Just 15 years ago, Stade de Reims found themselves in the third tier of French football, still struggling to recover after the club was liquidated back in 1991.
By Nathan Evans
During that campaign and despite their best efforts, the outfit who were later reformed as Stade De Reims Champagne, suffered judicial liquidation that resulted in the stoppage of the club’s activities before their final match of the same season. With a long and illustrious history in the sport, which included two appearances in the European Cup final in the 1950’s (which both ended in defeat to Real Madrid), it was an unthinkable moment for the club based in France’s famous wine-producing region.
The following season, the side were reborn and even though all aspects of their former club were auctioned off as they played in the amateur divisions, they’ve eventually developed into a serious Ligue 1 outfit once again. It’s testament to the hard work of those who cared most about their team. And now in early 2024, Reims find themselves with an outside shot of Champions League qualification under current boss Will Still.
It’s fair to say that it’s been a slow and steady rise for Reims since their darkest days, but they now have a strong case for being recognised as one of Europe’s best run clubs. Much of their recent success – which included an appearance in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League – has been built on the solid transfer policy of targeting younger players who the club can buy for lesser sums, before aiding their development, and then selling on for sizeable profit. The other prong of that policy is to find talent from leagues outside of Europe’s top five who can provide instant quality for the club.
That’s been particularly apparent since Will Still has managed the club after taking the reins in mid-October 2022. Since then, the Champagne-based side have surprisingly outlaid just shy of €70million in terms of incoming talent. That sum has been headlined by the arrivals of Joseph Okumu from Gent, Keita Nakamura from LASK, Junya Ito from Genk and former Football Manager wonderkid Mohamed Daramy from Ajax who have all joined for fees worth €10million or over.
That influx of talent has helped Reims to climb the Ligue 1 standings this campaign. As of mid-January, they sit sixth and just five points shy of surprise-package Brest, who currently occupy third spot, and the final guaranteed UCL group stage qualification position.
At first glance, with just a +1 goal difference through 18 league outings, it may be difficult to understand why Reims are doing so well this season, but a deeper delve into Still’s tactics and style of play highlight his apparent ability to get the best out of what he currently has at his disposal. That’s something that nearly led to a move to Championship side Sunderland during the festive period, a club that he would have almost certainly helped to further improve given his track record so far plus the Black Cats own recent transfer policy of finding young talent to help flourish.
Back to Reims though, and this season they’ve found plenty of joy in the way that they’ve been set up to play. Whether operating with two centre-backs or three, as Still both trusts his players and seems happy to drift between separate formations, the two full-backs are encouraged to take up attacking positions out wide with the sole purpose of giving Reims width. Then in the middle of the park, the central midfielders are positioned along different lines in order to create space amongst opposition players and to ultimately aid ball progression at every given moment. In essence, the whole system is based on a player having a number of different options when looking to play a pass, whilst also having positional freedom to move around the pitch, if desired, and needed to achieve that.
That seems like a simple idea, but ultimately it’s dependent on how well drilled a team is from their collective learning on the training pitch, an aspect of the job where Still thrives. The semi-viral video showing the 31-year-old seamlessly switching between English and French is part of that.
Elsewhere from a tactical stand-point, there’s other aspects to consider, like that of Still asking his left-back in particular to invert when needed, or for one of his central midfielders to drop deep for the ball to then move possession forward when possible. Both of those aspects are additionally used to create options all across the field when in possession.
The system has brought the best out of plenty of Reims’ star players as a result. For example, across Ligue 1 this season, no player has created more big chances than Ito’s nine, whilst he also ranks fifth for progressive carries (70).
Elsewhere on the field, Teddy Teuma has particularly shone in this system after joining the club from Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer as through 16 Ligue 1 matches, he’s netted five goals from midfield. He in particular has enjoyed receiving freedom from Still which goes a long way to understanding why he ranks in the top 10% of all midfielders in the division for attempted shots (29) and chances created (22) but also for successful tackles (25) and times winning possession in the final third (16). His overall FotMob rating of 7.50 also ranks him in 13th spot this campaign in France’s top-flight, such has been his impact on his new side.
And as mentioned before, younger players at Reims are also enjoying the guidance given to them by their manager. Not least Daramy who, as of January 22nd, has a joint-high seven direct goal contributions in Ligue 1 as he looks to re-establish his career after a failed spell with Dutch giants Ajax.
Those players represent just three cases of how Will Still is proving to be one of Europe’s most talented up-and-coming managers, and how he’s potentially helping Reims return to the continent’s premier competition.
(Images from IMAGO)
You can follow every Ligue 1 game on FotMob, with xG, deep stats, and player ratings. Download the free app here.