Liam Rosenior arrived in France as the head coach of RC Strasbourg Alsace with little to no fanfare. The Englishman’s time in the Championship as caretaker manager for Derby County and head coach for Hull City had not sparked much interest across the Channel. And he had been damned by faint praise from his former employer when he was dismissed from the Hull role following last season’s seventh-place finish. 

In May, Acun Ilicali told the BBC that he had a difference of opinion with Rosenior over how football should be played. The Hull owner declared, “I want offensive football. I want an attacking, entertaining team.” It’s a statement that would now raise a few eyebrows across Ligue 1 as Rosenior has become a figurehead in the league for innovative and thrilling football. 

Week in and week out, the manager has earned the plaudits of his fellow head coaches like Luis Enrique, Roberto De Zerbi, and Bruno Génésio. And ahead of this weekend’s tie with RC Lens, the baton would fall to Will Still, who praised his fellow countryman for “escaping his comfort zone by coming to Strasbourg and coaching in another language and another culture.” 

Strasbourg rise to 7th after Lens clash

On Sunday, Rosenior would come out the winner over his opposite number. It would take over eighty minutes for the goals to start arriving at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis as Strasbourg laboured to a 2-0 victory over their hosts. The match was far from pretty; Le Racing struggled to break down a Lens side that defended resolutely but offered very little going forward. 

The turning point came when Lens went down to 10 men for the second week running. The fullback Deivor Machado, booked for a foul on Diego Moreira earlier in the afternoon, would receive his marching orders in the 71st minute after he felled Emanuel Emegha. Goals from Dilane Bakwa on his return from injury and Emegha would settle the affair and see Strasbourg pip Lens to 7th place with a superior goal difference. 

It was a victory that held more than a little importance for Strasbourg and an ownership that has made no secret of their ambition to qualify for Europe this season. There had been some troubling signs at the start of the month when the club fell to Stade Rennais (1-0) in the league and were eliminated from the Coupe de France at the hands of Angers SCO (3-1). 

Costly mistakes and swift recoveries

The cup exit meant that their route into a European competition was now limited to just one avenue: the league. It was a costly blip when considering the wider aims of the team and one that could have the potential to unravel a young squad (the youngest on average in the league), with L’Équipe reporting that there was a “heavy atmosphere” at the club. 

However, the way Strasbourg have responded to this setback has been highly encouraging. Victories over Montpellier HSC (2-0) and now Lens have cleared those dark clouds and leave the club only three points off Olympique Lyonnais in sixth and five points from Lille OSC in fifth. With only twelve games left, the European dream looks to be well and truly alive, as Rosenior stated after the Montpellier result, “The process is underway.” 

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

After suffering a cardiac arrest in July, Nabil Bentaleb was given the green light to return to resume his playing career last week. On Sunday, he made a Hollywood-like entrance scoring the opener in Lille’s 2-0 win over Rennes. Read his full story HERE. 

• Paulo Fonesca has been plotting his redemption arc after being sacked from AC Milan midway through this season. The new Lyon manager has got Les Gones ticking ahead of a visit to old rivals Paris Saint-Germain. Read more HERE.
• Tensions are rising behind the scenes between Ligue 1 presidents. The ongoing TV rights crisis has led Stade de Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot to raise the possibility of his resignation. Read what’s going on HERE.

GFFN | Nick Hartland