THOMAS MEUNIER: EXPERT'S VIEW

Following Sunderland's signing of Thomas Meunier, we spoke to Ligue 1 journalist Luke Entwhistle who shared his knowledge of the Belgian having watched him at both PSG and Lille during his career.

Meunier has had two spells in Ligue 1, playing for PSG and later Lille. At which team would you say he had the bigger impact?

“In terms of where he had a bigger impact, I think it is two different contexts. At PSG, he goes into a side that are dominant domestically and where he is a regular in the prime of his career, part of the golden generation of the Belgian national team. By the time he arrived back in Ligue 1 with Lille, he was at a very different stage in his career but I think that he had a much larger impact that many expected that he would. He joined a team in Lille that still had high ambitions and high objectives as well. They are a team that arrived looking to get back into the Champions League and he greatly contributed to that success, particularly last season.

"Lille had Tiago Santos, who I can say at the time was very highly-regarded and was seen as part of this Portuguese school of fullbacks like Mendes, Cancelo etc who are so exciting, attack minded, very much the future of this Lille team, and really, he was. But then Santos has this huge ACL injury the season before last, and that really paves the way for Meunier to become a very key player for Lille - which few would’ve expected given his age and given the fact he was essentially brought in to mentor Tiago Santos. But he had this huge role and he excelled. He was so consistent, he still has great output physically, in terms of distance covered. Maybe not as quick as he once was, but I remember Bruno Génésio, who has just left Lille to join Marseille as head coach, frequently spoke about his physical attributes and how above average they were.

It seemed he was also surprised by that physical level that everyone had expected to have deserted him at this stage in his career, given the minutes he had played – a bit of a journeyman. He had huge output throughout his career but still managed to give that week-in week-out at Lille, playing a first team role that he perhaps wouldn’t have expected when he came in.”

What are Meunier’s biggest strengths?

“His teammate Aïssa Mandi (who has just left to join Levante), I can remember him saying that he was “like a machine” in terms of how he kept running. But I think what is important with Thomas Meunier is that when he gets into the final third, how effective he can still be. He did actually start off as an attacker, which explains why he can be a difference maker in this section of the pitch, despite now being a defender. When they were lacking numbers, Génésio actually said that Meunier came up to him and said that if you need, I can play in those positions. He has played higher on occasions as well so I think that there is a versatility there to his game that will be quite valuable. I wouldn’t necessarily expect him to come into this Sunderland team and start, given that they have got a younger player in Mukiele who is very much in his prime years and can do a job there. But yes, I do think that there is a versatility to Meunier which would prove to be pretty valuable to RLB in light of European qualification which will mean quite a stacked calendar is ahead. These are the types of profiles that can prove to be quite valuable.”

Stand-out memories of Thomas?

I saw Meunier towards the end of the season. I was at the Monaco match at the Stade Louis II when Lille came to visit and what really stood out was his physicality. He is a lot taller than I initially thought he was and a lot more imposing than I initially gave him credit for. On that day he was less up and down the channel but coming inside, inverting and what really impressed me was his ability to frequently thread through the lines. His distribution was absolutely excellent on that occasion and Lille ended up taking the win. He was comfortably the man of the match against a team that had got through to the knockout stages of the Champions league that season. He was just picking spaces in relatively deep areas across the line, in midfield and just kept threading passes, kept finding runs. It was an excellent performance. Génésio has frequently praised Meunier’s technique in particular but he also plays with excellent vision, still very solid defensively. That is an aspect of his game that has improved throughout his career as well. He is so key to progression even this late in his career for Lille. Maybe he is doing it a little less with the ball at his feet with carries, but he is certainly doing it with his passing. That is a facet of his game that I think has improved with age.”

Will he be happy with being a squad player and not starting every single week?

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem being a squad player, coming in, helping out the team here and there, being rotated with the European schedule as well. I think there will be rotations and there will be room for him, but he certainly won’t be playing every game - even though he has shown for Lille that he can still do it. He arrived at Lille expecting to play a back-up role to Santos, but he ended up not doing that. At this age, I don’t think he will come in with any pretensions that he is going to come into a Premier League side that is participating in Europe, expecting to play week in week out, especially given the competition in his position.”

Is he renowned for his leadership qualities?

“Yeah, he certainly has leadership qualities. The big leader really in that Lille dressing room is the club captain Benjamin Andre who is one of the most underrated players in Ligue 1, who everyone speaks extremely highly of at Lille. Young players always speak extremely high of him. I interviewed Noah Edjouma relatively recently and, unprompted, he did sight Meunier as one of the figures within the dressing room and on the pitch who gives him advice, is always speaking to him, always trying to improve his game. Meunier was mentioned alongside Benjamin Andre and Olivier Giroud, so he has definitely had that role in the dressing room.”

Are you surprised to see him join Sunderland?

“In terms of being surprised about the move to Sunderland, not really. I feel as though he is the kind of profile that is exactly what you are looking for when you are a Sunderland side that has come up from the Championship and now suddenly has European football to deal with. It’s been a huge step up in a short period of time and having leadership figures like him to lean on, I think these are logical profiles to lean towards and to bring in. Given that he is a free agent, I think this all coalesces perfectly for him to join a club that is about to embark on a European adventure. I think it is a logical move in that sense.”