From Portugal to France through Ukraine and Italy, Paulo Fonseca has traversed Europe honing his soccer identification however the message has all the time been the identical: his groups are right here to entertain.
On Thursday, the 51-year-old takes his younger Lille aspect to England – the place he virtually ended up three years in the past before talks with Tottenham fell by way of – to face Aston Villa of their Europa Convention League quarter-final first leg.
After success in Portugal, three successive Doubles with Shakhtar Donetsk and “rising quite a bit” with Roma, the Portuguese supervisor has spent the previous two seasons rebuilding a Lille squad that was stripped of its greatest belongings after profitable the Ligue 1 title in 2021.
Now a aspect branded France’s most entertaining are chasing Champions League soccer as soon as once more and won’t take a backward step in opposition to Villa, regardless of Fonseca’s respect for counterpart Unai Emery.
“I really like the sport,” Fonseca tells BBC Sport. “For me, this can be a massive ardour and as coach we have now this massive obligation to construct a great spectacle for folks.
“It’s not nearly profitable, it’s about methods to win. This course of is absolutely necessary. We wish to dominate video games, we wish to play an offensive sport, we wish to react quick after we lose the ball, we wish to press excessive, get well the ball excessive.
“It does not matter who’s the opponent, we wish to have the braveness to be ourselves, to have a powerful identification in each second of the sport.”
That has not come on the expense of a stable defence – they’ve saved 21 clear sheets this season, however it does take “braveness”.
“To play in my groups it’s important to be brave, it’s important to have an enormous participation in our sport,” says Fonseca.
“I do not imagine the gamers develop operating, operating simply to attempt to get well the ball. I imagine gamers present their high quality after they have the ball, they take part quite a bit within the sport.”
Lille function on a decent price range however have an amazing strike-rate with regards to recruitment and academy graduates, who are sometimes bought for wholesome earnings.
Sven Botman, Mike Maignan, Renato Sanches and Amadou Onana are amongst these to have left since that title success, beforehand it was Gabriel and Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal, Rafael Leao to AC Milan and Victor Osimhen to Napoli.
Final summer season, midfielder Carlos Baleba joined Brighton on the again of a breakthrough season in northern France, whereas ahead Timothy Weah went to Juventus.
After following up their title with a Tenth-placed end, Fonseca was introduced in to assemble a younger aspect who would purchase into his philosophy.
“What was enticing for me on this challenge was this chance to begin from zero to construct a brand new group with younger gamers, with a small price range,” he explains.
“We restarted once more, with new gamers, with younger gamers, and with a projection to construct a brand new technique to play.”
Fonseca has a knack for bringing by way of younger expertise. He did so with Diogo Jota at Pacos de Ferreira and Mykhailo Mudryk at Shakhtar, and unearthed one other gem from Lille’s standout academy in 18-year-old central defender Leny Yoro.
“To me the gamers haven’t got age, they’ve high quality,” says Fonseca, who additionally handed 16-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi his debut this season. “As a result of right here we do not have the chance to purchase very costly gamers, we discover a technique to make the younger gamers develop.
“I imagine Leny within the subsequent yr will probably be at among the finest golf equipment in Europe. He began right here at 16 with us. He’s very formidable, however very disciplined.
“He grew quite a bit however he’s a child with an enormous maturity, with massive high quality. He is very targeted, very concentrated, he desires to study daily and I’ve little doubt in trendy soccer he will probably be among the finest central defenders on this planet.
“You may have some gamers like Leny, Ayyoub, Carlos Baleba, you see instantly the standard, the bravery, the braveness. The intelligence is necessary.”
One other participant to have launched his profession on the membership is English midfielder Angel Gomes, who joined from Manchester United in 2020. Fonseca is upset an damage means the 23-year-old is unlikely to have the ability to showcase his expertise at Villa Park.
“Angel is perhaps probably the most clever participant I’ve in my group,” he says. “He understands quicker than the others all the things concerning the sport, he loves the sport, he likes to study and he’s a participant with massive abilities, massive approach.
“He’s a participant who below strain it’s not straightforward to steal the ball off him and who discovers the house so simply.
“He’s younger, he has an enormous expertise. I imagine with the proper coach, with the proper challenge, with the proper sport for him, he can have a chance to have an enormous step in his profession.”
Whether or not Fonseca will probably be at Stade Pierre Mauroy subsequent season to assist Lille proceed their progress continues to be a subject of dialog between him and membership president Olivier Letang.
Fonseca’s contract is up in the summertime and the way his aspect end this season, together with Lille’s ambitions, will decide what occurs subsequent.
Teaching within the Premier League stays a consideration and he speaks of his admiration for Manchester Metropolis boss Pep Guardiola, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta and Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi.
“I’ve to admit it is extremely enticing the championship in England, with the perfect coaches, with the perfect groups, with the perfect gamers,” provides Fonseca.
“In fact, to problem me on this approach, to play in opposition to the perfect, could be wonderful. However I’m not obsessive about this. I’m superb right here, I really feel very revered right here in France.”
For the second no less than, Fonseca will hope this explicit European journey continues with Lille.
