Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Anfield has been the subject of speculation since the Liverpool manager announced back in late January that he would be leaving his position at the end of this season due to fatigue after nine years in the role. The German tactician has won it all during his time leading the Reds with Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup titles to his name not to mention a good shot at a UEFA Europa League crown by the end of this campaign to better his current runners-up best in that competition.
¿Quién es Franck Haise?
Turning 53 next month and hailing from the Normandy region of France, Haise’s playing career was largely unremarkable starting with hometown club FC Rouen 1899 and taking in two spells with Stade Lavallois before finishing professionally with Angers SCO in 2004. Six years with Stade Rennais’ youth academy in between two spells as a head coach at regional level led him to FC Lorient where he coached the reserves, was assistant to Sylvain Ripoll and then Bernard Casoni before moving on to Lens.
¿Qué ha logrado con Lens?
Lens’ return to Le Championnat has been nothing short of remarkable with the Northerners no lower than seventh in each of Haise’s three full seasons in charge and looking likely to finish in that sweet spot again and confirm a return to Europe after this campaign’s adventure across the Champions League and Europa League. Inevitably, other clubs started to look at Lens’ magic man including OGC Nice who managed to tempt sporting director Florent Ghisolfi away from Stade Bollaert Delelis, but an upgrade to the joint role of general manager and head coach was enough to keep Haise with the club for his biggest achievement yet.
¿Cómo podría encajar en Liverpool?
Haise has been surrounded by people who know English soccer well since his ascension to the job with Lens. His former assistant Alou Diarra played for Liverpool during his career as well as West Ham United and Charlton Athletic while his main right hand man Lilian Nalis spent nearly 10 years in England with the likes of Leicester City and Sheffield United among others. Ghisolfi, who had a say in replacing Montanier with Haise back in 2020, has also been linked with Liverpool and the Nice man worked well as the architect for the foundations upon which Haise has managed to construct this solid Lens side.
¿Es Haise material de sucesión para Klopp?
Following on from Klopp will be an unenviable task for even the most experienced of managers although Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso has an edge as a former Liverpool player and an incredible Bundesliga campaign so far. Questions will likely be asked of Haise’s European pedigree, but it should be noted that he ended a 15-year wait for continental soccer at Stade Bollaert Delelis and led Lens from Ligue 2 to second place and just a single point behind the juggernaut of PSG. It might not come with the titles that Alonso seems destined to win with Leverkusen this term but it deserves greater credit than is often given.