FEATURE | What could Crystal Palace expect from Pierre Sage? | OneFootball

Since last October, Crystal Palace knew that they would be in need of a new head coach in the offseason. Talks between the incumbent Oliver Glasner and chairman Steve Parish over a contract extension ended without a deal, but with a roadmap in place: Glasner would be leaving at the end of the season. 

Palace had time to prepare for the future, a luxury that is rarely afforded in modern football. But despite this, it looks as if they have missed out on their top target, Andoni Iraola. His Premier League experience with Bournemouth and attractive high-tempo football were alluring, but bigger fish have taken notice. 

Rather than get dragged into a losing battle with Liverpool for the Basque manager, Palace have moved down their list and landed on the name of Pierre Sage. A less familiar profile in England, but someone who has carved out an impressive reputation in France as a miracle worker during his time with Olympique Lyonnais and RC Lens. 

Pierre Sage parachutes into Lyon

John Textor has made plenty of mistakes in football, as Palace and Lyon supporters can readily attest, but his decision to parachute Sage from head of Lyon’s youth academy to their interim head coach midway through the 2023/24 season was not one of them. 

At the time of his appointment in late November, Lyon were sat bottom of the table and staring down the barrel at an unfathomable relegation. There was little hope with the club having only picked up seven points from Laurent Blanc and Fabio Grosso’s tenures, but miracles happen. 

Sage transformed the floundering side, taking them off the foot of the table and into the European positions by the end of the season, all the while charting a course into the Coupe de France final, which they would lose to Paris Saint-Germain. 

His reward was a two-year contract, but he wouldn’t see out the end of the deal. Midway through the 2024/25 campaign, Les Gones would experience a dip in form. In January, a run of five games without a win, which included an embarrassing penalty shootout exit to amateur side Bourgoin-Jallieu in the Coupe de France, signalled the end for Sage. 

A market opportunity for Lens

At the time, Textor suggested that he had lost faith in Sage’s ability to secure Champions League football with Lyon in 6th and four points off qualification. He moved swiftly to appoint Paulo Fonseca, who would lead Lyon to a 6th place finish and three points off qualification. 

Sage was dubious about the reasoning when speaking to The Athletic, “The decision was a market opportunity for the owner. The name of Paulo Fonseca against the name Pierre Sage.” However, his free agency would prove to be a “market opportunity” for a Lens side looking for a successor to Will Still ahead of the 2025/26 season. 

Lens were predicted to struggle to qualify for Europe following a series of transfer windows that better resembled fire sales. After the smoke cleared, a more balanced squad had emerged. Even still, what Sage did with this team was completely unexpected and totally magnificent, especially when you compare the meagre resources at Lens compared to their direct European rivals. 

Under Sage, Lens became title challengers. They took PSG the distance with the league only being settled in the (rescheduled) penultimate game of the season. This alone would have been impressive, but Sage also led Les Sang et Or to their first Coupe de France trophy in their 120-year history. 

“I wanted to go to war for him”

“I had a natural connection with [Sage],” Lens captain Adrien Thomasson told After Foot. “When talking about confidence in football, it’s really something very important: the confidence a coach can give to his players and try to get the best out of each individual. And for me, right away, I wanted to go to war for him.” 

It’s an impression that was echoed by Sage’s former captain at Lyon, Corentin Tolisso, upon the head coach’s return to the Groupama Stadium on the final day of the season. “He left a very positive mark here,” Tolisso said. “He saved the club. I think it’ll be a very emotional moment for him. I think he’ll be happy to come back, and I’ll be very happy to see him again too, because he was very important to me.” 

However, the affection Sage has earned through his man-management wasn’t built upon a soft touch. As Thomasson explained, “He’s not a manager you can joke around with.” The midfielder went on to say, “He imposed a rigour, a requirement on a daily basis.” And there were perhaps moments this season where his unceasing demand for discipline spilled over into frustration. 

Following a 3-3 draw with Stade Brestois in late April, Sage said that he felt “betrayed” by members of his squad. Earlier in the month, Samson Baidoo’s ongoing injury concerns saw the head coach lose patience in a press conference, with him stating, “I have absolutely no idea when he’ll play again, and I must admit it’s a real problem for me.”

“The courage to leave space behind”

At Lyon, Sage most frequently used a 4-3-3 shape, but he could shift between a back four and a back three. Regardless of the number of defenders, he generally wanted to maintain three in midfield. When he moved to Lens, he adopted the club’s preference for a 3-4-3 and a two-man midfield and never wavered from it. 

The formation could be adapted when the principles remained the same.“For me, it’s simply a matter of courage,” Sage said back in August after watching his Lens side fall to a preseason defeat to AS Roma. “The courage to leave space behind you and press, then the courage to ask for the ball, and occasionally, lose it.” 

Sage wanted his sides to press from the front in a hybrid system (effectively pressing the opposition’s build-up and then defending in a low block if the opposition beat the press) where they would look to funnel the ball into wide pressing traps. As soon as the ball was won, the team would spring forward with breathtaking verticality. 

At Lens, the vast majority of attacks this season were geared around getting the ball into a crossing opportunity as fast as possible (with them registering the second most crosses in the league according to Opta with 531 attempts). The wing-backs are encouraged to push high up the pitch, and for as many attackers as possible to crash the box (sometimes leaving as few as four players to defend the counter). 

At times, Lens could look somewhat cavalier as they rushed up the pitch, with defenders often trusted to defend in one-versus-ones against their attacker. Lens also did play with a good bit of fortune behind them, as they consistently outperformed their expected goals against over the season. Lens conceded only 35 goals in Ligue 1 despite having an expected goals against tally of 43.66, as per Opta. 

A sad but understandable decision

It’s somewhat sad that after returning Lens to the UEFA Champions League, Sage might not be there to oversee their European campaign. There was a romance to the way the manager had transformed the side, and it’s hard to see who they would replace him with. 

At the same time, it’s also understandable on a personal level why Sage would be tempted to leave. His stock has never been higher, and it has been an expressed dream of his to work in the Premier League. Football is, after all, temporary, and the Premier League is always searching for the next new thing; who knows when another chance for him could come?

GFFN | Nick Hartland