Toulouse and Lyon have a lot in common. Of course, a comparison of these clubs is moderately arbitrary. However, one cannot fail to notice that the success of both is associated with the economic growth of the cities where they are deployed. The metropolis of Toulouse is recognized today as the fastest growing in Europe. By the number of inhabitants (1.1 million), it is the fifth in France. And the swiftness of its development is due to the aircraft industry. Toulouse is the capital of the European aviation industry. It is from the hangars that the famous Airbus airliners come out.
Historically, Toulouse is a rugby city where football has always been on the sidelines. Perhaps that is why for all 60 years of its history the club has not achieved anything except one Cup of France, mined back in 1957. The biography of “Toulouse” is not full of football stories, after which it slipped to the very bottom. For example, in 1967, the club sold its place and players to the famous Parisian Red Stars. Only 10 years later, a club appeared in the city that regained its historical name. In the 90s, Toulouse ran between the first and second divisions, and in 2001 the national federation completely deprived the club of its professional status due to debts.
It is from that time that the countdown of the club’s new history began. She led to the current jerk up. Toulouse quickly enough, in the 2003/2004 season, managed to return to the strongest division. The last three championships she spent neither shaky nor roll, barely avoiding relegation: twice she took 16th place and once 13th.
Merits in the current successes should rightfully be shared by club president Olivier Sadran and head coach Eli Bop. Sadran has been presiding since 2001 when he bought a bankrupt club. He came from the company Serv Air, which he once founded. With the money from the sale of his brainchild, Sadran revived football in Toulouse. He does not hide the fact that the methods of managing the club are largely borrowed from Jean-Michel Olya, a colleague from Lyon.
Through trial and error, Sadran selected one of the most charismatic characters in French football, Bop, who seems to never take off his baseball cap, as head coach. In Toulouse, the coach chose the club's signature purple for his favorite attribute. Known for his wayward character and stiffness, Bop came to court in a club composed of promising juniors and experienced veterans.
Before the start of the season, it was said that Barthez, Pieroni, Sand would come to Toulouse. But the club, on the contrary, broke up with the main star - Daniel Moreira. After Sadran did not satisfy any of Bop's requirements to strengthen the squad, many predicted the team finish in the bottom half of the table.
Even the arrival of the best player of the championship of Denmark and striker of the national team of Sweden Juhan Elmander did not affect the club’s goal in the season - to get into the top ten.
Having started well, in December Toulouse got into a nightmarish tailspin - lost three matches with a total score of 0: 7. Miraculous transformations began after a meeting with Lyon - in the first match of the new year, Toulouse beat the champion 2-0. The victorious series started then and led her to second place. Bop uses the currently popular 4-2-3-1 model (Spartak prefers similar tactics in Russia) with two oporniks, one bright center forward and two flank players.
While other French clubs were training personnel for European grandees, Toulouse managed to collect a scattering of talented defenders who are already knocking at the doors of the French national team. First of all, these are extreme Jeremy Mathieu and Alben Ebondo. Both are fast and hardy, as Bop likes to put it - “with two lungs.”
Guys are already in demand in Europe. “Roma” tried to acquire Mathieu this winter, but the French have broken a considerable price for the 23-year-old defender. True, Jeremy himself set a condition: he will go to Roma if Toulouse does not qualify for European competition. As for Ebondo, PSG has officially announced its intention to acquire a defender with Congolese roots in the summer. But there are even more young Daniel Congre and Lucien Obey, who are still unstable.
In the summer, Sadran will have to puzzle over how to save the main star - the powerful Swedish striker Johan Elmander, who on his shoulders pulled the Bop club to the top of the table, scoring goals for every taste.
Elmander is constantly rumored to move to PSG, Barcelona, Rangers and Roma and Manchester United. Almost every week, Sadran has to refute this and promise a sharp strengthening of the club by the fall, which is hardly possible without Elmander.
However, in order not to lose the promising team, Toulouse needs access to the European competition. But with this, the wards of Bop are still having problems. Defeats in the last two games pushed them to fifth place. Although to go to the second “Bordeaux” only three points. This Saturday, Toulouse is facing the most important match against Lance, which is in third place. Defeat will deprive the team of a chance at a place in the Champions League.
It is surprising that France was not ready for the success of the southerners. Many criticize Bop's team for overly defensive football. Fans of Toulouse more and more often recall the nightmare of 2005, when the team slipped from the 4th place to the 13th at the finish line. In the current championship of France, a repetition of history does not seem impossible. From the 12th place, Toulouse is separated by 7 points. And in the last four rounds she will face battles against two direct competitors.
Today, according to Sadran, the budget of Toulouse is approximately 34 million euros. In principle, the club is ready to increase if it falls into European competition. The stadium, which he got from the World Cup 98, requires only minor modernization and is now ready for Euro-battles. A base with training fields and a Sadran information center has already been built. The model of a solid club, ready for European competition in Toulouse is quite feasible.
It remains to convince the rest of France. The most difficult thing in the French championship is to get out of the status of a donor and a nursery for the richer clubs of the continent and lay claim to serious international success following the example of Lyon.
Toulouse has four steps left to take this path.
Ivan MAKAROV