Get French football news Sitting down with former Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Lorient forward Jeremy Aliadie to talk about how some of his former teams have fared this season and looking ahead to this summer’s World Cup. In part one, we discuss whether Arsenal will win the Premier League and how Lorient will fare on their return to Ligue 1.
Will Arsenal win the Premier League?
Well, I sure hope so! There are still quite a few games to play and it will be very tough. But I hope so—and I think so. When I go to the games and see the quality of play and the team, I think this is our best chance of the season so far.
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There are still cup competitions and the Champions League, so there are still a lot of games to be played, and Mikel Arteta needs to make good use of the team and put in the right players at the right time. Since I don’t think it’s possible to use the same starting lineup every three days, he’ll need to rotate a lot to win.
That’s the problem – when you play on four different fronts you can’t choose – you can’t say we’re going to go all out in the league or the Champions League. You want to win it all. So you field your best team in every game. But some players will be more tired than others. So you need to rotate, and finding the right balance isn’t always easy.
This is all a matter of team management. We’ve been very close to winning the title in the last two or three years and I think Mikel has learned a lot from that and that’s what I’ve noticed this season – so far Mikel has managed his team better and he’s rotated more. Sometimes I hear people on the pitch being unhappy with certain players starting on the bench, but I always say it’s not an XI that wins a championship, it’s a team, and every player has their own role and contribution. This is the most important aspect for me.
Turning to Lorient, when we spoke to you at the start of the season you expected them to be in a relegation battle but in reality they were much closer to a European place. How do you explain their success this season?
That’s the magic of football, isn’t it? You think it would be difficult for teams coming out of Ligue 2 to persist. But instead, they had a great season. This is a hard-working team, and when you have a team that pulls up its sleeves and works hard for each other and is well organized, I think the coach does a great job.
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Lorient is always a well-organized team with forward players capable of making an impact through scoring goals. But the foundation is always a solid defense, good organization, everyone working together, defending as a team, attacking as a team. When you find that the team has good management and a good balance between attack and defense, even the big teams in Ligue 1 can create problems. I remember when I played at Lorient – our good seasons were always based on hard work, players helping each other and helping their teammates. No egos, no superstars – we all work for the club and the team. I think when you discover that, you have something – you have power.
I think that’s what Lorient has discovered this season. The coach and his staff do a great job recruiting quality players and instilling the message that they can do something special Together. If any player is too focused on his goalscoring record or doing things to help him move to a bigger club, then it’s not going to work. So I think it’s all about the collective at Lorient, it’s always been that way, and with the coach’s approval, everything is working well. I hope they can keep this up until the end of the season, why not sneak in a European spot – that would be great.
But of course, it’s difficult to sustain it season after season, continue to recruit good players, and not lose key players. It’s always about managing the team from one season to the next.
It’s hard to be a yo-yo club – promotion, relegation, promotion again. It’s the same in England – usually the team that goes up has to fight to avoid relegation. That’s why Lorient’s form this season is so impressive, they escaped relegation early on and can relax and move up the table instead of down.
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I also think whether you’re in England or France – it’s good to have great players – I mean look at Tottenham Hotspur – you look at their squad, at the start of the season you would never have said they would be in this position [fifth from bottom of the table] And the players they have. But the thing is, once you’re in that position, it’s no longer about talent, it’s about quality. It’s about rolling up your sleeves and working hard as a team to achieve results. I’m not sure Tottenham or a similar club are ready to do that. And a club like Lorient is used to ups and downs, so they know what it means to keep rising and what it takes to keep rising.
What role do you think Laurent Koscielny played in returning to the club as sporting director?
I’ve never played with Laurent so I don’t know him very well, although we’ve met off the field a few times. But from everything I’ve heard about him, he’s a hard worker and he’s everything I’ve said before – it’s all about the team, the franchise, no individualism. So I think having him in the club helps a lot. In terms of recruiting players, integrating them into the team with that mentality, based on the collective and the main goal of staying up late – that’s the goal when you join a club, to play together every weekend for each other – I think Laurent helps instill that mentality and find players who have the ability to fit into that group.
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