EXCLUSIVE | Frank Leboeuf on Strasbourg’s Champions League chase: “You have to be happy but worried about the future.” | OneFootball

1998 World Cup-winning centre-back Frank Leboeuf sat down with Get French Football News to talk about his two former clubs linked by a common owner, Chelsea FC and RC Strasbourg Alsace.

Strasbourg have been mounting a Champions League push. How surprised are you that the club are doing this well?

Big time surprised. In the beginning of the season, it wasn’t that great and all the fans were very worried about the fact that BlueCo came up and changed maybe the spirit of the club. Everybody has to be delighted with the results and the way the young lads are playing. And on top of being interesting and entertaining, they keep on winning and winning games. Of course, I’m delighted. Now, I’m suspicious of how it’s going to work next season if those players that are so good are leaving the club because they have to join Chelsea and because Chelsea think it’s better for them to be [in London]. What’s going to happen to Strasbourg? So you have to be happy but at the same time worried a little bit about the future. So far, so good.

Which Strasbourg players have impressed you the most? And which ones do you think might leave for Chelsea?

Well, of course, the first name would be Andrey Santos, because of the season he is having. It is only fair to think that Chelsea are going to have their eyes on him. I would say him. What’s going to happen to the goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic? He’s doing great as well. There are so many, but Chelsea are going to look at it. It is the purpose of what Strasbourg have become. So, if those players are good enough, they’re going to join Chelsea. Now you have to make sure that they’re ready, because it’s one thing to play for Strasbourg, which is kind of a family club, where the fans don’t expect too much from the players, and to play for Chelsea where the expectation is huge. [It’s a] different level. The media is going to watch you. If you make a mistake, if you’re a goalkeeper, or if you miss a goal as a striker, everybody’s going to mention it. If you do that with Strasbourg, you can avoid being criticised. It’s not going to happen with Chelsea.

What were your thoughts when Liam Rosenior was appointed as Strasbourg’s head coach? And have they changed at all?

I have to be fair, I didn’t know him. Well, I thought new ideas, new board, new coach. Let’s see. And I have to say, well done, well done. So far, he has to speak a little more French, but otherwise, everything is perfect [laughs]. I like that, it’s nice to have Carlo Ancelotti, David Moyes, and even now with Pep Guardiola, those former players who are between 55 to 65 and have those experience. But you have to find a new generation. And Rosenior seems to be one of them. And he has ideas, he has philosophy, and I like coaches who are stubborn but not stubborn enough to die with their ideas. I’m thinking about Enzo Maresca, for example. In preseason, he was trying to play a certain way but realised he didn’t have the individuals for that. He changed his mind, and that was great… Hopefully, he’ll change and go back to the more vertical way of playing. But he’s also part of the new generation that I’m talking about. But it’s new ideas, new football, the end of tiki taka football. I can see a bright future for Liam and for the next decade.

What should the future look like for Strasbourg? Is there a path where they could challenge PSG for the title?

Never. Never. I mean, we have to be honest about that. Money talks. Paris Saint-Germain are so much above everybody that they can afford the players that make the difference. We don’t know what’s going to happen to Strasbourg next season because players are going to leave; they’re going to have to rebuild. We already know what’s going to happen to Paris Saint-Germain. If Ousmane Dembélé leaves Paris Saint-Germain because City or Chelsea or Real Madrid want him [laughs], which I doubt. They know they have the money to replace him, which is not the case for Strasbourg or any other club. I would love [for them to challenge for the title]. Strasbourg, like Chelsea, are my former club. I love them and want the best for them. But nobody is challenging Paris Saint-Germain. Especially this season. I mean, this team is a real team. We could have said otherwise the year before and the year before [that]. But this season, they’ve found a way to play. They fight for each other, and they just beat the best team in Europe: Liverpool. They deserved it. It wasn’t a robbery. Strasbourg is great; they’re fourth in the league [at the time of speaking]. Hopefully, they’re going to qualify for the Champions League. Which is going to be great for the fans but perhaps too early for the club. It’s going to be a great experience and adventure for everybody.

Despite success on the pitch, the situation remains fractured in the stands, with fans protesting their owners, BlueCo, at the start of every game. Is there any way this situation can be resolved?

It’s going to be hard because the fans are not completely stupid and blind. They know what’s going to happen to the best players if they’re good for Strasbourg. They’re going to leave, and they’re going to go to Chelsea. And so we’re going to start again. Strasbourg is kind of the resource club for Chelsea, and it’s only fair; they injected money, and I understand that, and if the fans are happy right now, they’re naturally going to be worried about what’s going to happen in the future. And I am too. I love what the club tries to do. Marc Keller, the chairman of Strasbourg, is my friend and my former teammate. I know he tries to do his best for the club. But [the fans] have question marks, and it’s fair for them to have said, ‘We are worried, and we don’t want the club to be a bad club.’

Strasbourg are not a bad club. Strasbourg are considered like the Marseille of the east side of France. With passion and with a willingness to get everything. I had five years with Strasbourg, and it was great. The crowd was there, the feeling and passion of that is sweating out of the fans. It’s only fair that [the fans] are concerned, and it’s only fair that now they have to be happy. And they should be happy with what the club are doing and the results that they get. But again, they feel the question marks are going to be there for the start of the season if they see Santos and Petrovic leaving. It’s going to be fair for the fans to be worried. It’s going to be a hard task for BlueCo to calm the fans down because it’s almost impossible with the policies that they have.

Frank Leboeuf was speaking exclusively to GFFN on behalf of BetVictor.

GFFN | Nick Hartland