Amiens (AFP)
Amiens, who is going to live the third season of his Ligue 1 history, has created a surprise by appointing Slovenia's Luka Elsner as coach. A gamble-like bet.
After the departure of Christophe Pelissier at FC Lorient (Ligue 2) in June, the Picardy president Bernard Joannin promised that he would bring an "experienced coach", "francophone", forged at the games of Ligue 1.
A new strong man supposed to succeed one of the "Braqueurs" nickname given to players and staff Picard who have managed to hoist the team in the elite and maintain the past two seasons.
A few weeks later, it is a completely different profile that appeared on the bench Amiens. Unknown - not to say unknown - it was finally a 37-year-old Slovenian technician who signed up for two seasons plus an optional one.
Last year, Luka Elsner coached Union Sainte-Gilloise in ... Belgian D2. "I'm a man who takes risks, both professionally and sportingly, and it's been pretty good for me," explained Bernard Joannin, a poker enthusiast, to justify this presumably dictated choice. by John Williams, the Recruitment Manager.
Not very experienced (he will be the youngest coach in Ligue 1), the son of Marko Elsner (ex-Yugoslavian international and former Nice player) grew up in the south of France and speaks at least four languages. Holder of a master's degree in sports training, at the age of 22, he managed Domzale (Slovenian D1) for three years, then Ljubljana (Slovenian D1) and Pafos (Cypriot D1) from 2016 to 2018.
Barely older than some of his players, such as former 35-year-old international Christophe Jallet, recruited this summer, Luka Elsner started working very quickly.
- "tremendous opportunity" -
Follower of the beautiful game and possession of ball in particular, the technician, fan of Pep Guardiola and Laurent Blanc, seems to have already found its marks. "Ideally, I like that we have the possession of the ball but it is not an end in itself.In the transition game, the important thing is what happens when the ball is recovered to have an impact. offensive, "explains this keen statistics.
If the friendly matches - two victories against Boulogne-sur-Mer (N1) and Hull City (English D2), a draw against Metz (L1) and a defeat against Valenciennes (L2) - have given a glimpse of beautiful things on the map From the collective game, the former professional defender passed by Domzale and Austria Karntern (Austrian D1) knows that he will only be judged on the results, aware of the "tremendous opportunity" available to him.
Rather satisfied with the preparation courses, Luka Elsner, who was naturally calm, or at least apparently, said that one should not "expect a revolution" in his way of doing things. He mentions however "an extreme desire to succeed" and "an overflowing enthusiasm".
"I am passionate about the field and I hope to communicate this to the players," says the novice in L1, who will be on fire Saturday, August 10th. A wink of fate, Amiens will begin his season in Nice, the city where he spent his childhood and adolescence, facing an opponent he dreams of training.
© 2019 AFP