Nantes Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

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Nantes 1994-1995 League Champion

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Olympique de Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain
Olympique Lyonnais, AS Monaco, Nantes
Saint-Étienne, Girondins de Bordeaux, Lille OSC.
South France
Players born in the Overeseas Department and former French Colonies
French Black Players 
French Algerian
French Players Capped by Other National Teams

France at USA 1994

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Nantes is one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won eight Ligue 1 titles, three Coupe de France wins and attained one Coupe de la Ligue victory. The club is famous for its jeu à la nantaise ("Nantes-style play"), its collective spirit, mainly advocated under coaches José Arribas, Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix and for its youth system, which has produced players such as Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Mickaël Landreau, Claude Makélélé, Christian Karembeu and Jérémy Toulalan.

1972-1973 French Ligue Champion

Team
GK: Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes (France)
Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes spent his entire career at Nantes.  He was the original starting keeper at the World Cup Finals in 1978.  He played the first two matches, but he suffered an injury in the third match that ended his tournament.   He never played for France after that injury.  He had 11 caps between 1973 and 1978.

GK: Mickael Landreau (France)
From 1996 to 2006, Mickael Landreau played for Nantes, becoming a club legend. He spent three more seasons with Paris St. Germaine, another three with Lille and finally with Bastia.  He won Ligue title with both Nantes and Lille.  He has made the most top-flight appearances of any player in the French league.  He earned 11 caps between 2001 and 2007.  He was the third choice keeper in World Cup Finals of 2006 and 2014, and Euro 2004.

GK: Daniel Eon (France)
Daniel Eon spent 1956 to 1968 with Nantes, winning a single league title.  He retired at the age 29 in 1968 because of an injury. He was capped 3 times. He made debut in 1966 against USSR, but he missed the World Cup Finals in 1966 after picking an injury on the last day of the league.  He made two more appearance after the World Cup Finals, both as the captain.

RB: Angel Bargas (Argentina)
Vargas started his career at Racing Club in 1965 but he moved to Chacarita Juniors in 1966, winning its only Primera division title in 1969. In 1970 Bargas was awarded the Olimpia de Plata(the player of the year award). Bargas moved to France in 1972 to play for FC Nantes, moved on to FC Metz in 1979, CS Louhans-Cuiseaux in 1981 and FC Le Puy in 1984. Capped 30 times. He went to the World Cup finals in 1974.

CB/RB/LB:  Maxime Bossis (France)
Maxime Bossis was a key player during France's Golden Generation of the 1980's.  He was named Footballer of the Year by France Football in 1979 and 1981.  He won the European Championship in 1984.  He went to the World Cup in both 1978, 1982 and 1986.  From 1985 to 1992, he held the French record of caps,  He was a star of the great Nantes team of the 1980's. He played briefly for RC Paris.

Maxime Bossis 

CB: Robert Budzynski (France)
Roberto Budzynski was a French player with Polish background.  He started with Lens.  He played for FC Nantes in France between 1963 and 1969, winning two Ligue titles in 1965 and 1966. His career ended after suffering an injury in 1968. He was never the same again.  He was capped 11 times between 1965 and 1967.  He went to the World Cup Finals in 1966.

CB: Nestor Fabbri (Argentina)
Fabbri started made his debut for All Boys during the 1984-85 season in the Argentine 2nd division. In 1987, Fabbri was named Player of the Year of Argentina while playing for Racing Club. He played with Colombian América de Cali, Atlético Lanús, Boca Juniors. In 1998, he joined FC Nantes. With Nantes Fabbri won the 1999 and 2000 French Cups, and the 2001 French Championship.  Capped 21 times.  He played in USA 1994.

CB: Patrice Rio (France)
Patrice Rio started with FC Rouen. From 1970 to 1984,  he played with Nantes in France.  He obtained a total number of 17 caps for France in the 1970s. He competed at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, playing against Italy in the first match. His father, Roger, was also a French international footballer who played in the 1934 World Cup Finals. One of two father-son players played at the World Cup for France.

CB: Gabriel de Michele (France) 
Born in France, De Michele is of Italian heritage.  He started his career with Nantes. He played 387 matches in Division 1 and 7 games in the European Cuop(now known as Champions League). With Nantes, he won three French Champion Ligue titles in 1965, 1966 and 1973.  For the national team, he only played twice, but was a member of the World Cup team in 1966.

LB/DM: Thierry Tusseau (France)
Thierry Tusseau played for Bordeaux and Stade de Reims, but he played 9 seasons with FC Nantes at the peak of his career. At the international level, he earned a total number of 22 international caps (no goals) for the French national team during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a member of the French team in the 1986 World Cup and the team that won the European Championship in 1984.  He played limited roles in both tournaments.

Thierry Tusseau 

LB: William Ayache (France)
William Ayache played for a number of clubs in France.  He won two championship teams in France in 1980 and 1983 with FC Nantes. In 1984, he participated at the Summer Olympic Games on the French national team, winning the gold medal, and was also a member of the French team that finished third in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Altogether, he was capped 20 times for his country.

