French football's popularity and power has been increasing since the beginning of the 21st century. To find out more about how the beautiful game is expanding in the country, Roberto Rojas spoke to Jonathan Johnson on his take at where football stands in France and his life as a sports journalist in the nation.
Q: Why did you first come to France and why did you choose French football as your forte?
JJ: "It’s quite interesting, especially for those that really don’t know about me that well. This is actually my second time living in France. I came here for the first time when I was 16 with my family to finish my pre-university studies before I went back home to the UK to attend university. After a while, I finished that and I went on to I work at Sky Sports for five years, working on the production side of things.
"However, I always had this ambition of being a foreign football journalist. When I wanted to choose the place where I would specialise in, I was a PSG fan and knew that they were going to be taken over by the Qataris, so I knew there was going to be a good possibility that the club would become something similar to what it is today. So I thought it was the right choice and time to move back to France in 2011. When I knew that it would be the right time that everything would be going according to plan, I would be in the right position and knew I would be writing with ambitions of Ligue 1 getting the respect it needs."
Q: PSG are regarded as one of the best clubs in the world, but do you think they can ever be as big as the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona or Real Madrid in the future?
JJ: "It’s tough to say. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think there will ever be a day where PSG will be as big as those clubs you mentioned. They are teams that have huge amounts of silverware, that probably PSG could achieve in the future but that will take a long, long time. Those big clubs have something of a mythical importance that PSG probably won’t be able to obtain."
Q: Have you been surprised by how close Ligue 1 is at the moment?
JJ: "Yes and no, I have been surprised at how PSG have been dealing with the league recently in particular. I think that their attitude is mostly shown in a lot of games.
"However, I do believe it is closer than it was in the past. As someone that follows French football on a daily basis, I know that teams like Lyon, Marseille, Saint-Etienne, and Monaco, who have plenty of quality in their teams, have been able to challenge for the league. To see Lyon turn themselves around again now, like before, has been great; they have invested in their youth academy and brought throgh a really great crop of players."
Q: Difference between Carlo Ancelotti and Laurent Blanc's time at PSG?
JJ: "Ancelotti’s coaching was more results-based. He tried to get the team to function together as a unit at a time when they had just been thrown together. It was to a large extent, a team filled with individual talent and it had no real cohesion. You can still see that today, but PSG had an excellent first season under Blanc and I would say he was able to get the team to play more as a unit. He struck with a formation that got the best out of multiple talents, instead of just relying on one, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"Carlo was under a lot of pressure, especially in his first full season at PSG, because when he came in mid-way through PSG’s season under Qatar Sports Ownership, he was replacing Antoine Kombouaré - who made PSG top of the table that season, only to finish second. It wasn’t what the Qataris expected when he came in.
"He did everything he could to drag PSG over the line and did so with that first title in 19 years. It was imperative that PSG won that season, otherwise it looked like the project would fall flat on its face, losing their own big money players and of course it would then be difficult to convince other big players to join. He played a 4-4-2, keeping it tight in defense, scoring a couple of goals with Ibra.
"Under Blanc, things changed a bit. PSG wanted to change the quality of football and did so, which is why it was a successful season winning the league and cup double, which was a huge boost. They are both very successful managers but I see Blanc playing more attractive football in the future."
Q: What do you believe are the expectations and the future for Marco Verratti?
JJ: "I don’t see him leaving anytime soon. As long as the ambitious project is in place and there are continuous signs of improvement in a European sense - i.e. to be contenders, I see him staying. The board knows the future of these players like him and Marquinhos. Somebody like Verratti is at the perfect club right now because he’s proven himself as a key member of the team, and I don’t think there are many clubs outside of like a Real Madrid or Barcelona that would able to prize him away, it could cost them a lot of money to do so, and Verratti wouldn’t necessarily leave to any big club, it would have to be somewhere towards a connection with a coach.
"Real Madrid could be the obvious choice given his close relationship with Carlo Ancelotti ever since he left PSG. But PSG are ambitious and with that they want to bring in a better player or better players in the midfield alongside him and Matuidi but I definitely think he will definitely world class in the future. "
Q: Is this PSG a sole reminder of the great side in the 1990s?
