Club career
Early years
Laurent Blanc's career started in Montpellier, where he signed his first professional contract in 1983. A very technical player, he played as an offensive midfielder and helped Montpellier get promoted to Division 1 in 1987. Only a few years later did he settle as a defender following the advice from Michel Mézy, a position in which his physical stature (1.92 m, 82 kg) and his temper would prove invaluable. His game being perfectly fitted for the French league, he managed to score at least 12 goals (a remarkable tally for a defender) in every season at Montpellier, for the most part penalties and headers. He also won the Coupe de France in 1990, scoring a goal in the final.
Domestic success
In 1991, Blanc tried a first experience abroad when he left Montpellier for Napoli in the Italian Serie A. Despite a decent season during which he managed to score six goals, he felt like he could not fully express his potential and returned to France after just one year, to Nîmes and then Saint Etienne where again he not only imposed himself as one of the best defenders in the league but also scored goals (13 in his last season with Saint-Etienne). However, Saint-Etienne were struggling at the time and got almost relegated, only staying up because Marseille were not allowed to return to Division 1 because of their financial difficulties.
Guy Roux, impressed by Blanc and looking for a replacement for Dutch international Frank Verlaat, convinced him to join Auxerre in 1995. Despite injuring himself early in the season, Blanc came back strongly and played a great part in Auxerre's double that year.
FC Barcelona
Laurent Blanc's performances on the pitch, emphasized by Auxerre's success, drew the attention of several big European clubs. He finally signed for FC Barcelona. That second abroad experience turned out not to be as successful as he could have hoped. Johan Cruyff, who had wanted Blanc and persuaded him to sign for Barça, was sacked on the very day Blanc agreed to join the club. Blanc won the Supercopa de España against Atlético Madrid but injured himself quickly afterwards. He came back and played regularly but was sent off during the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final against AIK then injured himself again against Extremadura, which forced him to miss the Clásico and the Cup Winners' Cup final against Paris SG. After this disappointing season and only one year away from the World Cup, he decided to leave.
The "President"
Rolland Courbis managed to convince Blanc to join Marseille, which proved beneficial for both Marseille and Blanc. Blanc quickly became a leader in a Marseille side desperately lacking confidence, and helped them reach an honourable fourth place for his first season, scoring 11 goals and earning the nickname Le Président (the President) in the process. The season following the World Cup was both successful and frustrating for Blanc and Marseille, as they finished runners-up in the championship, only one point shy of Bordeaux, and reached the UEFA Cup final, only to lose 3–0 to Parma, with Hernán Crespo intercepting Blanc's back pass to Porato to score the opener.
He then left Marseille for Inter Milan, where he enjoyed some success in defence, even winning the Pirata d'oro (Internazionale Player of the Year) in 2000.
[edit]Manchester United
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had attempted to lure Blanc several times since 1996 and finally succeeded in 2001. Despite his age of 35 years, Blanc was brought in to replace the departing Jaap Stam. He was criticised for poor performances in the early months of his stay at Old Trafford. This was compounded when United suffered their first five losses of the season to Bolton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea (The first letters of each team spelling B-L-A-N-C). He retired two years later, having helped his club to the 2002-03 Premier League crown. He scored four goals during his time at Manchester United. One of these came in the league against Tottenham Hotspur, and the other three all came in the Champions League in games against Olympiakos[4] and Boavista (both home and away)
[edit]International career
Laurent Blanc won the 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, beating Greece in the final. On February 7, 1989, he made his debut for the national team against Ireland.
France, then in reconstruction after the retirement of numerous key players, did not manage to qualify for the 1990 World Cup. Shortly after that, they started an impressive 19-game unbeaten streak, including eight wins out of eight in Euro 1992 qualifying, making them one of the favorites to win the competition. They would, however, get knocked out in the pool stage by eventual winners Denmark.
After France inexplicably failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, Laurent Blanc was heavily criticised, as well the rest of the team, and he subsequently decided to retire from international football. Aimé Jacquet, after taking over the managerial position of the national team, made it one of his priorities to convince Blanc to change his mind. Blanc then became one of the key players of this new French squad which reached the semi-finals of the Euro 96, only to lose to Czech Republic in a penalty shoot-out.
That same team then entered the 1998 World Cup, which was held on home soil. Blanc was exemplary during the competition and, on June 28, 1998, he scored against Paraguay in the Round of 16 the first ever golden goal in World Cup history. He would, however, miss the final after being sent off in the semi-final against Croatia for elbowing Slaven Bilić, although replays showed that Bilić had clearly feigned the injury. The Croatian was heavily criticised afterwards.
Blanc was also part of the team that won the Euro 2000 during which, despite having been criticised for his age and lack of speed during the qualifications, he proved reliable in defence and even scored a goal against Denmark in the group stage.
