Michel Der Zakarian giving instructions to Gaëtan Laborde, a player whose state of mind he praises. - Elyxandro CEGARRA / SIPA

  • For Zinedine Zidane, the MHSC coach is in the top three at his post.
  • Quantified assessment, coaching, management, recruitment ... 20 Minutes looks back on his 110 games at the head of the MHSC.

When the news was announced to him, Michel Der Zakarian replied between pleasure and reserve. In the ranking of French coaches, by the coaches themselves, published at the start of the year by the weekly France Football , the work of the MHSC coach (ninth in the end) was praised by Zidane, himself . Who placed him third in his personal ranking. "I am very happy that he quoted me, but you know, the rewards ... What interests me is the individual and collective progress of the players. Zizou's choice is no coincidence.

The balance sheet. The former central defender has sat (even if he plays his standing games) 110 times in the coach chair. His record is good: 1.46 points per game. He is the second of the Montpellier coaches in L1 since 2001. The best being René Girard (1.64 points). Conversely, Jean Fernandez (0.94), Robert Nouzaret (0.95) and Gérard Bernardet (0.96) stand in a pocket handkerchief.

Coaching. Rather adept at 4-4-2 at the base, he quickly evolved into a three center defense. He was able to be attentive to his group. "At the start, I did not expect to evolve in this system," he admits. His priority? "The solidity behind the base, for good results".

Recruitment. Der Zak likes players who look like him: hardworking, pugnacious, hardworking. Despite some casting errors (rare and inevitable), the coach and the recruitment unit were rarely mistaken, from Aguilar to Mollet, via Pedro Mendes, Laborde or Delort. "Two fighters", as he likes to call them.

Management. The criticism often comes back to him: that of not trusting young people enough. "Their investment is not always up to the professional world," he retorts. Because he did not understand it, Ikoné (among others) did not break through despite two seasons in Montpellier. Conversely, the coach launched Chotard (18 years old) into the deep end. But the midfielder remains an exception: examples of young players who have succeeded at MHSC for two and a half years are rare.

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  • Soccer
  • Zinedine Zidane
  • MHSC
  • Dijon FCO
  • Sport
  • Dijon
  • Montpellier
  • Languedoc-Roussillon