JJ: "I think there are some similarities and comparisons. This current crop of players have definitely reminded PSG of the golden years and having a world star player like Ibra gives the PSG fans a reminder of idols from that decade, such as Rai, who was a club legend or even Pauleta who didn’t play in the golden years but alongside the Brazilian are absolute club legends and revered by the fans. The way they play under Blanc also reminds fans of that legendary team, but I think this current PSG is on its way to having the same character and appeal, just like the 90s team did in Europe. I think the current side has to live up and able to succeed that level of success that it had back then."
Q: What is the future for RC Lens regarding their financial situation?
JJ: "With Lens, it’s a very tough decision. What people have to understand is that in France, the financial side of football is taken very seriously. There is a body that controls the financial situation of each club and decides in the summer whether or not they are capable enough to survive a whole season and if they can’t prove that, like Lens found out, then the league will either not let them be promoted or be re-admitted to Ligue 1.
"Lens historically is a big club in France, but they made the wrong choice when they agreed to take the money of chairman Hafiz Mammadov. There are now in a difficult situation because they have been made to suffer for the fact that he has become bankrupt and they are the ones paying for it. In the long term, I think it’s for the good of football and French football doesn’t benefit not having Lens in the league. If they are able to come back from that crisis, then it’s something you have to respect."
Q: What big name players from Ligue 1 do you think will leave this summer?
JJ: "I think Alexandre Lazacette is the one everyone will be watching this summer. I think what some people can’t get their head around is that there are some players in France, which appears to be a revolving door of talent, who can’t seem to leave France to big European clubs quick enough. Lazacette seems to be the player that has his head screwed on and to be fair to Lyon, they are a club that created a strong sense of loyalty to players that they have brought up and I believe Lazacette understands the business model at Lyon and the future plans, and I think he buys into it.
"So this summer, despite the fact that he had an amazing season and might not have another one as prolific, I don’t think there’s a guarantee that he’ll leave. If Lyon finish top two in Ligue 1, they will qualify automatically for the Champions League and that will be a big positive for them, because I think it will help keep Lazacette. He knows that he wants and needs Champions League football and he knows it’s best before Euro 2016 to play where he would play week in and week out and Champions League experience.
"At Lyon, he will get that and they tend to sell one big player every summer and if they tend to keep Lazacette, they would sell a player like Nabil Fekir, for example or maybe even captain Maxime Gonalons, and Alex gets the captain’s armband, who knows what might happen."
Q: Where does the future of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba lie? Do you see him leaving the Old Lady?
JJ: "I do see him leaving. I think anybody that is represented by Mino Raiola can expect to have quite a traveled career, I think they are expected to move to maybe two or three clubs in their career. You look at players like Ibra and Maxwell to all the clubs they’ve been to. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to expect Pogba to leave. I also think that with all due respect to Juventus, while they are one of Europe’s big clubs, if Juventus were playing in the old Serie A, I think Pogba could’ve stayed there for the rest of his career and even finished there.
"However, I just don’t think Serie A has the ability to keep hold of a player like him anymore. I don’t think with Serie A in its current state that Juventus will be in a position to win the Champions League anytime in the next 3-5 seasons. For Pogba, I don’t think that’s enough because in that time period, he’ll be targeting goals like a Ballon D’Or or winning the Champions League. I think this player is a special one. I think he moves to a club where he thinks it will give him the best guarantee of European success, which is why he might leave Juventus this summer."
Q: Who would you choose in an ideal starting XI for France in Euro 2016?
Jonathan's team - Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris.
Defence: Mathieu Debuchy - Raphael Varane - Aymeric Laporte - Lucas Digne.
Midfield: Mathieu Valbuena - Paul Pogba - Morgan Schneiderlin.
Attack: Antoine Griezmann - Karim Benzema - Alexandre Lacazette
JJ: "The thing about France is that there is so much talent in every position, with the exception of the right back position. They are overflowing with talent, certainly up in midfield. While up front, there aren’t many central striker options; there are some very good playmakers and players who would be able to float in like a free role up top. It’s very difficult for Deschamps to pick all the talents and put them into the starting XI."
