50 years of MHSC: how Laurent Blanc moved back to the libero position with Montpellier, prelude to an extraordinary destiny

Laurent Blanc ou l'élégance reine, quel que soit son poste. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial team of Midi Libre in this special edition on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for just 5 euros, this glossy magazine will allow you to relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC. Builders, of course, starting with this "Nicollin Saga", told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou, but also Georges Frêche, the mayor who became a friend, or the essential Bernard Gasset, co-founder of the club.

This Sunday: from “Lolo” the Alésien to Blanc “The President”, the 1998 world champion revealed himself with Montpellier before embracing the Blues.

Two World Cups (2018 and 1998) separate them, won at the ages of 32 and 33 respectively. And, as luck would have it for Montpellier, which “gave birth to” them, they are the two greatest players in its history. Olivier Giroud and Laurent Blanc, a star-studded duo, today evoke nostalgia and pride. A springboard to glory, the MHSC made them internationals and served as a revealer of immense qualities that were recognized late in life. Having arrived from Tours as the best gunner in Ligue 2, Giroud (137 caps, 57 goals) shone on the screen and in the statistics to win the unimaginable title of 2012 French champion, becoming the best scorer (21 goals) in Ligue 1 that season. As for Laurent Blanc (97 caps, 16 goals), current coach of Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, he embraced the rise of La Paillade, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis: from “Lolo” the Alésien to Blanc “The President”.

In my head, Blanc is a libero, it was a done deal. But I had to insist a little…

Because it was at MHSC, under the leadership of Michel Mézy, that he moved back from right midfielder to central defender, when he was already 25 years old. A change of position that looked like a definitive change. The player was against it, the coach had to be convincing. And the Blues won the day, having for a decade a player with rare elegance, a French “Kayser” who imposed his style as a benchmark for game intelligence in the service of the offensive. Mézy recounts the genesis: “Nouzaret made him start in D2 then, when I took over the team (in 1985), he scored 18 goals the year of promotion (1986-1987). Only, when we go to see Valderrama play in London (for England-Colombia), on the plane back, I take a piece of paper where I write to Nicollin that Blanc and Valderrama in midfield, it's not possible. In my head, Blanc is a libero, it was a done deal. It seemed to me that he had enormous qualities in this position. But I had to insist a little…”

A captain's soul is emerging

Reluctant at first – he had just celebrated his first selection with the Blues, on February 7, 1989 in Ireland, as a right midfielder, under the orders of Michel Platini –, Laurent Blanc definitively changed that same year. A choice that paid off for the rest of his career. A few months later, he brilliantly won the Coupe de France in front of France, which then discovered a defender with implacable composure and impeccable technique, like his free kick into the top corner against Pascal Olmeta's Racing Paris (2-1 victory). To top it all off, he was voted French player of the year in 1990. “He's a kid who came to us at the training center, he's part of the generation of Baills, Passi, Hours. His career has indirectly had an impact on the club”, the other president, Laurent Nicollin, acknowledges today. A life at the center was spartan – a six-bed dormitory in a bungalow – but one that provided humility.

Everything was in place for him to succeed. But I would never have imagined that he would have such a career

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Serge Delmas, who would be director of the training center for a long time, enters the scene:“I had seen Laurent Blanc play one Sunday morning in Montpellier with Olympique d'Alès. I was immediately struck by his very assertive technique, his vision of the game and a calm that was astonishing for his age. I approached the father, but we were still in D2 at the time and the father had already promised Gérard Banide that Laurent would have a trial at Monaco. I said to myself: “It's over, we won't be able to compete.” In the end, ASM didn't follow up. So we met at their house in Carnon to sign the contract.”

Montpellier would not regret it. Delmas didn't know it yet, but he had unearthed a unique gem. “If they had all been like him at the training center, it would have been a treat. He was calm, discreet. With the Passi generation, it was a very interesting group. In addition, Laurent had a very good family environment. Everything came together for him to succeed. But I would never have imagined that he would achieve such a career.”

Esprit cévenol

aurent Blanc may have been the bearer of a virtuous and victorious destiny, but for a long time he lacked the fortuna, that alignment of the planets that sublimates great men. Too slender, too often injured, and sometimes misunderstood, as in Naples, in 1991-1992, where he gave his coach hives every time he went beyond the center circle. Blanc took a long time to give birth to himself. All with a captain's soul that was beginning to emerge. Everything was in the making in Montpellier.

Blanc and Cantona: the two men will win the 1990 Coupe de France under the colors of Montpellier. MAXPPP

Next to him played Julio César, the most complete player I have seen at Montpellier. With these two, you could travel peacefully

“Blanc is from the Cévennes, so we're not going to ask him to tap dance and sing in front of a wood fire. He's a reserved person, a bit of a loner, who rarely expresses his feelings. But when he gives his trust and friendship to someone, he really gives it. I was closer to Baills and Lucchesi but I always got along well with him”, confides Laurent Nicollin about the jewel of La Paillade, distinguished for his exemplarity, his propensity to (almost) never tackle, because he has a great sense of anticipation, and to score goals. This is evidenced by his title of top scorer in the history of MHSC (84 goals), a record that still stands almost 35 years after his departure.

If he was able to restore his letters of nobility to the libero position, it is also because he was well supported. From his baptism of fire, he paired up with the Brazilian international Julio César, who was coming off a particularly spectacular 1986 World Cup. With the Blues, his understanding with Marcel Desailly would be of the same ilk. Two impassable rocks, alongside whom Blanc shone with his technical ease and the quality of his restarts. Michel Mézy in the visiting room: “He was very, very skillful in front of goal. And then next to him played Julio César, the most complete player I saw at Montpellier. With those two, you could travel in peace”. For Pascal Baills, right back at the time, Blanc was able to make the difference with his “technique”, his “offensive character” and his “ease in getting the ball out”. “In the middle, he was often injured. By going down a notch, his runs were less intense, less repeated, it benefited him”, he explains.

Blanc is the greatest player in the history of MHSC, because beyond his qualities, he was trained here

Laurent Blanc supervised by Laurent and Louis Nicollin at the club's training center. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

The greatest player in history

Qualities to spare, and yet, tearing himself away from the cocoon at the dawn of the “nineties” was not easy. A few years of wandering in Naples, Nîmes and Saint-Étienne, then the great resurrection, in Auxerre, with whom he won his first French championship title, in 1996, under the orders of Guy Roux, who made him his control tower. Everything then came together, Blanc entered his thirties and lived his golden age. Beginning of a prestigious journey on the European chessboard, which would see him triumph with Aimé Jacquet's French team then collect legendary clubs, FC Barcelona, ​​Olympique Marseille, Inter Milan and Manchester United.

The fantasy of a return home existed. But Laurent Blanc, who in the meantime became a coach (Bordeaux, Paris SG, etc.) and coach of the Bleus (2010-2012), never really thought about returning to his training club. Laurent Nicollin prefers to stick to the essentials. “He doesn't show it, but despite everything, he is very attached to the club, he knows where he comes from.” No doubt for Michel Mézy: “Blanc is the greatest player in the history of MHSC, because beyond his qualities, he was trained here.” Eleven years during which he embodied elegance and class, the opposite of a club known for its rudeness and coarseness. Montpellier, a land of paradoxes. With Blanc in the middle, immaculate defender.
 

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