DM: Christian Karembeu (France)
Born in New Caledonia, Christian Karembeu moved to France as a 17 years old.  He played for Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid, Middlesbrough, Olympiakos, Servette Genève and Bastia. With Real Madrid, he won the Champions League in 1998 and 2000.  He had 53 caps for France between 1992 and 2002.  He won the World Cup with France in 1998, and the European Chamopionship, two years later.  He was Oceania Player of the Year in 1995 and 1998.

Christian Karembeu 

DM: Claude Makelele (France)
Claude Makelele played  for Nantes, Marseille and Celta Vigo before making a big move to Real Madrid in 2000.  Over there, he quickly established as one of the best defensive midfielder in the world.  He won every single club title available, notably the Champions League in the 2001–02 season.  In 2003, he moved to Roman Abramovich's Chelsea.  He earned 71 caps for France.  He helped France to reach the Final of Germany 2006 as well as the World Cup finals in 2002, and Euro 2004 and 2008.

Claude Makelele

DM: Jérémy Toulalan (France)
Toulalan started his career at hometown club Nantes in 2002. He won the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year award and also an appearance in the Team of the Year. In 2006, he joined Lyon, and helped the team win back-to-back league titles in 2007 and 2008. He also played for Málaga and AS Monaco.  He was capped 36 times.  He went to Euro 2008.  At the WC Finals in 2010, he was one of the players punished for the strike.

CM: Henri Michel (France)
Henri Michel played for AS Aix between 1964 and 1966. He then moved to FC Nantes where he played from 1966 until his retirement in 1982.  He was considered one of the most famous players ever with Nantes.  He won three league titles with them.  He was capped 58 times for France.  He was selected for the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina.  He was better known for his role as a manager.  He took France to the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico.

Henri Michel

AM: Gilles Rampillon (France)
Gilles Rampillon played 346 games in 12 seasons with Nantes from 1970 to 1982, winning three league titles. He also plays 26 games in European Cup. He ended his career at AS Cannes, where he played 96 games and scored 27 goals in Division 2.  Capped 3 times for France. After his retirement, he worked for AS Cannes, where he was credited for the discovery of Zinédine Zidane.

LW: Loïc Amisse (France)
Between 1973 and 1990, Loic Aimisse spent most of his career with Nantes, notably under manager Jean Vincent and Jean-Claude Suaudeau.  He won three league champions with them in 1977, 1980 and 1983.  He later played with SCO Angers in the lower division.  He was capped 12 times between 1977 and 1983. he also represented France at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Loic Amisse

AM: Reynald Pedros (France)
Pedros played as a left-footed attacking midfielder, formed in Nantes. He was part of the magic trio of FC Nantes with Patrice Loko and Nicolas Ouédec. He won the Ligue 1 title with Nantes in 1995. The following year he reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. His career suffered after 1996.  He played for many clubs, including Mariselle, Nastia, Napoli, Parma, Lyon, etc.  Capped 25 times.  His reputation suffered after Euro 1996, where he missed a penalty against the Czech Republic.

AM: José Touré (France)
Touré started his career with Nantes in 1979. He also played for Bordeaux and Monaco. He was a member of the French squad that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Capped 16 times.  He was injured before Mexico 1986. He was never the same player after his injury. His father, Bako Touré, was a Malian international footballer

FW/AM: Japhet N’Doram (Chad)
Japbet N'Doram began his career with local Tourbillon FC in 1984, then spent three seasons in Cameroon with Tonnerre Yaoundé.  In 1990, he signed for FC Nantes in France, where he played until 1997.  At Nantes, he was known for scoring important goals for the club. He spent a year with Monaco in the 1997-1998 season. He retired after suffering an injury against Nantes. He was capped 36 times for Chad. He was nicknamed the "Wizard".

Japhet N’Doram 

ST: Philippe Gondet (France)
Gondet started his career with Blois, but moved to Paris to study.  In 1960, Nantes signed him. He took a break serving in the French military, where he contacted a diseases while serving in Algeria.  He also played for Paris Red Stars.  He was capped 14 times.  He was remembered for scoring the only goal that beat Yugoslavia that helped to qualify for the 1966 World Cup Finals. He played 3 games in the 1966 WC Finals.

FW: Vahid Halilhodzic (Yugoslavia)
Vahid Halilhodzic was regarded as one of the best Yugoslav players in the 1970s and 1980s, Halilhodžić had successful playing spells with Velež Mostar, and French clubs Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in the mid-1980s. During that time earned 15 full international caps for Yugoslavia and was part of national squads that won the 1978 European Under-21 Championship, where he was names as the Gold Player.  He played at the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain.

Vahid Halilhodzic

ST: Eric Pecout (France)
Eric Pecout played mainly for Nantes between 1971 and 1981.  He scored a hat trick at the Final of 1979 French Cup, where Nantes won its first ever title. He also played for Monaco, Metz, Strasbourg, SM Caen and Tours.  he won two league title with Nantes and another one with Moncao.  He was capped 5 times between 1979 and 1980.

