Aymeric, 17 years old, has been following LOSC since he was 10 years old. He is a member of DDN (Dogues du Net) which is located in the south stand of the Villeneuve-d’Ascq stadium along with members of the Sud collective. In Nice, we have debates about our new stadium, but it’s nothing compared to Lille supporters!!!
LOSC seems to have bounced back after their victory over Metz. The start was still a bit sluggish. How do you explain this slow start?
Aymeric: At the end of last season, LOSC “lost” two key squad members, namely Christophe Landrin (right offensive midfielder, who left for Paris) and especially Philippe Brunel (left offensive midfielder, who moved to Sochaux) who were among the most experienced players in a relatively young group and played a decisive role. These two players were obviously replaced, but like most recruits, it takes a few matches to adapt and find the right automatisms within a group. Lille started the season with a win against Rennes (1-0), followed by draws against Ajaccio (where the defense struggled, 3-3), Toulouse (on the contrary, it was the attack that lacked realism, 0-0) and an interesting 0-0 at Sochaux, and a home defeat to the newly-promoted Troyes (1-2). Last Saturday’s match at Metz (2-0) suggests a real launch of LOSC in Ligue 1, even though Metz is, for the moment, not really dangerous. Last year, it was also around this time that Lille started to string together good results, culminating in a qualification for the most prestigious of European cups! So there is no reason to worry!
Can you say a few words about each new recruit, presenting their qualities and tell us what the supporters expect from these new faces?
Aymeric: Very early at the end of last season, Lille signed two young Swiss players simultaneously.
The first is Daniel Gygax (24 years old), a right offensive midfielder or playmaker. He comes from FC Zurich and is a Swiss international (he even scored the third goal against Cyprus last Wednesday). He is a quite technical player, good at dribbling and passing, and has a good vision of the game. I think he has the means to adequately replace Christophe Landrin on the right wing.
The second Swiss is Stephan Lichtsteiner, a 21-year-old right-back and international hope. He is a defender with a robust build and shares his position with Mathieu Chalmé.
To replace Brunel on the left side, Lille signed Moroccan player from Raja Casablanca, Hicham Aboucherouane (24 years old). He is said to be a very technical player, even though he’s had a somewhat difficult start of the season at his new club. This is probably due to the fact that he has been playing for 2 seasons with little rest. He has a bit of high-level experience. He notably won the African Champions League with Raja. Rajaoui supporters nickname him the White Horse, because of his proud bearing on the left flank. He is very motivated by Europe since he almost played in England (Southampton). The transfer failed at the last moment.
Finally, Kader Keita (24 years old) has come to strengthen the Lille attack from Qatar. He is an Ivorian player who isn’t selected for the national team as the competition is fierce (Drogba, Aruna, Kalou, Koné…), but he’s counting on his season in France to joi