Ligue 1 2023/24: How Éric Roy Has Engineered Brest’s Stunning Start To The Season – Tactical Analysis

Six games into the 2023/24 Ligue 1 campaign, Brest sits at the top of the table, one point ahead of Nice, and two ahead of both PSG and Monaco.

Éric Roy was put in charge of the first team back in January.

This was the 56-year-olds first managers job since he was in the Nice hot seat in 2011—more than a decade prior.

Roy had seemingly left coaching behind him, serving as sporting director at Nice (2011-2012), Lens (2017-2019), and Watford (2019-2020) during his decade-plus absence from the technical area.

After his spell at Watford, which ended just after the Hornets 2019/20 Premier League relegation, Roy took a break from football altogether.

He took some time to refocus on his objective of returning to management, which he has done in style.

Initially tasked with ensuring Brests Ligue 1 survival last season, hes now got the Brittany port city thriving in the top flight.

This tactical analysis will break down three critical aspects of Éric Roys tactics at Stade Brest that have led to the clubs high performance this term.

Our analysis will touch on Brests long passing, crossing and pressing; their success with implementing their tactics in these areas is why they currently top the league standings in France.

Éric Roy Tactics  Direct play from the back

To kick off our analysis, well focus on Brests in-possession play, precisely their direct nature and tendency to go long from the back.

The side with the seventh-highest average possession (50.7%) this season has also played the most long balls (46.67 per 90) in Frances top flight.

Marco Bizot Pass Map

Theres clearly no significant directive from the coach to play it out short from goal kicks; rather, Brest tends to prefer to go direct.

In doing so, they primarily look to exploit their centre-forwards aerial ability.