Youth investment lends Lyon edge

Supreme in France for the last seven seasons, Olympique Lyonnais owe their success to a number of factors. One of Ligue 1's best-run clubs, they have consistently spotted opportunities their rivals have missed, but no one should underestimate the impact of the club's excellent academy. Like the French national team in the last decade, Lyon have been reaping the benefits of their investment in youth.

Three-pronged approach
Academies flourished in France not long after the game turned professional in 1932 and today 'la formation à la française' is a byword for quality. Young players profit from a three-pronged approach of high-quality schooling, a well-balanced training program and proximity to the stars they one day hope to join, and nowhere is that truer than at the home of the seven-time French champions.

'Best in Europe'
"In terms of academies, there's nowhere better in France and I'd even say in Europe – it's that good," commented 17-year-old academy defender Ousmane N'Diaye. "You get great players coming through like [Karim] Benzema, one of the best strikers in the world and [Hatem] Ben Arfa. That motivates me to stay here." Not all academy graduates feel the same and Ben Arfa left for Olympique de Marseille in the summer, but the club have a knack for regularly uncovering new gems. "The French are not a very sporty nation and we've overcome what we were lacking physically, technically and tactically thanks to our academies," explained Lyon's academy director Georges Prost. "I think it's thanks to this work of 30-odd years that we've managed to become champions of Europe and reach two World Cup finals."

Annual rankings
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard established the first structured academy in 1949 and the results were so positive that the youngsters' 'Lionceaux' (Lion cubs) nickname was soon used to label the club in general. Nowadays, every professional outfit's academy is rated annually, according to both sporting and academic criteria, and with lucrative subsidies linked to rank, teams need little motivation to invest in the stars of tomorrow. Consecrated again this summer, Stade Rennais FC have topped the table for the last three years.

Father figures
"It's pretty simple," added N'Diaye. "We wake up in the morning and have breakfast at 6.30am. Then we go to school, and when we come back at 4.30pm we're out on the pitch training." Between 20 and 30 players benefit from this program every year, with the accent placed more on school results than scorelines, given that very few will ever become professionals. "These kids, they leave their family units and we look after them, protect them, educate them," said Prost. "There are supervisors here who act like father figures on certain evenings because sometimes it's not easy if they arrive quite early – aged say eleven, 12 or 13."

Benzema impact
Lyon's academy was opened in the 1950s and was named the country's finest in 1980, 1994, 1997, 2003 and 2005. The likes of Ludovic Giuly, Frédéric Kanouté and Florian Maurice all passed through, but the most recent jewel polished there is Karim Benzema, Ligue 1 top scorer last term. "When he was 15, I saw him training and I said to the president, 'Jean-Michel [Aulas], there's a phenomenon coming though here'," recalls Aulas's special advisor Bernard Lacombe. "And he thought that the next day [Benzema] could turn pro, even though he was only 15. It was extraordinary because with his attitude and his quality he had the lot."

Happy memories
Anthony Mounier, who broke into the first team this season, spent three years coming through the ranks with the France international and remembers those days fondly. "I had to wake him up for breakfast every morning," grinned the winger. "The academy definitely ends up as one of your happiest memories. It can be difficult sometimes, being far from your family as I was, but you see the other kids every day and it's a nice atmosphere." Holding on to the likes of Benzema once they emerge is obviously a different challenge altogether, but whatever happens Prost and his staff will keep building for the future of the club.