FM22: OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS — LES GONES
A few days ago I stumbled across an open letter to the Olympique Lyonnais (OL) fans from their owner and president Jean-Michel Aulas.
Aulas has been fighting Lyon’s corner for more than 30 years and is renowned for being a gentleman who has a bit of a reputation for being outspoken and forthright with his views.
His letter was written with two rounds remaining before the close of the 2021–2022 Ligue 1 season, in which OL have failed to secure a European spot.
Not everything is played out in a single season when you are an institution as solid as ours. Remember the failures and rebuildings of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus or Atlético Madrid.
Lyon is the home to Olympique Lyonnais, one of French footballs most storied clubs. OL were founded in 1950 but, for the most part played a bit-part role in French Football until they were purchased in 1987 by the eclectic Jean-Michael Aulas.
OL finally broke through for their first Ligue 1 title in 2001/02, following that up with seven championships in a row until the club’s last in 2008.
We have already begun a deep self-interrogation at the end of this three-year cycle, marked by 175 million euros of investment in our men’s team.
Underlying the club’s success in the 21st century has been the emergence of an abundance of elite academy talents. In total Olympique Lyonnais generated almost 200 million in transfer revenue through sales of their 1990–1998 academy crop.
These are Les Gones, ‘the kids’: the products of a proud city, a proud region, with a deep connection to place and the football team that represents it.
This is not a revolution, our roots are there.
From the above quote my interpretation is that Aulas wants to bring the focus back to what has served OL so well for the past few decades, the integration of youth into the first team.
With the Under 18s winning ‘The Gambardella’ (U18 cup) this season, crowning an exceptional moment for both the club and les Gones, given the 25 year absence since OL were last crowned victorious, Aulas has good foundations to build on.
We want the DNA of Lyon training to be the key word for the future. We will be vigilant in parsing the profiles of our players who will join us, and will try to target as a priority those whom we consider to be compatible with our philosophy
However, the above quotation highlights that Aulas will not be dismissive of any external talent as long as he believes they are compatible with the philosophy of the club.
This is a model that we want to develop within all teams, by including former club players at the highest level, with staff that also have our DNA
Again the understanding, appreciation and ability to resonate with these values are essential to recruitment of non-playing staff. I suppose the integration of individuals who have first hand experience of the club help to keep the core values at the forefront of Aulas’ club.
THE OL DNA
Aulas has made reference to the OL DNA many times in his letter, which I have touched upon above.
I wanted to explore if I could pinpoint the OL ‘DNA’, this would be then used as a filtering tool when profiling players to ensure that external acquisitions maintained a synergy with the rest of the playing squad.
For me, when applying a DNA model I like to focus on the mental attributes of the team, the brain is the basis of everything we do: how we behave, communicate, feel, remember, pay attention, create, influence and decide.
Anticipation — How well a player can predict the movements and other actions of his teammates and opposition players.
Composure — How unaffected a player is by mental pressure when making a decision or performing his chosen action.
Flair — How well a player takes opportunities to attempt unexpected actions when he is on the ball.
Leadership — How inspirational and motivational a player is to his teammates.
Positioning — How well a player moves and positions himself, in order to deal with an opposition attack. (Preferred)
Vision — How well a player observes the options available to him when he is on the ball.
If you don’t have the right cognition, other attributes (Technical, Physical), for me don’t matter. The above attributes are those which are at least 0.5 over the league average and will be desired when scouting players.
First Touch — How well a player can control the ball and set it up for his next action when receiving it.
Passing — How accurately a player can pass the ball to his intended target.
Technique — How well a player perform more challenging technical actions when he is on the ball.
The above technical attributes are those which will then be desired from individuals as these will ensure that the individuals can fit into the style of play which we will be looking to play, which is a quick passing style of possession and movement
CLUB CULTURE
The culture focuses on what Aulas delivered in his open letter, a need for the development of players using the club’s youth system and a preference towards domestic talent.
Looking into Olympique Lyonnais affiliate network you can see OL’s scouts have eyes not just all over the city, but the entire Rhône-Alpes region. The club has links with smaller local teams, creating two-way relationships that give them greater access to the cream of the crop. But Lyon pay attention to players all over France — Ben Arfa, picked up from Paris, was one of there best non-local recruits.
THE SQUAD
THE TACTIC
This tactic is very much the out of the box vertical tiki-taka with a few changes to the player roles to suit the playing staff.
There are no PI at present, apart from those which I have selected for the DM, with the view to this player adopting a more riskier approach both on and off the ball with the ‘take more risks’ to get his creative juices flowing and ‘tackle harder’. The DM will often be the first player opponents engage with on transition, I want it to be an experience which they don’t forget too soon.
THE DATABASE
Check out the size of the boy… with 64 playable leagues in 41 Nations with 204,000 players, thanks to Daveincid and the reccomneded game and database setup which can be found on Passion4FM.
This setup will guarantee a well balanced transfer market, and strong competitors. All matches will be played out in full detail, resulting in comprehensive statistics for the other leagues, leading to a better quality of data analysis.
THE OBJECTIVES
Aulas made reference to a three-year cycle, therefore my aim is to see how far I can take his club over that time period. I am well aware that if achieved, this will be my longest FM22 save (yes, I have had what we call in Bristol a mare!)
The five year plan is to continue to be recognised as ‘the best of the rest’ which in my opinion translates as UEFA Champions League qualification through Ligue 1 and the ability to compete on all fronts year in year out.
Given the nickname of the club, Les Gones (the kids) it would be rude of me not to try and hold some significance around this being a youth development save.
Therefore I will look to apply some of my knowledge which I captured in FM22: Youth development — building a football club and focus on providing the first team with three players per season from either Lyon 2 or the U19s.
