24 November 2006, by Sean Gillen

Thriving Marco Ramos explains Lens dramatic improvement

Left-back enjoying excellent season in France

Lens’ Portuguese defender Marco Ramos has admitted that his team have made a huge improvement on their early season form, after a run of six matches without defeat in Ligue 1, but has warned his team-mates to keep striving to improve.

Having previously had a brief stint playing for fellow French top flight club Monaco, left-back Ramos made the move to the north of the country during the summer from second division side Chateauroux, as a replacement for Tottenham-bound Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

However, the team got off to a poor start despite winning their opening match of the season, and lost two of their first four league games, including a 4-0 defeat at fierce rivals Lille. The situation lead to manager Francis Gillot openly demanding more from his inconsistent side.

Lens have since shot up the table, and now find themselves in third place. In addition, Ramos has established himself as a first choice left-back at the Stade Felix-Bollaert, and started the last five matches of his side’s unbeaten run in the French league.

“We started to understand our past errors,” Ramos explains when asked how the team have managed to turn their season around. “We are more together on the pitch. The team became aware that we could accomplish something very good.”

“But everything is not perfect. We have a lot of things to improve, like finishing for instance. That concerns everybody: the attackers, the midfielders and the full-backs that overlap. It’s essential to achieve continuity by preserving our good state of mind.”

“The manager’s words at the beginning of the season were justified. If our situation has improved it’s also because we have listened to him, because we applied his instructions better.”

Lens are also performing well in Europe, and Ramos was on the bench for Thursday night’s 1-1 draw in the UEFA Cup with Danish side Odense. They look on course to qualify for the next round. Next up on the domestic front for the team nicknamed ‘Les Sang et Or” is a trip to Le Mans on Sunday.