Jean-Louis Gasset, the trainer of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
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NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
The Girondins de Bordeaux host Lyon this Friday on the occasion of the third day of Ligue 1.
A month after his arrival at the club, Jean-Gasset has already put his foot down on his team thanks to his human qualities.
Tactically, he went back to basics.
The harder it is, the better!
This proverb definitely seems to fit perfectly with Jean-Louis Gasset, the new Girondins coach.
The challenges, he loves it!
And that's good: in Bordeaux, it is huge.
Even much bigger than in Saint-Etienne where he had recovered in December 2017 a team in tatters before raising it to 7th place in the championship, then qualifying for the Europa League the following season.
This time around, he's decided to come out of early retirement to join an entire club on the verge of implosion.
Not even afraid !
It must be said that as his alter ego from Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Christophe Urios, would say when he mentions one of his experienced players: "He knows music [of the highest level]"!
At 66, Laurent Blanc's former assistant even knows her by heart.
And in addition the Bordeaux instrument is not unknown for Jean-Louis Gasset, who was champion of France and quarter-finalist of the Champions League with the Navy and White just ten years ago alongside Laurent Blanc.
This helps him to take his marks at the Château du Haillan.
Gasset, the psychologist
The fact remains that if "we no longer present Jean-Louis [Gasset]", as its president Frédéric Longuépée asserts because his CV speaks for him, what he did in a few weeks at the Girondins remains bluffing.
Small reminder of the facts: he arrives on August 10 after six weeks of conflict between his predecessor (Paulo Sousa) and the management of the club, all this 15 days before the resumption of Ligue 1. He discovers that day according to his own words "a little traumatized group."
"But no problem, Jean-Louis Gasset has a small diploma in group therapy:" His first speech in Saint-Paul-les-Dax in training camp was very simple, but very strong, after a special day for the players.
A human speech.
He reminded them that he was doing one of the most beautiful jobs in the world, that it had to make them band… every day and that in life, there are much more serious things, ”said a witness to the scene. .
Sousa takes the door, Gasset expected to succeed him to the Girondins https://t.co/vPBTZYEXEB
- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) August 10, 2020
"He is a whole person who has a lot of tolerance, even if he is very rigorous on the ground," explains his former protégé Alou Diarra.
He is open, listening.
He really has great human qualities.
We can exchange anything with him.
He is an extremely wealthy person.
Good thing some needed a little session with the psychologist.
Not that it was the prison with the Portuguese coach - although for Paul Baysse it could have looked like it - but because the last weeks had been very complicated to manage for Benoit Costil and his teammates.
So over the weeks, he received individual interviews with players to take stock: "The real change is that we have redone laps (smiles) and that he is more accessible [than Paulo Sousa ] ”, Admits a player.
“Above all, it brought pleasure, ensures a close friend of the team.
Afterwards, he is still in a period of observation, but it is already very positive.
“Like his first two results in Ligue 1 with a draw against Nantes (1-1) outnumbered and a victory in Angers (2-0) where the Bordelais appeared concerned and united.
Not at all a surprise for Alou Diarra:
“He adapts very easily and above all, he is able to unite around him in a very short time.
This is its big quality.
At the time, he was immediately unanimous.
He quickly relaxes the atmosphere thanks to his language, his lounging side ... He soothes.
In Bordeaux, it will calm a lot of people.
"
"Him, what he wants is mastery"
Behind these managerial qualities, there is also a coach with an "immense tactical culture", continues the former Bordeaux midfielder, now a member of the staff of RC Lens.
A coach still as teasing, but who took a step back in training compared to his first visit to Gironde.
He simply became Laurent Blanc, and Ghislain Printant became his Jean-Louis Gasset: “It's normal because it's the difference between a number 1 and 2. The first observes, the second animates.
We are like two brothers with Ghislain [Printant] ”, explains the person concerned.
Ghislain Printant is in charge of training and Jean-Louis Gasset observes at the Girondins.
- Mehdi Fedouach / AFP
If he did not revolutionize the game of the Girondins in a month, he restored order to a team that sometimes got lost all alone with Paulo Sousa.
“We went back to things a little more basic.
There are fewer tactical changes during the match, ”admits striker Nicolas De Préville.
Result: two lines of four with the loss of the ball, wingers who defend with their full-backs and a certain balance regained:
“He likes having a good defensive base because it allows travel [Bordeaux is the only Ligue 1 team to have played two games not to have conceded a goal this season].
It's important to him.
After that he is extremely demanding on the first touch of the ball and the sequences because he wants a very vertical game.
He works a lot on pairs and trinomials.
Possession is not an obsession.
What he wants is mastery ”- details Alou Diarra.
And for that, you need experience.
If in Saint-Etienne, in 2017, Jean-Louis Gasset had used the transfer window to readjust his workforce (Subotic, Debuchy or even M'Vila), he will have to do without in Bordeaux, a club today lacking in resources financial.
No problem, experience is not what the Girondins lack with Costil, Baysse, Koscielny, Pablo, Sabaly, Benito, De Préville, Briand….
In Angers, the average age of the defense was for example 30 years.
“Yes, he likes to rely on this type of player but he is not closed either.
In Sainté, it is he who launches Saliba for example, makes Nordin play or gives these first minutes to Fofana or Abi, ”slips one of his relatives.
"He would like to have 11 Otavios in the field"
Moreover, the first strong choice of Jean-Louis Gasset, with that of giving the captain's armband to Laurent Koscielny, was to install the young and promising Nigerian international Josh Maja at the forefront of the attack.
The new Bordeaux coach believes a lot in this kid followed by the biggest European clubs even if this Friday he should start on the bench.
The Bordeaux coach could try a tactical blow with Oudin and Kalu on the wings and Hwang and De Préville at the forefront to densify his team block against a big caliber of Ligue 1. He also decided to replay Paul Baysse in defense.
The latter will start for the third time in a row after a year and a half without playing.
But this is more of a default choice with the many absent from this post including Pablo.
The Brazilian, who "impresses" him, could quickly find his place.
But his "darling" as suggested by a member of the staff, it is Otavio, the other auriverde of the team: "He loves this kind of guys ready to die on the field and all the time at 300%.
He really liked his attitude when he arrived.
He would like to have 11 Otavios in the field.
“It is therefore no coincidence that the defensive midfielder has just chained two excellent games by raking an incredible number of balls, especially at Angers.
He appears to be one of Gasset's base men along with Koscielny.
It is also for this reason that the priority of the Girondins for this transfer window is to find with the means at hand a relay to the Brazilian in the event of injury or suspension.
Otavio, the Brazilian midfielder of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
- NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
In the meantime, it's time for the first real life-size test for Jean-Louis Gasset this Friday against Lyon: "It's a team physically ready and which has just made a semi-final of the Champions League with a coach French (smiles).
They are better than us, they have four times our budget.
We will have to do a real feat ”.
That's good, the new Girondins boss loves this kind of challenge ...
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