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"He was 30 at the time, but he seemed much older. I think most of us saw him as a virtual player-coach, even though he wasn't part of the coaching team," said former Arsenal defender, Adrian Clarke. "At a time when the old guard were sceptical about Wenger and his methods, he was almost a link between them and the new gaffer."
Lee Dixon, another Arsenal defender, said, "...he was always a deep thinker. It was no surprise to me that he went into coaching."
While Hubert Fournier took most of the credit for making sure Lyon reached the Champions League last year, plenty would argue – and rightfully so – that the groundwork was laid by their former manager – Remi Garde. The Frenchman quit three years into the job after deciding on taking a sabbatical from the sport – the second time coming.
The Lyon Chapter
After inheriting a squad filled with potential stars in Hugo Lloris, Yoann Gourcuff, Dejan Lovren and Bafetimbi Gomis, Garde would go on to transform the club in a way they hadn't done so for over fifty years. Most of them departed – a young Anthony Martial included – for valuations below what they would fetch. The fans would protest but Garde was convinced and made sure the club were too, that this was the right way for Lyon to move forward.
Having sold a chunk of the squad, Garde then changed their formation from a successful yet fading 4-3-3 to a much more fluid and potent and potentially long-lasting 4-4-2, a formation he often played in during his Arsenal years.
Garde also started paying more attention to the academy, making sure they produced not just 'better' talent but talent that would ensure the continuation of Lyon as a club – performance and money-wise. Till date, that would go on to be Garde's most appreciated and celebrated choice. It was all his.
Fournier deserves a lot of credit, too. He took Alexander Lacazette, Nabil Fekir and Maxime Gonalons to another level and qualified for the Champions League – a feat his predecessor couldn't achieve – but putting his effort into footballing terms, you could say he was the Pep Guardiola to Garde's role as Jupp Heynckes.
It all started in Strasbourg
15 years before Garde joined Strasbourg, a tall, slim man donned their jersey and kicked about on their ground. He wasn't the best of footballers nor was he the most adept but he was special – he read the game, he read his opponents and before he could achieve anything great in his playing career would opt for a career in management and win some of the globe's greatest pieces of silverware – a few with a 30-something Garde in his team.
Garde would do the same. He joined the club in 1993 and managed to reach the Coupe de France final in 1995 with a team that was in no way expected to achieve said feat. Garde's patience and composure in the backline would ensure they always punched above their waist.
He was strong, commanding and experienced enough to assure Strasbourg caused the occasional upset while maintaining their overly-underrated ability of staying put in the French top flight. He would not win any silverware with Strasbourg but the club changed and shaped Garde in ways he would've always thought possible of himself.
He became a natural leader; he would express opinions; he would organise his team on the field and most of all, he'd learn ways to lift a group of players on a continuous process – something that would help him greatly in the years to come.
Garde of the future
As he's confessed plenty of times earlier, Garde is walking in the footsteps of his mentor – Arsene Wenger. His Lyon team played exquisite football very similar to how an 'Arsene-al' play but it's the off-field qualities that would put him in the same bracket as Wenger – development and promotion of youth, a complete change in player regime and dietary intake and an attention to detail about every single thing in the club.
“Remi has two faces,” The Mirror were told. “During the week, he is very calm and talks to the players in a way they like. He is honest and straight with them. The Lyon players respected him immensely.
“But on matchday, during the game, he changes. He is very demanding and animated – as the Lyon players found out and as the Villa players will find out if he goes there.”
And with this approach to the game, he's achieved success in both playing and coaching. He doesn't believe in turning the world against his players and he doesn't believe in setting an elaborately-pinpoint plan his team is to follow. Much like Wenger, he lets his players' confidence do the talking often guiding them to make sure they hit said confidence early in his reign.
Garde is now taking over a project that has failed time and again over the past decade; Alex Mcleish, Paul Lambert and Tim Sherwood – three managers who could've managed small clubs and mind you, Aston Villa is no small club. Garde has a tough task on his hand but having a group of young footballers coming through the ranks at Villa and a first team that has enough quality to successfully infiltrate the top ten, there's no better man.
Once again, we see a whole new Aston Villa; reborn from the ashes and ready to take flight and I leave you with words from Garde's teammate and friend, Lee Dixon:
“Remi always had a good football brain. We spent a lot of time together because we were injured at the same time. We thought about the game on the same lines. It is no surprise to me he has done well.”
