L'Équipe: Crystal Palace monitors Lens' Ganiou and Sangaré after poaching coach Sage

Hupu, July 28 — French media outlet L'Equipe's renowned journalist Nathan Gourdol reports from a Lens column.

At the end of last season, while Lens was busy preparing logistics for their Italian pre-season training camp and first participation in the Como Cup, Pierre Sager was responsible for selecting the team's hotel.

He ultimately chose a hotel in Monza, approximately an hour's drive from the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium and Lake Como. As a result, Lens players may have limited time to enjoy the local scenery, as most of their schedule will be spent at the Silvio and Luigi Berlusconi Training Center north of Milan.

If anyone feels slightly disappointed by this "parting gift," they can express their dissatisfaction directly to the person in charge tonight. The schedule is quite coincidental: Lens' first opponent in this friendly tournament is Crystal Palace — the 47-year-old coach transferred to the club in mid-June (transfer fee including bonuses totaling €5 million).

The match is set for 7 PM (45 minutes long), followed by a half-match against Famalicão at 10 PM. Although Sager's communication style when leaving Lens caused some internal tension, this reunion is expected to be warm.

Club Owner Praises Sager's Legacy

Lens club owner Joseph Oughourlian defused potential controversy last week in L'Equipe, offering high praise for the valuable legacy left by the meritorious coach who brought the club its first French Cup title:

"There really is no bad blood between us. Some breakups can be very ugly, but ours was amicable. Even if the process wasn't perfect, compared to everything Pierre did for us and his extraordinary season, these are truly minor details in my eyes."

Crystal Palace Monitoring Several Lens Players

Mutual respect remains high, and Sager will surely receive warm greetings from his former players — remember, when he left, everyone was still reveling in the joy of the 3-1 victory over Nice at the Stade de France on May 22.

Clearly, Crystal Palace is closely monitoring several of these players during the transfer window (such as Ganiou, Sangaré, etc.), so observing each player's performance and attitude on the field will be particularly important.

New Lens Coach Looks Ahead

"Congratulations to Pierre for his excellent work throughout the club. But I'm not worried about succeeding a meritorious coach," said new Lens coach Dino Toppmöller at his unveiling on June 16. He previously succeeded Oliver Glasner at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The German coach looks to the future, eager to write his own chapter in Pas-de-Calais, but he cannot help but look back over the next 45 minutes. After a victory over Boulogne (Ligue 2 team, 4-1 on July 18) and a draw with Charleroi (2-2 last Saturday), he plans to use this week in Italy to further refine tactical choices, with less than three weeks until the French Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain (August 16 at the Bollaert-Delelis Stadium).

As for Crystal Palace, coach Sager will set aside emotions and aim to regroup after last Saturday's heavy defeat to Bromley (English third-tier team, 0-3).

Source: L'Equipe