with Régis Le Bris in Lorient, there is something new in Ligue 1

Régis Le Bris gives voice, but not orders. “How do we talk together? How do we make the ball live? »asks the coach of the Football Club of Lorient to his players, who play in small groups in small spaces at the wooded training center in Ploemeur (Morbihan), on Friday September 2.

Before receiving Olympique Lyonnais at the Moustoir stadium on Wednesday – in a late game of the 2^e day of the championship, the Breton club is in the first part of the Ligue 1 table. Since the start of the 2022-2023 season, the Hakes with Le Bris sauce have stood out by taking risks in the game:

“We can lose matches like in Lens [défaite 5-2, la seule depuis le début de la saison]facing one of the best teams in the championship, but we played and we even made them doubt at times… Quick, the return match! »

Inspired by positional play (which consists of creating situations of numerical superiority over the opponent) of the Spanish school, Régis Le Bris had gone to “dissect” the Bétis Seville of his colleague Quique Setién, a few years ago.

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After a decade at the head of the Lorient training center, he was therefore appointed coach of the first team in June. The 46-year-old technician succeeds Christophe Pélissier at the end of a 2021-2022 exercise completed by FC Lorient at the 16^e place, with only 36 points. For Le Bris, who grew up a little further west, in Finistère, the planets aligned just after obtaining the precious sesame: the professional football coach’s certificate (BEPF). It also took him three attempts to be one of the candidates admitted by the French Football Federation (FFF).

What did he miss the first two times? “There is no real explanation at the end of the deliberation of the juries. » As witnessed the last list of candidates admitted to training at the BEPF in 2022-2023, to hope to train in Ligue 1, it is better to have had a great playing career before. However, if the CV of Mr. Le Bris is provided, it is not in the standards of the FFF.

Holder of a doctorate in physiology and biomechanics

The former defender put away the cleats early on. At the age of 27, he decided to give priority to his university studies – which would lead him to obtain a doctorate from STAPS in physiology and biomechanics – and the preparation of his first training diploma. He built his legitimacy as a trainer for nearly twenty years: first at Stade Rennes (a title of French National Under-18 champion in 2007 and a Gambardella Cup – the equivalent of the of France among young people – in 2008), then at FC Lorient (a title of French National champion under 17 in 2015 and seasons at the top of the table of N2, the fourth division, with the reserve team).

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