He announced his retirement from international football after the Euro, following the example of his captain Didier Deschamps.
Blanc was also well-known for kissing good friend and goalkeeper Fabien Barthez's head before the start of every match, supposedly for good luck (the two did repeat this ritual when they played together for Manchester United, only for Champions League matches). Overall, he recorded 97 caps and scored 16 goals.
In 2006, the readers of France Football Magazine voted him the fourth best French player of all time behind Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Raymond Kopa.
Career as a manager
On June 8, 2007, Blanc was named the new manager of FC Girondins de Bordeaux, replacing Brazilian Ricardo. For his first season on the bench, he led Bordeaux to a very good second place in the league and won the Manager of the Year award. His second season was extremely successful, as Bordeaux won the final eleven games of the season, setting a new French record for consecutive wins,and clinched the 2008–09 Ligue 1 championship title, three points clear of Marseille, having already won the Coupe de la Ligue that year. Blanc was again nominated for Manager of the Year but lost to Marseille's Eric Gerets.
Honours
As a player
France U-21
European U-21 Championship (1988)
France
World Cup (1998)
European Championship (2000)
Montpellier HSC
Coupe de France (1990)
FC Barcelona
Supercopa de España (1996)
Cup Winners' Cup (1997)
AJ Auxerre
Division 1 (1996)
Coupe de France (1996)
Manchester United
Premier League (2003)
Individual
1998 Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur
2000 Internazionale Player Of The Year (Pirata d'oro)
2004 Trophée d'honneur UNFP
As a manager
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Trophée des Champions (2008) (2009)
Coupe de la Ligue (2009)
Ligue 1 (2009)
Statistics
Player
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1983-84 Montpellier Division 2 15 0 -
1984-85 32 5 -
1985-86 29 6 -
1986-87 34 18 -
1987-88 Division 1 24 6 -
1988-89 35 15 2 0
1989-90 36 12 -
1990-91 38 14 6 1
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
1991-92 Napoli Serie A 31 6 -
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1992-93 Nîmes Olympique Division 1 29 1 -
1993-94 Saint-Étienne Division 1 33 5 -
1994-95 37 13 -
1995-96 Auxerre Division 1 23 2 1 0
Spain League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Europe Total
1996-97 FC Barcelona La Liga 28 1 5 0 - 5 0 38 1
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1997-98 Olympique Marseille Division 1 31 11 -
1998-99 32 2 10 1
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
1999-00 Internazionale Milano Serie A 34 3 -
2000-01 33 3 9 0
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2001-02 Manchester United Premier League 29 1 2 0 0 0 15 2 46 3
2002-03 19 0 1 0 0 0 9 1 29 1
Total France 428 110 19 1
Italy 98 12 9 0
Spain 28 1 5 0 0 0 5 0 38 1
England 48 1 3 0 0 0 24 3 75 4
Career Total 602 124 57 4
[edit]International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 18 November 1989 Stadium Municipal, Toulouse, France Cyprus 2 – 0 2 – 0 1990 World Cup Qualification
2 21 January 1990 Kazma SC Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait Kuwait 0 – 1 0 – 1 Friendly
3 20 February 1991 Parc des Princes, Paris, France Spain 3 – 1 3 – 1 Euro '92 Qualification
4 14 August 1991 Stadion Miejski, Poznań, Poland Poland 1 – 4 1 – 5 Friendly
5 17 February 1993 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel Israel 0 – 2 0 – 4 1994 World Cup Qualification
6 17 February 1993 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel Israel 0 – 3 0 – 4 1994 World Cup Qualification
7 8 September 1993 Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland Finland 0 – 1 0 – 2 1994 World Cup Qualification
8 26 April 1995 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France Slovakia 3 – 0 4 – 0 Euro '96 Qualification
9 1 June 1996 Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany Germany 0 – 1 0 – 1 Friendly
10 18 June 1996 St James' Park, Newcastle, England Bulgaria 1 – 0 3 – 1 Euro '96 Group Stage
11 9 October 1996 Parc des Princes, Paris, France Turkey 1 – 0 4 – 0 Friendly
12 25 February 1998 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France Norway 1 – 1 3 – 3 Friendly
13 29 May 1998 Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca, Morocco Morocco 1 – 1 2 – 2 Hassan II Trophy
14 28 June 1998 Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France Paraguay 1 – 0 1 – 0 1998 World Cup Round of 16
15 26 April 2000 Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France Slovenia 2 – 2 3 – 2 Friendly
16 11 June 2000 Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium Denmark 1 – 0 3 – 0 Euro 2000 Group Stage
[edit]Managerial stats
Last updated 2 June 2009
Nat Team From To Record
G W L D Win % GF GA +/-
Bordeaux 2007 77 47 17 13 61.04% 133 72 +61
Total Career 77 47 17 13 61.04% 133 72 +61
Source:wikipedia
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