Rudi Garcia new coach of Olympique Lyonnais

The club made official Monday, the recruitment of the former coach of Olympique Marseille.

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Olympique Lyonnais (OL) announced Monday (October 14th) the recruitment of Rudi Garcia (55) as coach. The former coach of Olympique Marseille (OM), not renewed in late May, replaces the Brazilian Sylvinho, dismissed October 7 after the defeat recorded by OL against Saint-Etienne in the league of France.

These last days, in Lyon, it was rather Laurent Blanc who seemed to hold the rope. But the former coach of PSG, Bordeaux and the France team wanted to come with his own assistants, which the club was not ready to accept Lyon.

Rudi Garcia is committed for two years with Lyon (until 2021).

Team stopped

He will therefore have the difficult task of relaunching a team that has been stationary for several weeks. Especially at the national level: the Lyonnais have not won the league since mid-August and point to the 14e place, one point ahead of the relegation teams.

The record of Sylvinho, who had succeeded Bruno Génésio four months ago (ousted at the end of last season) was starving: only three wins in eleven matches, and a single success on the last nine meetings.

The Brazilian did not know how to set up a game plan. "What's worrying is that we're producing less games", lamented, in late September, the sporting director Lyon, Juninho, who had imposed his compatriot in Lyon.

Read also Ligue 1: why the Sylvinho experience came to an end at Olympique Lyonnais

"Well above average performance"

" I chose Rudi Garcia because he is a fighter who, like us, has the ambition to win titles and succeed on the European scene, Juninho justified on OL's official website. He is an experienced coach who has already won trophies. During my various interviews, I had a real football connection with him. We speak the same language in terms of tactics and play. He advocates a technical and offensive football in the tradition of the game of Lyon and this will meet the expectations of our supporters. Wherever he went, he had above-average performances and he always made the most of the manpower he had at his disposal ".

Former coach of Lille (2008-2013) and AS Roma (2013-2016) in particular, Rudi Garcia was certainly champion of France and winner of the Coupe de France with the first club (2011) and vice-champion of Italy (2014 and 2015) with the second, but it remains on a failed season, last year at the head of OM.

Arrived in Marseille in October 2016, he reached the final of the Europa League – lost – against Atletico Madrid in 2018. He had seen his contract extended in October 2018, until 2021. But the main goal of the season , which was to finish at least 3e of the championship to qualify for the Champions League, was not achieved.

Read also Football: OM coach Rudi Garcia leaves

OM missed the Champions League, even the Europa League, and was eliminated in the first round of the two national cups. The club has bottomed in the Coupe de France, against a club National 2 (4e division.).

The "relations" with the Marseille public, which were tense, deteriorated over time. The links with the players, and in particular several executives of the team, were also distended.

Read also Football: Rudi Garcia, against all odds in Marseille

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