Lucien Favre

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Lucien Favre

Favre with Mönchengladbach in 2011.
Personal information
Full nameLucien Favre
Date of birth (1957-11-02) 2 November 1957
Place of birthSaint-Barthélemy, Switzerland
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current clubBorussia Mönchengladbach (coach)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1976–1979Lausanne30(3)
1979–1981Neuchâtel Xamax51(14)
1981–1983Servette59(28)
1983–1984Toulouse35(7)
1984–1991Servette134(20)
Total309(72)
National team
1981–1989Switzerland[1]24(1)
Teams managed
1991–1995Echallens
1997–2000Yverdon Sports
2000–2002Servette
2003–2007Zürich
2007–2009Hertha BSC
2011–Borussia Mönchengladbach
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Lucien Favre (born 2 November 1957) is a football coach and former Swiss international player. He is currently head coach of Bundesliga team Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Playing career

During his playing career, Favre made a total of 24 appearances for Switzerland, scoring his one and only goal on his debut against the Netherlands. At club level, he played for Lausanne-Sports, Neuchâtel Xamax, Toulouse FC and Servette FC, earning a reputation as a skillful and intelligent play-maker. He announced his retirement in 1991.

International career

24 caps (one goal on his debut against Netherlands, in the same game both Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard also made their first appearance for their country). First cap: Switzerland versus Netherland 2–1, on 1 September 1981 in Zürich Last cap: Portugal-Switzerland 3–1, on 26 April 1989 in Lisbon.

Coaching career

FC Echallens

Favre's coaching career started in 1991, as U-14 assistant manager with FC Echallens. The following year he took over the U-17's, before being appointed manager of the first team in 1993. Under his leadership, his young squad surprisingly got promoted to the Nationalliga B (second tier of Swiss football, now called Challenge League). This promotion is still the outstanding achievement in the club's history.

Neuchâtel Xamax FC

After four years with FC Echallens, Favre was named Academy Manager of Neuchâtel Xamax FC. This move allowed him to experience the overall operation of a professional club.

Yverdon-Sport and Servette FC

In January 1997, Favre was appointed manager of Yverdon-Sport FC who were struggling at the bottom of the Nationalliga B at that stage. In 1999 he guided his side to the Nationalliga A (top tier of Swiss football, now called Swiss Super League). The following season they unexpectedly achieved fifth placed finish in the table, which is still the Yverdon-Sport FC's best ranking in the top-flight to date.

In the summer of 2000, Favre decided to join Servette FC, a long-established club based in Geneva where he had already won the league as a player. The highlights of his spell in Geneva were a victory in the Swiss Cup final 2001, as well as a superb run in the UEFA Cup. Servette FC eliminated Slavia Prague, Real Zaragoza and Hertha BSC (with a 3–0 away win in the Berlin Olympic Stadium), before going out against Valencia CF (0–3 and 2–2) in the last 16. Three months later Valencia CF won the 2001–02 Spanish La Liga under the leadership of Rafael Benitez.

FC Zurich

In 2003, Favre was appointed FC Zürich manager. He won the Swiss Cup in 2005 beating FC Luzern in the final. The following season, FCZ ended their twenty-five-year wait for a league title with a dramatic final day victory against FC Basel to win the Swiss Super League. On 29 May 2007, after securing another Swiss title, he was awarded the title of best Swiss manager for the second year in a row.

Hertha BSC

On 1 June 2007, the German Bundesliga club Hertha BSC announced that Favre had just agreed to sign a three-year deal as their head coach.[2]

During the 2008–09 season, he guided Hertha BSC to an excellent fourth place position, having at his disposal the 13th biggest budget of the Bundesliga. In February 2009, one of the highlights of his spell in Germany was the brilliant tactical display of Hertha BSC against FC Bayern Munich in a packed Olympic Stadium (almost 75,000 spectators). This performance allowed them to beat the erstwhile reigning German champions 2–1 and Hertha BSC went to the top of the Bundesliga. Favre extended his contract for an additional year.

The 2009–10 season did not look as promising because Hertha's increasing financial difficulties prevented them from recruiting efficiently. Furthermore, three of the best players left in the summer: Josip Šimunić, Andriy Voronin and Marko Pantelic. At the end of September 2009, Hertha BSC were struggling in the league and Favre was relieved of his duties by the club.[3]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 14 February 2011, he was named as the successor of Michael Frontzeck as head coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach.[4] He took over when the team was sitting at the bottom of the league with only 16 points after 22 match days. He instigated an immediate improvement in form and although the club still struggled, they eventually managed a narrow win against VfL Bochum in a two-legged relegation play-off to secure their place in the Bundesliga.

The following season the team surpassed all expectations by finishing in fourth place thereby qualifying for the early stages of the Champions League. The team's brand of fluid, counter-attacking football impressed pundits and press alike and was typified by an emphatic double win over Bayern Munich both home and away.

Coaching philosophy

Favre's teams play a dynamic, quick and attacking minded football where ball possession and change of tempo alternate. This attractive style of play has brought results in every club he has managed. Furthermore, Favre is very skillful tactically, leaving his opponents struggling to penetrate his well-organized sides.

Favre is also well known for his ability to develop talented young players and introduce them into the first team. Under his leadership, Blerim Džemaili, Almen Abdi, Steve von Bergen and Gökhan Inler made their debut with the Swiss national team before signing for foreign clubs. In 2007, FC Zürich became Swiss champions with an average age of twenty-one years and a half. He is also credited with raising the game of German starlet Marco Reus whose fine performances procured a call up to the German national team and a high-priced move to league champions Borussia Dortmund.

Managerial statistics

As of 7 February 2014.
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
FC Echallens 1 July 1991[5] 30 June 1995[5] —
Yverdon-Sport 1 January 1997[5] 30 June 2000[5] —
Servette 1 July 2000[5] 30 June 2002[5] 73 29 20 24 39.73
Zürich 1 July 2002[5] 1 June 2007[2] 169 94 33 42 55.62
Hertha BSC 1 June 2007[2] 28 September 2009[3] 94 40 20 34 42.55 [6]
Borussia Mönchengladbach 14 February 2011[4] Present 120 54 32 34 45.00 [7]
Total 456 217 105 134 47.59 —

Honours

Player

Manager

References

  1. ↑ Garin, Erik (27 March 2004). "Swiss Players in France". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 February 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Favre: "Immer Fortschritte machen"". kicker (in German). 1 June 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Jetzt ist Preetz gefragt". kicker (in German). 29 September 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Favre soll Gladbach retten" (in German). zdf.de. 14 February 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Lucien Favre" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ "Hertha BSC" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Bor. Mönchengladbach" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 

External links

Previous winners
Foreigner of the Year
Borussia Mönchengladbach – current squad
Bundesliga managers
Authority control
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