-intensive, but which knew how to win over the demanding Marseille public. Since his arrival at the head of OM a little over two years ago, Pablo Longoria has been able to lay a solid foundation. On the other hand, next season must be materialized with a trophy that the Marseillais have been missing since 2011 and victory in the Champions Trophy, when Didier Deschamps was still on the bench: an eternity!
READ ALSOFive Ligue 1 players who would make PSG happyBesides, is it such bad news for Ligue 1 to see Toulouse, barely promoted, already catapulted into the European Cup? Inevitably, in a Europa League which requires experience and above all talent, the Occitan spirit risks being a little too tight on Thursday evenings. But with its clever recruitment since the summer of 2020 – the three scorers in the final only cost 5 million euros in total – the TFC is surprising. But regardless of these considerations, the Place du Capitole celebrated its heroes as it should. On Place Bellecour and in the Old Port, people have been dreaming of a similar celebration for years…
#triumph #Toulouse #slap