Monaco’s Niko Kovač on Ligue 1: “This league loses a lot of young talents.”
Speaking ahead of his side’s match on Friday against Lille, Monaco manager Niko Kovač was notably asked about whether he believes Ligue 1 has progressed in recent years.
His words transcribed in L’Équipe, the Croatian explained that French football would be among the very best, were it able to consistently hold on to the talents that it produces.
“Everyone says that the French league is in the Top 5 in Europe. That’s very clear to me. It’s a bit in the shadows, but it shouldn’t be. It’s a very physical league with very fast players who are very good technically. This league loses a lot of young talents, but what’s amazing is that you always produce some new ones. All these young players who arrive and want to prove themselves and playing at full speed for that.”
“Every match is a battle. If you’re not fighting, then you’ll have problems. My German colleagues ask me a lot of questions on Ligue 1 and about the players to watch. If you could keep all your players, Ligue 1 wouldn’t just be a top 5 league, it would also surely be the second best league in Europe.”
“The main difference I see with the German league, which explains why French clubs have less results in Europe, is that in France clubs need to sell their players. If they could keep them, we would have here one of the very best leagues in the world.”