Franck Haise is doing something very special by maximising talent at Lens

Franck Haise welled up. The Lens manager was being interviewed on the touchline after his team had won a game last season when Thierry Henry, who was working as a TV pundit, broke into a glowing review of Haise’s “contagious and impressive” team. Haise, who had been completely unknown to most fans just two years earlier, struggled to contain his happiness when hearing a French football legend enthuse about his dynamic side. He is doing something special at Lens. When Haise took over two years ago, they were in Ligue 2. Now his players are breathing rarefied air at the top of Ligue 1. And this is his first senior management role.

Four games into the season, Lens sit alongside PSG and Marseille at the top of the table with 10 points each. Lens thrashed Monaco 4-1 last weekend before easing past the usually free-flowing Rennes – who finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season – on Saturday. Even though Lens have done brilliantly and finished seventh in their last two seasons, their form this season is still something of a surprise.

Many observers of French football thought they had peaked already, especially given that France’s major clubs (those not relegated, anyway) all strengthened over the summer. Lille and Lyon, who finished below Lens last season, should end the transfer window as Champions League hopefuls. Monaco, Marseille and PSG have all improved their squads this summer. And Nice are likely to do the same this week before the window closes.

Lens, however, have lost three of their four best players this summer. Their top scorer last season, the 20-year-old striker Aranud Kalimuendo, returned to PSG after a two-year loan and then signed for Rennes; midfield pace-setter Cheick Doucouré earned a move to Crystal Palace; and France international Jonathan Clauss, who provided 11 assists from wing-back last season, was poached by Marseille. Even though talisman Seko Fofana stayed at the club, maintaining the same level as the last two years looked like it would be tricky.

However, Lens are one of Europe’s most astutely run clubs and have real guile when it comes to recruitment. They achieved their objectives in the transfer window early, giving Haise all of pre-season to work with his squad – and it shows. New arrivals have been carefully identified and acquired with little fuss.

The holding midfielder, Salis Abdul Samed, arrived from Clermont to replace Doucouré, and the Ghana international has proven quietly exacting and efficient alongside Fofana in a crucial role for the team. Last season, Doucouré calmly controlled the midfield on his own, allowing the freewheeling Fofana to maraud forward and support attacks as part of Haise’s direct and imposing 3-5-2 set-up. Fofana’s vibrant early season form, having slowed a little at the end of last season, is testament to Abdul Samed’s ability and the confidence Fofana has in his new partner.

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It was also important for Lens to replace Kalimuendo, who scored 12 goals last season. Striker Loïs Openda, who opened the scoring against Monaco last weekend and hit the winner against Rennes on Saturday, is providing that cutting edge. A pacy, skilful finisher, the 22-year-old amassed 18 goals in 33 Eredivisie games for Vitesse Arnhem last season and, at just €10m, he cost half what Rennes paid to sign Kalimuendo from PSG.

Haise has the ability to extract the best from a seemingly workmanlike group. Jimmy Cabot was supposed to replace Clauss after the attacking midfielder was neatly repurposed by coach Gerald Baticle as a wing-back last season, but he remains on the fringes. Przemysław Frankowski, who switched from left wing-back, and Deiver Machado, who struggled with injury after joining from Toulouse last summer, have kept Cabot on the bench. With wing-back creativity key for Haise’s system, the persistent, energetic pair have helped drive Lens in attack while ably protecting their back three. Clauss, the boisterous Stade Bollaert-Delelis’ darling just months ago, has, for now at least, been largely forgotten.

Haise’s proclivity for maximising talent can be seen across the squad. Centre-back Jonathan Gradit, who was relegated with Caen in 2019 after spending much of his career with Tours in the lower divisions, has been transformed into Ligue 1’s most underrated and reliable defender. Florian Sotoca, previously another Ligue 2 also-ran, is now a tricky second striker with an eye for a pass. He scored a hat-trick as Lens beat Brest 3-2 on the opening day of the season – one of his many match-winning displays over the last two years.

But Fofana remains the standout. After somehow playing as a midfield engine, enforcer and creator all at once over the last two seasons, the captain piqued the interest of PSG, Arsenal and many other clubs. Fortunately for Haise, the Ivorian looks likely to stay for another year. Replacing him would be a near impossible task.

However, as Henry pointed out, Haise’s secret is the “contagious” atmosphere he generates around the squad. When Clauss was given his first call-up to the France squad, footage emerged of the Lens players celebrating wildly, with an emotional Clauss at the centre of the group. The scenes were some of the most heartwarming of last season and they showed that the players are as harmonious off the pitch as they are on it. The emotion shown by the honest and proud Haise at Henry’s words sums up Lens’ ethos. As their lightning start in a turbulent environment shows, their greatest achievements likely still lie ahead.

Talking points

PSG dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw with Monaco on Sunday night. After ominously dismantling all of their opponents so far this season, scoring 21 goals in four games in the process, this was new coach Christophe Galtier’s first real test in Paris. With Mohamed Camara – who has joined Monaco from RB Leipzig to replace Aurélien Tchouaméni – making his first league start in midfield, the visitors matched PSG’s three-man defence and frustrated their attack. PSG needed a second-half penalty from Neymar to rescue a point, having fallen behind to a goal from Kevin Volland in the first half. The result was far from disastrous for PSG, who are still top of the table on goal difference but, with the Champions League starting soon, Galtier will be concerned that quality opponents were able to shut down his previously freewheeling team.

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The pace of Ligue 1’s transformation from stoic and pragmatic to open and dynamic has increased this season. In the four rounds of fixtures so far, games have produced on average 3.41 goals, and this weekend proved typically fluid and attacking. Montpellier’s 7-0 win at Brest on Sunday afternoon was the most eye-catching result of the weekend, especially considering that their talisman Téji Savanier was suspended. Olivier Dall’Oglio’s attacking teams were previously outliers, but the rest of the league is catching up.