- Toulouse, the red lantern in Ligue 1, has often tapped into its training center to regenerate its workforce.
- Coach Denis Zanko brought in the very young strikers Antiste and Taoui against Strasbourg for the first time, alongside Diakité and Koné, already installed.
- But the mass launch of young people can be a false good idea, especially in a sports context as complicated as that of Toulouse today.
An atmosphere of resignation hovered over the Stadium on Wednesday evening. The sixteenth defeat of the season against Strasbourg (0-1) has undoubtedly dissipated the last hopes of maintaining the TFC, the last in Ligue 1 eight points from the Nîmes dam operator.
Lost for lost, the temptation seems great to put a big sweep in the workforce, from the perilous trip to Marseille on Saturday. And to make a little more room for the Pitchouns, already represented in the holders by the defender Bafodé Diakité (19 years old) and the middle Manu Koné (18 years old).
Authors of a dynamic entry in the last quarter of an hour against the Alsatians, the attackers Janis Antiste (17 years) and Adil Taoui (18 years) could they be seen again at the Vélodrome? What about Gonçalves, Diarra and Rouault in defense or Adli and Ngoumou (currently injured) in the middle, all neoprofessionals and members of the final generation of the Gambardella Cup last season?
📊 The last 3 times when 2 young people from @ToulouseFC participated together in their 1st pro match:
11/28/15 🆚 Nice: @AlbanLafont and @ IssaDiop97
05/05 / 19🆚Dijon: @kone_manu and @NathanNgoumou
05/02 / 20🆚Strasbourg: @TaouiAdil and Janis Antiste # TFCRCSA pic.twitter.com/1ywHXkxGSw
"I am not at all in this reflection," said Denis Zanko after the disappointment in Strasbourg. I want to find the best balance. "The training center is a big anchor for the club," continued the former technical director of the purple nursery. We want to rely on young people but we would prefer to do so in other circumstances. In short, "I don't know if it's a gift to throw them into such a delicate situation," said Zanko.
Not that easy
Former player of the TFC, but also of Le Havre and Grenoble, Nicolas Dieuze knew the bitter fights in the lowlands of the first division. "It is important not to make young people play on the pretext that they are young, warns the consultant for France Bleu Occitanie (41 years old). There is only one question that counts: "Are they able to bring more to the team?" "
In other words: can the very young Antiste compete now over time with Koulouris and Sanogo, today in the infirmary? Should Taoui dislodge the disappointing Saïd on the left wing, pending the return of an injury not yet scheduled by Captain Gradel?
Very happy to have made my first appearance in @ Ligue1Conforama pic.twitter.com/ZEQWmz9rfH
- Adil taoui (@TaouiAdil) February 6, 2020And if it was above all to consider the future of the club in the medium term, most likely on the lower floor? Bad idea, according to Dieuze. "It is wrong to consider that you are preparing for next season by making the young people play," says the former midfielder of Luzenac. If you go down, it is not the same championship, not the same atmospheres and it will not be the same team. Many executives, but also a lot of Pitchouns (Koné for example) will not take the elevator to the floor below and will go on to pursue their careers elsewhere.
The gamble of enthusiasm?
In summary, the subject is delicate, almost as much as the position of the TFC in L1. But one thing is certain, says Dieuze: “the young people are enthusiastic and not affected by the pressure. When I started in the first division (in 2000-2001), the club was relegable. But I wanted to eat everything. I had nothing to lose, that's a big advantage. And there are "advantages" these days in Toulouse, there are not that many ...
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