Le Havre: the second-tier French club producing world class footballers

Le Havre’s list of alumni makes for impressive reading. World Cup winners, European champions and some of the most expensive players in history have passed through the French club’s academy over the years. Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez, Dimitri Payet, Lassana Diarra, Édouard Mendy, Ferland Mendy and Steve Mandanda all called the club home in their formative years.

Despite spending most of their existence in Ligue 2, Le Havre have one of the most prestigious academies in France. They do not have the riches of PSG, or titles of Marseille or Lyon, but their methods have worked in youth development for more than four decades.

Michael Bunel, who is in charge of the academy, has been at the club since 2005. Previously an English teacher in France, he was always interested in teaching and coaching football, and combined those two passions when he joined Le Havre. Having coached various age groups, as well as their women’s side, he knows the club’s philosophy inside out.

“We think that you have to be smart to become a top player,” he says. “Our philosophy is based around developing the capacity of the player to be smart. When you look at the top players, they have this capacity to analyse what goes on around them and to make the right call, regardless of system, coach or style of play. A smart player will be able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses.”

When Bunel uses the word “smartness”, which he does a lot, he is talking about the decisions a player makes when they have the ball: what they’re going to do with it, how they’re going to progress the play, how they analyse situations and what choices they make. The best players enhance their physical gifts and technical ability with this game intelligence.

“You must have good