Like last year, the D1 sees two clubs promoted access to its championship, among the other ten teams that compose it. This season it is FC Fleury (formerly Val d'Orge) and LOSC who have won their climb and will make their entry into the elite competition of Women's Football in France this Sunday. If the accession of the club "Paris" has not experienced real snags, it was otherwise for the club Lille. Details.



A leap into the unknown

"It's a championship we do not know," Camille Dolignon told us. A fact proved since apart from Juvisy in the Coupe de France last season, Lille did not meet big teams during their high level training. This leaves many questions unanswered.


Lille coach Jérémie Descamps was asked about this preparation for the elite of Football in France. And with honesty and lucidity he reported his state of mind: "We have not prepared the D1 at all, we have tried to build a group intelligently, gradually, to be at the level of more and more quickly. advantage is that mayonnaise took very quickly last year so much the better, but we prepare the D1 from the moment we knew we were going up ". A way to move back to better jump probably, to avoid putting too much pressure including and project match after match, without wanting to grill the stages in the minds of his players.


"It was a project of three, four years and finally we went up after two years" added Camille Dolignon, whom we also contacted to discuss this subject. "We were planning to go up to D1 with another year or two anyway." It is true that this last season in D2, the LOSC seemed much more able to meet the challenge of the D1, than another plausible promoted.


"Last year we had already experienced players, who had known the D1 and the international level," said Descamps to contextualize the project of the club around its women's section. "We had some complicated moments last season, so it will allow us to be mentally prepared to tackle some games in which we could be in trouble," he says. One more reason, which leads us to think that Lille has several convincing aspects, as to what awaits it in the elite this season 2017/2018, despite the strong competition.


But what will be the approach against the big teams of this championship? The coach wanted to be pragmatic: "This is not enough, but from the moment we know that we have done the maximum and that the girls get off the field having done the maximum, if the result It's not to our advantage, it's still football, but we're going to sell our skin dearly, we're going to enter the field with humility but we will not leave our place to someone else and we will not give the match, that's for sure, after the football is made of different level and from the moment we will be beaten by stronger than us, but we will have done the maximum, we will be proud of what we did. we deserve to win, we will win. "


Arguments for the D1

Do not put the cart before the horse, this is the adage that we could associate with LOSC when we asked the coach his vision of the season that awaits him with his team: "It will depend on the time of adaptation that we will have at the D1 ". It is obvious when we know that the 2016/2017 exercise has booked several surprises of entry of championship, like the defeat of Juvisy against Guingamp for example.


Anyway, it is certain, the strong point of this Lille team is its apparent homogeneity. "We feel confident about our last recruitment, we are very satisfied with the preparation, we will have answers from Sunday and the beginning of the championship ... they are very good players, in whom we have full confidence and that we wanted to have "exclaimed Descamps during our interview.

And as we recalled, we can say that the complicated moments to manage, it knows a little LOSC. As the story of the four points removed after their match against the ESOF (for a player entered into play without a "valid license"). A lesson that Lillies have turned to their advantage, as revealed Camille Dolignon: "We took a slap at the end of the championship and in the end we came out stronger, and that's about it will help us to this season".


The true strength of this northern team on the sidelines of its season, will necessarily be in "self-denial" but not only. "Tactical discipline, the notion of effort, the surpassing of oneself" as many strengths that wants to use Jérémie Descamps in his group. "We kept the same values ​​that helped us last year" to climb in D1 he added. "The news has been driven by the old ones and they are immediately in that state of mind we are looking for" at LOSC. "They are players who have adapted quickly" retorted Camille Dolignon.


But the question of youth also arises. We had mentioned the previous season in a previous interview and we remembered that this is a point that is important to the club. Just like for the coach, who answered it: "We integrated five U19, three of the Liévin hope pole and two of the training". One way also to remember that the LOSC does not look far these players to build his team, confirms Jérémie Descamps.


Today is the big test against Bordeaux, but the club Hauts-de-France "will arrive with great humility" stipulated Descamps. "We know that there is a large margin between the D2 and the D1, we are aware of that, but we will arrive with confidence and want to make the results because we have built a competitive team" a- he also affirmed. A speech that sounds strong and in which we expect games without complex.


It is obvious that the D1 "it is a big challenge for us" reminded Camille Dolignon who is preparing this season to live another level with these teammates. But the coach also said that his group "has no pressure to have, because we know very well that we can not compete with this kind of teams [like Lyon or Paris]". "My concern is to manage my team to be competitive," he added.


Another question mark arises for this promoted, a situation that could know Marseille last season. How to manage this expectation around the team? Descamps is conciliatory: "We can be expected because we have the label" LOSC "so we will try to make good copies so that the club and the supporters are proud and stay behind us no matter the result after our matches. " Just as we stipulated Camille Dolignon. The Lille girl who speaks on behalf of these teammates also and who wants to be reassuring: "Not especially pressure [compared to the expectation of other clubs and supporters] .We will do what has to do, we do not ask questions we know what we can do, we really focus on ourselves. "


"We the goal is really the maintenance" wants to express Camille Dolignon. Before adding: "We made a very big preparation, and physically we feel very good now". The Lille girl knows that the support around the team will be important in their success as well: "The fans believe in us and we hope that there will be as many people as last year, because we will need it for us support".


It is certain that this season will be even more elevated and that the clubs, despite their different objectives, will have to fight to reach them.