JS96 said:

England need to build a good team. They've always been a bunch of individuals or inappropriate combinations that don't work. Poor tactics and a lack of fight a lot of the time. Complacent automatic starters. They'd go a lot closer to winning if they got rid of the personalities and picked players who'd bleed for the shirt.

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grazorblade said:

French bankrolling a 3rd teir

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Football us life said:

French football fans seem deeply divided over the creation of Ligue 3, with many hardcore supporters and traditionalists actively resisting what they see as the over-commercialisation of the lower divisions...

For instance Paris 13 Atletico are an example of a very small club with a local amateur identity in Championat National 1, which will effectively become Ligue 3...

They're based out in Paris's 13th arrondissement which is a very multicultural and lower socio-economic part of the city. Their spiritual home known as 'Stade Pele' has one small 200 seating stand and standing room around the pitch.

Crowds are probably around the 1000 mark. And those hardcore French football traditionalists love Paris 13 Atletico exactly because they are small. Under the new mandatory Ligue 3 professionalism rules, tiny clubs like Paris 13 Atletico could face a massive crisis. They do not have the stadium revenue or the commercial crowd base to easily sustain a full professional roster of players...

Aubagn, FC Fleury 91, and Stade Briochin are in similar postions they will be forced into full-time operations, with full professional player contracts, and upgrading their backroom staffing and ground infrastructure. These clubs don't have the marketing pipelines or historic fan bases to generate the sort of commercial revenue, which could well plunge them straight into major structural debt.

Mind there are clubs like Caen, Valenciennes.and Rouen are much bigger with the budgets and infrastructure to meet the professional game requirements....

I guess that the Ligue 3 reform splits France – executives and bigger clubs in that 3rd tier will welcome the financial stability and potential loan pipelines from Ligue 1 while traditional fans and small clubs fiercely oppose the commercialisation and experimental rules....

The French Football Federation used the exact same professionalisation blueprint to radically overhaul women's domestic football. Through the creation of the Ligue Féminine de Football Professionnel (LFFP), the federation executed a massive restructuring over the last few seasons....

And some say it's working well and others not so well?

We'll see how it goes.....It's certainly going to be another interesting project.

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Monoethnic Social Club said:

My 2 cents is that at least there is the option for clubs like Paris 13 Atletico to participate or drop down a tier or am I misreading the situation?

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Football us life said:

Slightly....

Clubs do not get a voluntary choice to simply "drop down" a tier to avoid the professional requirements. Participation in the upcoming Ligue 3 is strictly determined by sporting merit (league table finishes) and financial validation by the DNCG (France's financial watchdog).

However, I think they must present a viable financial budget to the DNCG to prove they can afford the mandatory professional status – player contracts, administrative staff, stadium upgrades etc...

If they fail the audit they’re getting administered relegation apparently to N2 which will now become N1.

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Monoethnic Social Club said:

Sorry, yes that was what I was implying... If they are unable or unwilling to compete in a professional capacity they arent going to be prevented for competing at a lower level.

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Their Work, and Finally, Their Health
"The rehabilitation aspect is the challenge of the future for women's football."

— Emmanuel Orhant, FFF Medical Director since 2017

L'Équipe — Cyril Olivès-Berthet

"The Federation's pressure worked." As the head doctor for the Montpellier women's team for the past five years, Claude Nilles confirms the positive evolution of medical care in the Arkema

Première Ligue. This progress has notably been made possible by a financial incentive system set up by the Women's Professional Football League (LFFP), which was founded in April 2024. Four labels covering four development areas are provided by the League. According to our information, these allow a club to receive around €250,000 annually per label if they meet the specifications.

Medical care falls under the "sports and training policy" label. "The club must do everything possible to ensure medical monitoring of its players: a doctor present for a minimum of ten hours per week, at least a half-time physiotherapist, a medical office, and an adapted treatment room," details the club license specifications.

The new "sports policy" label aims to go even further, requiring at least one doctor and two physiotherapists full-time. "It's night and day in the span of three years," says a delighted Emmanuel Orhant, medical director of the FFF since 2017. "Some clubs have up to four dedicated physios, psychological and nutritional support, and a podiatrist. There have been huge changes in terms of equipment too, with hydrotherapy almost everywhere. It's a welcome surprise. There is a real investment plan; we are on the right track. We are getting very close to what is done for the men." Consequently, medical monitoring follows a protocol, notably via the Askamon application.
Practitioners from the different clubs must log every step, and they face sanctions if they fail to do so—just like in the men's game.


The Good Example at Strasbourg
The typology of injuries is gradually changing. What has been true for several years at the very highest level is now becoming reality at the national level. Over the span of two years, the same injuries are now found in the Arkema Première Ligue as in the Champions League or in national teams, for both men and women: muscular injuries, particularly in the quadriceps, and joint injuries.

"The teams promoted this year are playing the game and putting in the resources. Nantes, Lens, OM... It’s structured, and it’s almost a carbon copy of what is done for the men in terms of infrastructure and staff," Nilles assures. This is the case in Lyon, of course, under the leadership of Andrés Gonzalez Gomez, performance director since last summer, and also in Strasbourg.

The training center for Vincent Nogueira's players, made up of several prefabricated buildings, is becoming increasingly functional, notably with a dedicated grass pitch, which considerably reduces joint trauma. The project for more permanent buildings at Soprema Parc is moving forward and is financially supported by the new owner, BlueCo.

However, the major evolution in recent years concerns the medical staff. "Since last summer, we can do our ultrasounds directly on-site. We save two or three days on the care provided by the physios, which is huge," rejoices the Alsatian coach. "We only have a 24-hour wait time for our MRIs." His fitness coach, Sara Faure, can now "implement isokinetic testing at the start of the season."
"These are notably jumping exercises focused on hip-knee-foot control, which allow us to create protocols to reduce pressure on the hamstrings. In women, injuries often stem from the hips, so we target muscle building accordingly. This reduces injuries (adductors, abductors, and pubalgia)."

The work of physiotherapist Anaïs Frey has also changed everything for the Strasbourg players. Over the span of five years, she went from a contract of two evenings a week to a permanent full-time contract (CDI) with the club. "And I will benefit from a half-time assistant starting next season," she says happily. "The club has provided the resources. We no longer share our treatment room with the boys from the academy. We have our own machines: shortwave therapy, Game Ready cryotherapy and active compression devices, a Wingback tecartherapy (cell regeneration) device, pressotherapy boots... " The future promises even more technology at Racing: "A new machine is arriving: BFR, a blood flow restriction system. We've already tested it, and the girls really liked it."

Rehabilitation after injury is a major challenge at the highest level. "The rehabilitation aspect is the challenge of the future for women's football," announces Orhant. Nilles sees another one: "We need to develop internal mental preparation." This is an advancement that could very well also help the French national team, which is still searching for its first title.

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JS96 said:

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