FEATURE | Exploring Laurent Blanc’s forgotten past as Montpellier’s goal machine | OneFootball

Laurent Robert Blanc. There are many ways to describe the World Cup-winning France captain. An elegant libero, an inspirational leader, a serial winner. For all his celebrated virtues few would remember Blanc as a goal machine yet strangely, that’s exactly what he was before he became the defensive master we all recall today. In fact, add to that a record-breaking goal machine.To find out more about this largely forgotten period in Le Président’s career we need to go right back to the beginning, to his formative days at the Stade de la Mosson.

Montpellier’s midfield maestro

Born in Alés in the south of France, Blanc started his professional career with nearby Montpellier in 1983. Blanc’s technical ability on the ball saw him groomed as an attacking midfielder by coach Michael Mézy and in his second full season, the 1984-85 campaign, he quickly displayed an eye for goal, finding the net five times as La Paillade just missed out on promotion to Division One. The following season the 21-year-old improved on his previous tally, notching six goals in 30 appearances, including a goal in a wild 4-4 draw in the Derby du Languedoc against Nîmes Olympique, as Montpellier fought back from 3-0 down. Blanc was flourishing in Mézy’s swashbuckling 5-2-3 formation, with the young midfielder largely absolved of defensive responsibilities and encouraged to break forward and support striker Jean-Marc Valadier. However, despite Blanc’s goals, Montpellier again fell short, finishing fifth for a second consecutive season.Montpellier finally got it right the following season as the club secured promotion, defeating Niort in the rather convoluted two-legged championship play-off final. Key to MHSC’s success was the irresistible partnership which Blanc quickly struck up with new signing Roger Milla, as the Cameroonian hitman netted 19 goals in his debut campaign, while Blanc added an incredible 18 goals from midfield. Indeed, Blanc finished just three goals short of Division 2’s top scorer, Tony Kurbos of Mulhouse.

The goals flow for Blanc in Divison 1

While Montpellier enjoyed a fantastic first year back in the top flight, finishing third and qualifying for the UEFA Cup, Blanc struggled to repeat the heroics of the previous campaign. Suffering the first serious injury of his career, he made only 24 appearances and yet still managed to weigh in with six goals. By the summer he was back fit and was named the 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship’s ‘Golden Player’ as France beat Greece in the final.

The 1988-89 season saw Blanc back in full swing, scoring 15 goals in 35 appearances and making his senior international debut against the Republic of Ireland. The following year he tasted his first cup success, scoring his 14th goal of the season in the Coupe de France final as La Paillade beat Racing Paris 2-1. It was at the beginning of Blanc’s final season at the Stade de la Mosson that Mézy made a decision that would transform the rest of the 25-year-old’s career. The Montpellier coach had a revelatory hunch that Blanc’s composure on the ball and rare ability to read the shifting patterns of a contest made him more suited to play in defence, either as part of a central defensive duo or as a ball-playing sweeper. Incredibly, the switch didn’t affect Blanc’s goalscoring prowess, notching 15 goals in all competitions. Blanc started the season like a train, scoring four goals in the first four games, including a double against PSG in a thumping 4-0 win. Other highlights included two more consecutive braces, first in a 2-2 draw with Lyon and then in a 5-2 blitzing of Metz. Blanc’s goals took Montpellier to a seventh-place finish, just three points shy of UEFA Cup qualification. The defender’s dynamic performances had also caught the eye of a number of Serie A’s biggest teams and at the end of the season champions Napoli won the race to take him to Italy.

Although Blanc’s solitary season in Serie A returned a respectable tally of six goals, it signalled the end of his free-scoring days. By the end of his career, Blanc’s goal-scoring feats would be largely forgotten. That is, everywhere except in Montpellier, where, incredibly, Blanc remains the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with 83 goals in all competitions.

GFFN | John Porter