Florian Thauvin: The experienced head leading Lens’ title charge
It’s been a while since we’ve seen any kind of title race in Ligue 1. PSG have run away with it for the past four seasons, but in 2025/26, they’ll head into the December break sitting in second, with little RC Lens and Florian Thauvin ahead by a point.
By Alex Roberts
Pierre Sage took over from Will Still, who joined Southampton and was promptly sacked a few months later, in the summer and Lens had a busy transfer window, spending around €60 million on new players, powered by the sales of Neil El Aynaoui and Andy Diouf.
There was a clear focus on signing players in their early to mid 20s, but they broke that apparent transfer policy to sign a 31-year-old Florian Thauvin from Udinese for a reported €6.9 million, and it’s been one of the best decisions they made.
Thauvin left France back in 2021, calling it quits with Marseille and joining Mexican side Tigres, reuniting with former teammate André-Pierre Gignac. While Gignac became a legend at Tigres, Thauvin was ultimately a failure.
The Frenchman picked up an injury almost immediately after he turned up, had bust-ups with the manager because he believed his world champion status should make him a guaranteed starter, regardless of how he played.
It was all a bit of a mess and Tigres terminated his contract after 18-months at the club. The traditional legal battle ensued and Thauvin found himself at Udinese, where he managed to rediscover some form, scoring 15 goals and providing ten assists in his 73 games across all competitions.
The winger/playmaker has taken to life at Lens supremely well. Tactically, Sage wants his side to press intensely, using 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 formations with high wingbacks and a constantly rotating midfield.
Thauvin plays as the right sided ten in Sage’s system, or sometimes the right winger if the game needs a little added width, but either way, he’s an integral part of Lens’ well-oiled machine.
His attacking numbers speak for themselves. Alongside his five goals and assists, Thauvin has proven to be his side’s main creative force, with 34 chances created, 26 successful crosses, 438 successful passes at a rate of 77.9%, and an xA of 3.83, so he should have more assists than he currently does.
In possession he’s one of the best in the league. Thauvin is a high-volume dribbler and his close control and ability to wriggle through defences is arguably the best part of his game, with 28 successful dribbles, he’s ahead of the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
He’s clearly a leader on the pitch. 925 touches, 88 of which have been in the opposition box indicates just how much his teammates trust him to be the difference maker, and considering he’s only been dispossessed 34 times, more often than not he is.
Sage demands more from his forwards than a few little mazy runs and cutbacks, though, he needs them to start the press and do it in cohesively, otherwise opposition players will be able to play through them far too easily.
Thauvin has completely bought into his manager’s philosophy, and he is giving it his absolute all on the pitch. He’s won 15 tackles and 65 duels, made 60 recoveries and won possession in the final third back 15 times, but perhaps most importantly, he’s only been dribbled past nine times.
Now, we all love stats, you probably wouldn’t be scouring FotMob if you didn’t, but there is still something to be said of the good old fashioned eye test. Thauvin has had a few real standout performances, with the 4-1 win over Monaco being one of them.
He didn’t get the assist for the first goal, but he was the reason it happened. Thauvin timed his press well and after Monaco made a mistake playing out of the back, he latched on to the ball, dribbled around three defenders into the box, and slid it to Adrien Thomasson. After a little pinball, ex-Crystal Palace forward Odsonne Édouard smashed it into the back of the net.
Thauvin was credited with the assist for Lens’ third goal, and what an assist it was. A delicately lofted ball took every Monaco defender out of the game before it fell to midfielder Mamadou Sangaré, who juggled the ball a bit before scoring his first of the season.
His second assist of the game wasn’t as impressive, but from Thauvin’s quickly taken corner, Wesley Saïd, who was also fantastic, got his second goal of the game with a glancing header, and Lens earned a statement win.
A little more recently, Thauvin scored both goals in their edgy 2-1 win over Angers. Before the game, much of the build-up was about Lens been at the top of Ligue 1 for the first time in 21 years, these players were, largely, in unchartered territory.
What they needed was an experienced head to step up and that’s exactly what Thauvin did. His two goals, the first being a beautifully taken effort from just outside the box, and the second coming via a heavy deflection, kept Lens at the top of the league.
Lens are in the midst of a six-game winning streak and will head into the new year top of the tree. Whether they’ll be there come the end of the season is the big question, PSG could go and spend €200 million in January and win all their games between now and then.
Thauvin has been inspired for Lens, and he’s even earned a re-call to the France national team already this season. If he keeps his form up, perhaps a spot in Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad isn’t so far-fetched after all.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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