In another timeline, Will Still is currently three games into the new season as Sunderland manager.
The story goes that the 31-year-old verbally agreed to take over at the Stadium of Light this summer, but had his head turned by a more attractive offer from France. Lens made that offer and Still surely feels good about the u-turn he made.
With Still at the helm, Lens have opened their 2024/25 Ligue 1 campaign with six points from a possible six. Back-to-back wins over Angers and Brest have provided encouraging signs that the new union between the young English coach and Les Sang et Or (The Blood and Gold) will be a successful one.
“I didn’t have to think very long,” said Still when asked about his decision to take over at Lens. “I just had to make sure we were going to be competitive and able to p*** off as many teams as possible. I am happy to be in France and especially in Lens […] It is the most English of the French clubs, to which there is a certain logic in my choice.”
The Stade Bollaert-Delelis is indeed quintessentially English in its design with its four stands somewhat evocative of stadiums like Ewood Park and Molineux. Lens home matches are renowned for being among the most atmospheric in French football and Still’s style of football will excite supporters.
Traditionally, Lens also play a brand of football that could be described as English such is its focus on getting the ball forward quickly and committing bodies to the attack. This was certainly the approach under former manager Franck Haas who took Lens into the Champions League two seasons ago.
Still has joined Lens at a crossroads in their recent history. He’ll do well to replicate the success of Haise who first carried the club out of Ligue 2, then established The Blood and Gold as a top half team, even taking Lens to within a point of the French title in the 2022/23 season. Under Haise, they pushed Paris Saint-Germain all the way.
Haise left the Stade Bollaert-Delelis for a new challenge at Nice in June while many of the Lens team – primarily Loïs Openda and Seko Fofana – that achieved a second-place finish two seasons ago have also departed with last season’s star performer Elye Wahi joining Marseille this summer. Still has been given the freedom to impose his own ideas on a team beginning a new cycle.
Early on, Still has placed an emphasis on Lens’ build-up play in possession and that has been evident in the performances produced against Angers and Brest. At Reims, the young Englishman favoured a counter-attacking approach, but Still has so far demonstrated a greater desire for his side to construct attacks with the ball.
Against Brest, Lens were extremely successful in doing this, registering 20 shots as well as creating seven big chances for an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.97. Only PSG, Marseille and Monaco have accumulated a higher xG than Lens over the first two games of the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season. Still’s team have caught the eye.
Set up in a 3-4-2-1, Still wants to have his wing backs high up the pitch with Jhoanner Chávez particularly productive in the win over Brest which saw him score the opener and create four big chances. Centre back Facundo Medina continually fed Chávez with passes out from the back as Lens progressed the ball forward from deep.
On the other side of the defensive line, Jonathan Gradit is also comfortable playing out from the back, notching an impressive 11 passes into the attacking third in the win over Brest. Meanwhile, the midfield pairing of Andy Diouf and Adrien Thomasson offered control in possession and intensity out of it.
Veteran Florian Sotoca looks to have quickly embraced Still’s methods. The 33-year-old finished the match against Brest with more shots (six) than any other Lens player and even played as one half of a front two in the away win over Angers on opening weekend of the new Ligue 1 season. Still could use Sotoca in a number of different positions over the course of the campaign.
An away fixture against Monaco on Sunday will be Lens’ stiffest test of the season so far. Another positive result and performance would allow Still to reflect on an encouraging first period as Lens manager before the September international break. At 31, Still remains something of an oddity as a prodigious managerial talent and Lens’ impressive start hints at even greater times to come.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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