ST: Bernard Blanchet (France)
Blanchet is the all-time leading scorer at Nantes with 111 goals.  he played with them from 1962 to 1974.  He won three league titles in 1965, 1966 and 1973. He joined Stade Lavallois working under manager Michel Le Milinaire in 1976, helping them to promotion.  He capped 17 times. He was selected to the 1966 World Cup team, but withdrew after an injury he received during training.

ST: Patrice Loko (France)
Patrice Loko was once projected to be a star player in France before mental issue got to him. Playing as a striker he began his career at Nantes and then moved on to Paris Saint-Germain, where he was part of the team that won the 1996 Cup Winners' Cup.  From there he went on to play for Montpellier, Lyon, Troyes, FC Lorient and Ajaccio. He also made appearances for the French national football team, including scoring at Euro 1996 against Bulgaria.

Patrice Loko 

Honorable Mention
Mario Yepes (Colombia), Gilbert Le Chenadec, Stanislas Staho (Poland/France), Jean-Claude Osman (France), Nicolas Gillet (France), Sylvain Armand (France), Oscar Muller (Argentina), Nicolas Ouédec, Jean-Claude Suaudeau (France), Jean-Michel Ferri (France), Omar Sahnoun (Algeria/France), Yvon Le Roux (France), Eric Carrière, Didier Deschamps (France), Marcel Desailly (France), Jorge Burruchaga (Argentina), Jacques Simon (France), Bruno Baronchelli (France), Nicolas Ouédec (France), Emiliano Sala (Argentina).

Squad Explanation
-- FC Nantes won back-to-back Ligue in 1964–65 and 1965–66 season.  They were their first ever league titles.  I included the following player form that team: Daniel Eon, Bernard Blanchet, Philippe Gondet, Gabriel de Michele and Robert Budzynski.
-- Mickaël Landreau is the only player selected for their league champion in the 2000-2001 season.  His generation also won the 1999–2000 Coupe de France.
-- FC Nantes also won two Ligue titles in the early 1980's.  Vahid Halilhodžić was the top scorer in Ligue 1 as Nantes won the 1982-1983 title. Maxime Bossis, William Ayache, Patrice Rio, Thierry Tusseau, Eric Pecout, Éric Pécout, Jose Toure and Loïc Amisse all played in that era. 
-- Gilles Rampillon and Henri Michel also won titles in the 1970's as well as the 1980's.  They won the Ligue in 1973, 1977 and 1980.
-- Bernard Blanchet and Gabriel de Michele also won it three times: 1965, 1966 and 1973.  Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes had four titles: 1973, 1977, 1980 and 1983.
-- Emiliano Sala's number 9 jersey was the only  number retired.  He died in 2019 in a place accident.  He just left Nantes the season before.
-- Goalkeeper Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes was an one club player.  He was also their all-time leading appearance leader.  Mickaël Landreau was capped by France while playing for the club.  He also won a singe Ligue One title here. Daniel Eon (France) also won a league title and earned caps for France as player here.
-- Maxime Bossis was named Footballer of the Year by France Football in 1979 and 1981 while playing for Nantes.  He held the record of international caps for France at the time of his retirement.  He was largely underrated defender.  I considered among the best ever French defender.
-- Patrice Loko was sensational with Nantes.  His mental illness did not reflect his ability here. He was the top scorer in Ligue 1 as Nantes won the title in 1995.  Christian Karembeu, Claude Makélélé and Reynald Pedros also played on that team. They reached the semifinal of the Champions' League a year later.  Reynald Pedros at one point was considered to be on par with Zinedine Zidane in the 1990's.  
-- I went for two older left backs.  So I only put Sylvain Armand on the list of honourable mention.
-- Nantes has a few big named defensive midfielders who only spent their early career there, namely Marcel Desailly, Christian Karembeu, Claude Makelele, Didier Deschamps and Jérémy Toulalan.  Except Makelele, they were all homegrown.  Makelele arrived at the club as a 18 years old. I dropped two of the biggest name of the group, Deschamps and Desailly.  
-- Deschamps and Desailly were roommates while at Nantes' academy.  They then played together at Nantes and then, at Marseille. However, both Christian Karembeu and Claude Makelele won Ligue One for the club.  
-- I thought of selecting Didiner Deschamps or Marcel Desailly over Jeremy Toulalan, but he won the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year award in 2005.  I do not think Deschamps or Desailly could march that achievement with their performance here.
-- Japhet N'Doram is considered a "cult hero" with Nantes.  He is known for scoring important goals.
-- Bernard Blanchet is the all-time leading scorer at Nantes with 111 goals. 
-- Vahid Halilhodzic won the French Ligue 1 Foreign Player of the Year award in 1984 and 1985.  He was also the league's top scorer twice.

Formation