Exclusive | Franck Leboeuf: ‘If Lens win the league I will be the first to congratulate them.’ | OneFootball

Get French Football News favourite Franck Leboeuf joined us for another interview, talking what makes Olympique de Marseille special, why Habib Beye could be a good fit, why RC Lens can win the title and how he thinks Liam Rosenior has settled at Chelsea. In this fourth and final part, he talks about Lens’ chances of winning Ligue 1 – and the best football songs!

You talked earlier about only needing to play Paris Saint-Germain twice and how Montpellier HSC and Lille OSC were able to challenge and win the league. This season Lens are doing that. Do you think they can go all the way?

Yes, I think so because I find that PSG are not the PSG of last year. They’re finding it hard to find that cohesion. They are very, very strong when they do so – we saw that against AS Monaco [PSG beat Monaco 3-2 in the Champions League play-off first leg] – even at 2-0 down, you take out Ousmane Dembélé, you bring on Désiré Doué who plays so well, Luis Enrique is intelligent, he did what he needed to de with Doué for him to react and play well. But I find them a little less strong, a little less focussed on what they need to do.

And Lens – with their fans – it’s the same as with Marseille, you need to know les Ch’tis, as we say, the people of the North. You have to understand the atmosphere. I was in a play in Lens a month ago and the theatre was next to the Stade Bollaert so I went there because there is something special about Lens, as there is at Marseille and Saint-Étienne. I consider these three clubs as special in terms of the supporters. I would add Strasbourg but they’re going through a delicate period right now.

But I always loved playing at Lens because, win or lose, there is always a crazy atmosphere, the people are nice, you go to eat chips afterwards! It’s great. And the stadium is a real English-style stadium. It’s really a great vibe.

And next to the stadium you have the Traversée Marc-Vivien Foé, the Cameroonian player who died a few years ago, and I went for a walk there because – you can smell the football. And the players who join Lens know what they need to do. The supporters – I’m not going to say that that is all they have because that’s not nice – but, unlike Marseille, you can’t count on the sun and the good weather to be able to warm your heart. So they need the Stade Bollaert and the amazing atmosphere and to win matches to be happy for the week ahead.

And if Lens manage to do it [win the league] I will be the first to congratulate them because competing with Paris is very tough. But like I said, you have two matches against Paris and then you have 32 other games and I think the coach, the players, are giving it their all. It’s going to be tough but it is possible.

Lens also have the best song, right?

Oh la la! I sing it too when I go to the Bollaert. I’ve been two of three times the last couple of years and you sing [breaks into song] “Au Nord, c’était les Corons”! It’s amazing, amazing. It’s like at Sunderland. I love the Sunderland song. What is it again? I showed it to my wife – it’s so great because the whole crowd sings it and it’s really not a football song. It’s I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.

If you like that, you have to check out the Hibernian fans, when they sing Sunshine on Leith.

Wow! It’s magnificent. I find that when people sing these songs and les Corons, Falling In Love with You and the Hibernian song – it’s not really football but regional identity and I think that’s brilliant, I love it. I’m going to listen to Hibernian’s.

Franck Leboeuf was talking to GFFN courtesy of BetVictor Online Casino

GFFN | Jeremy Smith