Winning PFA player of the month proves how quickly Leo Lacroix has become a rock for Western United, writes Nick D’Urbano
In many ways, everything about Leo Lacroix is quite simply impressive.
From standing at 6’6, to speaking six different languages, to announcing himself to the Western United faithful amid a picture-esque European mountainscape, to perhaps the most impressive of the lot – his sheer quality as a footballer.
The same quality that helped him muster up over 200 appearances in some of Europe’s top leagues and also be rewarded with representing Switzerland on the international stage.
It’s that same quality that also has him on track to being one of the signings of the Isuzu UTE A-League season, and saw him voted as the PFA’s player of the month by his peers on Friday.
Since arriving at United, Lacroix has already won plenty of admirers in the Australian football landscape – standing out literally and figuratively in his four competitive appearances to date at the heart of United’s backline.
However, it was his performance against reigning champions Melbourne City which has been the most eye-catching.
Lacroix, along with his defensive partners, completely nullified the impact of Golden Boot winner Jamie Maclaren and City’s star-studded front three but it was the efforts of the gargantuan Swiss defender which stood out the most – claiming Man of the Match honosrs for his performance.
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“He’s (Lacroix) a presence,” Western United coach John Aloisi said after their 1-0 win over Melbourne City.
“Before he started playing, people asked ‘what type of player is he?’ I said he’s a defender that’s got a presence on the field and not only without the ball. He defends puts his body on the line, but with the ball he’s got calmness,
“He wins the ball, he’s able to travel with it if he has to, or pick out a pass and that goes a long way because that relieves pressure when you’re defending for a long period.”
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But winning admirers is nothing new to Lacroix, who before arriving at United spent almost a decade plying his trade all over Europe for the likes of St Etienne, FC Basel, Hamburg and Sion – while also courting interest from Everton.
During his loan-spell at Basel in early 2018, the 29-year-old became a fixture of Raphael Wicky’s side – starting in both their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 knockout ties against Manchester City – most notably, turning heads in their second-leg 2-1 win at Etihad Stadium.
His performances prior to, and at the Swiss giants, won the attention of then national team coach Vladimir Petkovic – who almost selected Lacroix as part of their 2018 FIFA World Cup squad which made the Round of 16.
Despite falling agonisingly short of a trip to Russia and not coming off the bench on two separate occasions in both 2016 and 2017 for the Nati, Petkovic eventually handed Lacroix his international debut in late 2018.
“When I moved to St Etienne, I started to be in the national team and I had the opportunity to play a friendly game against Qatar in Switzerland,” Lacroix told KEEPUP.
“Just training with (Granit) Xhaka, (Xherdan) Shaqiri and very good players was a great experience,
“In 2018, I was in the 30 man squad (for the World Cup) but in the end he took other players,
“Just to be part of it in qualification was very nice… maybe I could’ve played better but life is like this.”
After a short second spell at Sion, Lacroix has since taken his talents down under, making the move to officially link up with Aloisi in September on a one-year-deal.
Along with his family, Lacroix has already settled in nicely in his new Melbourne surroundings.
“It’s very good to be here in Australia,” Lacroix said.
“When you’re in Europe, it’s difficult to say ‘I’m going on a holiday to Australia because it’s very far’,
“The city is unbelievable. It’s big. In Switzerland we don’t have the beach or this weather at the moment. I’m so happy. I can walk with my kids, we can enjoy good food, good people and everything is good.”
Initially, Lacroix felt the effects of a two-week stint in hotel quarantine when he commenced pre-season training but has slowly started to regain his conditioning with each passing week.
“The quarantine wasn’t easy… You lose conditioning. When I went in, they sent me a treadmill and I was in contact with everyone here which was good,
“But when I started with the team, it was difficult. Fortunately I had one or two months before the competition but it was also difficult because we couldn’t play many friendly games,
“In the end, I’m sure I can get better when I play more games. I’m feeling good but I know I can be better with more conditioning.”
The prospect of Lacroix only improving from here is a tantalizing one given how he has performed in the early stages of the season – helping remedy a Western defense which was the league’s second worst last season.
Working alongside Tomoki Imai, Josh Risdon and fellow off-season arrivals Ben Garrucio, Jamie Young and Nikolai Topor-Stanley, United have now kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since April and are still yet to concede a goal from open-play in games Lacroix has featured in.
Lacroix’s superb defensive acumen, solid range of passing with his already imposing physical presence and deceiving speed has stood out already – becoming a lynchpin in United’s back four and already acclimatizing to the “intensity” of the competition.
“The most important thing is that if we don’t concede goals, we can always score one goal [and win],” Lacroix said.
“For me, as a defender, the most important thing is not to concede a goal and help my teammates… but with the ball we have to do something and help our strikers score,
“The quality is here. There is a lot of intensity between the games. In Europe and in some championships it’s good but here you can find more intensity and there is a lot of quality here too.
“Before I came here, I spoke to (Alessandro) Diamanti, and he told me to ‘be ready’ because the intensity is at a high level.”
While keeping the ball out of his net is his immediate focus on a game-to-game basis, his longer-term aspirations with United is to help secure the club’s first-ever piece of silverware.
“I’m sure we can win something,” Lacroix said.
“Maybe we win something and we are the first team to win something with Western United, maybe in 10, 15, 20 years people will see we were part of the first team to win something.”