Q: Do you believe Deschamps is a modern day Aime Jacquet? (Winning manager of 1998 FIFA World Cup with France on home soil)
JJ: ''I wouldn’t draw too many parallels with him and Jacquet. I think he’s more charismatic, meaning the players have more respect for him than they had for Jacquet before the World Cup. I think, overall, he is a better coach. He’s more solid and more flexible when it comes to changing his team style and tactical approach. I think he is somebody who the players have confidence in, and have had confidence in since the very beginning. Deschamps is somebody who not only leads with intelligence but also leads with his charisma. Jacquet on the other hand was somebody who wasn’t as charismatic.''
Q: Who do you think will win Ligue 1?
JJ: "I think it will be PSG. They have enough quality to see off the likes of Lyon and Marseille. I don’t it will be a very big gap, but they will just about win the league. In the future, I think Lyon will be able to sustain pressure throughout the campaign in the next few seasons but I see them finishing second this year. Then I'll say Monaco will come third and Marseille fourth."
Q: With Ibra underperforming a bit and into his mid 30s, what do PSG have to do post-Zlatan or at least post-Zlatan at his best?
JJ: "I agree with post-Zlatan at his best, more. I think people tend to make the mistake of linking PSG and Ibra a lot. When PSG are good, it doesn’t always mean Zlatan has played well, the same with when PSG have been poor - it doesn’t mean Zlatan has been poor, but I believe that’s how people see it on the outside. I think Ibra has been below his best lately but there’s a huge difference between being below-par and being completely past it. I don't think Ibra has lost his ability, because he is still crucial to the team.
"Without Zlatan, what I find most interesting was that PSG played more as a team, especially up front. Blanc has been experimental with a couple of combinations and struck upon one that was good. Lucas and Cavani were the front two whilst Pastore was in his preferred number 10 role behind them. Pastore has to play there where it suits him well and he has been fantastic there. But it hasn’t been going his way when Ibra is fit, because Zlatan is a player that likes to drop deep and takes up the role that Pastore likes to occupy himself.
"The key for PSG after Zlatan lies with Pastore, Lucas and Cavani. It would be a big mistake, as well, to sell Cavani because at one point, when Ibra does have to replaced, PSG has to go into the market to replace him and with FFP here for the foreseeable future, I can’t see PSG seeing able to bring a striker of Cavani’s calibre anytime soon. The problem would be convincing Cavani to stay on if he isn’t played in the middle more often and given more confidence. I don’t think he’s made to believe that he’s PSG’s top dog yet and I think that some of the respect that is given to Zlatan should also be shared with Cavani.''
Q: Top five young players in Ligue 1?
JJ: "It’s difficult to say. The young Lyon team plays a role, with Lazacette and Fekir. At PSG, you have players like Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne and at Monaco you have Yannick Ferreira Carrasco. They are all great young prospects.''
Q: Who do you think will win player of the season?
JJ: "I think it’s difficult to look beyond Lazacette. I think he’s been fantastic and he’s had a breakout year. I think he is by far one of the most consistent players in the league, especially with the goals he has scored."
Q: Lastly, what advice do you have for journalists?
JJ: "My advice for journalists would be to identify your niche and try to explore it as much as you can. I identified my niche as someone who is English speaking, who has knowledge of PSG and French football.
"I think that if you can identify a niche that is strong enough and build up your brand and reputation as reliable, you will eventually be able to make a career in football journalism.
"I think this is vital because there are so many people who want the same job. Like when I was working in Sky Sports, there were so many people wanting to go in front of the camera and call themselves experts of the Premier League. But only a selected few people would be able to do that at the end of the day. So I think, for me I always wanted to be a foreign football correspondent/expert/journalist.
"And to do that, I knew I needed to identify something I could give the English speaking market, or to offer to English speaking people what not many people could do, and it just clicked for me.
"France is a country I love living in. It’s where I feel most at home, even more so than in England really. That for me had a massive appeal; I saw an opportunity to make my career as a foreign football journalist in France with the arrival of the Qataris to PSG. This made French football interesting to English speaking people all of a sudden and I’m grateful that it’s been working out well.
"While I can’t say it’s the correct way of working, a niche is important because then you know your value and you know you can earn money for your work and you don’t have to do it for free."