Ligue 1 has no shortage of exciting attacking teams this season. One such side is Lille OSC under Bruno Génésio, who have scored 23 goals in their first 12 league games of the campaign. That tally is only good enough to place Lille as the fifth-highest goalscorers in Ligue 1...
Ever since the club's marvellous success story with the great Eden Hazard from 2007-2012, Lille has emerged as one of Europe's top-selling clubs and a talent developer. This summer was perhaps the greatest example, as Les Dogues recouped over €90m from the sales of Lucas Chevalier, Bafodé Diakité, and Edon Zhegrova. More generally, in...
In a season in which Paris Saint-Germain won every available trophy except the FIFA Club World Cup, the question of improvement might seem almost redundant. This is a team whose domestic dominance has long been established. Yet, the 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League Final signalled a new...
Many football fans will recall when 16-year-old Angel Gomes made his senior debut for Manchester United. In the final match of the 2016/2017 Premier League season, Gomes entered the pitch in the 88th minute, replacing Wayne Rooney during a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. This appearance put his name in...
Borussia Dortmund ended up coming through their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash with Lille to earn a place in the quarter-final, where they’ll face off with Barcelona. After the first leg ended 1-1 at the Bundesliga side’s Signal Iduna Park, BVB had to come from behind at the...
It is safe to say that Manchester United have been a slow burner under Ruben Amorim so far. The team shows some signs of adapting to his wing-back tactics but struggles for overall form. As a result, they have picked up just four wins from their 21 Premier League matches...
Plenty of eyes have turned to Germany U21 international and FC Köln academy product Jonas Urbig following his €7m move to Bundesliga giants FC Bayern. On his arrival at Bayern, Urbig has been coined the ‘heir apparent’ to Manuel Neuer, while the 21-year-old was drawing comparisons to Barcelona’s Marc-André Ter...
The possession-dominant teams featured in our high xG shot creation tactical analysis often make the game look easier. While there is beauty in simplicity, and they pull it off well, a certain degree of quality is necessary to execute attacking sequences with those levels of precision. We certainly won't assume that any...
Bruno Génésio’s start to life at Lille OSC has been quite positive, with the 58-year-old former Rennes and Lyon manager guiding Les Dogues to back-to-back UEFA Champions League victories over both Real Madrid and, most recently, Atlético Madrid. Domestically, Lille currently sit fourth in Ligue 1, having won four, drawn...
Welcome to TFA today, where we share important articles from the TFA archive that are relevant once again. Arne Slot Liverpool Manager Record Liverpool beat Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League to give Arne Slot his eighth win out of nine played, officially setting a new record for any LFC...
After winning their first two league games of the season by two goals to nil, Lille OSC have now lost two on the bounce in Ligue 1 — first to PSG before the recent international break and then, on Friday, they fell at the feet of newly-promoted Saint-Étienne. On top...
The 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League season marks the continuation of the tournament's prestige, featuring 36 clubs from various European leagues. This year, the competition structure has evolved, creating more opportunities for teams to progress while adding a layer of complexity to the group stages, as we will see in this...
As the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season kicks off, the battling between clubs will shift from being primarily conducted behind the scenes as each team tries to prepare themselves as best they can for the campaign ahead to taking place on the pitch when the squads that each competitor has assembled...
France undoubtedly has a wealth of talent all over the pitch, with a host of attackers vying for a place in the national team setup and an apparent conveyor belt of talent entering the fray for contention in midfield. The central defence certainly stands out as a particular part of...
Two weeks ago, we put out an analysis on tactical principles for efficient penalty area entries. Let's build on that. In this week's tactical theory article, we'll look at the passing sequences that position a team to attack the box. That moves beyond the entry, scaling our focus back to...
Having just booked their place in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals, where they’ll face a tough test versus in-form EPL side Aston Villa, Lille will be on something of a high entering their Ligue 1 clash with high-flying Brest this weekend. The only side other than PSG to win...
Lille are well known for consistently producing young players who go on to make a significant impact on the global stage. The academy's commitment to nurturing young talents has fortified the club's position in the footballing hierarchy and contributed to the broader narrative of player development in France. One standout...
The 435th weekly post of the CIES football observatory ranked the top-100 midfield distributors in the world from a field of those who’ve played at least 450 league minutes in the current campaign. As explained in the post, this ranking was based on Wyscout data relating to successful passes per...
At the end of the 2020/21 campaign, Christophe Galtier’s Lille were crowned French champions, overcoming the financial might of Paris Saint-Germain to finish top of the Ligue 1 table for the first time since the 2010/11 campaign when the likes of future Chelsea and Real Madrid playmaker Eden Hazard helped...
Jonathan David has enjoyed a fantastic start to life under Paulo Fonseca for Lille this season. The Canadian international has scored nine goals in 12 games so far this campaign and is now being linked with moves to clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool. Having made...
