Marius Trésor wants "fighters, not mercenaries" at the Girondins de Bordeaux

Colin Abgrall 8:56 p.m., June 11, 2022

INTERVIEW

An emblematic figure of French football and former selection record holder for the France team, Marius Trésor, 72, gave an exclusive interview to Europe 1. A few weeks after the end of the Ligue 1 season, the defender with 65 selections looks back on his career , on the relegation of the Girondins de Bordeaux with whom he played 116 games, on the problems of the club before giving his view on the French team, Raphaël Varane and the international calendar of the Blues. 

His life as a footballer, the greatest moments of his life?

"I can't forget them"

"I won't say the opposite because it's a sport that I've always loved, which has allowed me to be what I am today. I owe practically everything to football and especially to AC Ajaccio. (player from 1969-1972) who brought me to Corsica, without ever having seen me play, through a few newspaper clippings. In addition, he had taken me to play as a centre-forward and in the end I made a career as a defender. Those moments I can't forget."

His time at Olympique de Marseille (from 1972 to 1980): "In Marseille, I was good"

"We had an extraordinary team. We had three extraordinary strikers. I arrived at Olympique de Marseille at the same time as Salif Keita (Malian striker, at OM from 1972 to 1973) and we had two monsters, Josip Skoblar (Croatian striker, at OM from 1969 to 1974) who for me is the best striker that France has ever known, and also Roger Magnusson (Swedish striker, at OM from 1968 to 1974).

Unfortunately for us, these three boys were never able to play together because unlike now, there was this law where you couldn't have more than two strangers on the score sheet.

So we missed good results because our attacking line could never play together.

I stayed in Marseille for eight years when I could have gone elsewhere.

But in Marseille, I was fine.

My eldest son was born there and so far he's been crazy about Olympique de Marseille even though I've been in Bordeaux for 42 years.

He never really joined the Girondins.

So it's true that in Marseille, eight seasons, it's extraordinary.

But unfortunately, it ended in a fishtail (Marseille went down to Ligue 2 in 1980)"

His time at the Girondins de Bordeaux (from 1980 to 1984): "I've been in Bordeaux for 42 years"

"The times I spent at the Girondins de Bordeaux are extraordinary. I came for a year and I've been in Bordeaux for 42 years. I feel good, this city is magnificent, the region, we don't is not very far from the snow, we are not very far from the ocean, so it is ideal. The majority of players who have played there in Bordeaux, even if they are not from Bordeaux, there Many come back at the end of their career to live in this region, it's really beautiful.

Alain Giresse is in Balma (suburb of Toulouse), but every time he goes up to Bordeaux, we call each other, we see each other, just like Bernard Lacombe who is in Lyon, we are very often on the phone.

I met extraordinary boys that I had already met in the France team.

The fact of having played with them in Bordeaux was magnificent."

On his selection record at the time (he accumulated 65 selections for the France team): "Now there are a lot of matches"

"It didn't last very long because afterwards the French team started to have a lot of results. So automatically there were a lot more games. And that's what allowed the record to break. Maxime Bossis (76 selections) was the first and when we see that now, Lilian Thuram, who holds this record with 142 selections, will surely be beaten by Hugo Lloris (currently at 138 selections) who is not very very far. You should also know that in my time, there were barely six competitive matches a year, whereas now there are a lot. In addition, at that time, the France team did not didn't have a lot of results whereas now there are a lot of matches."

On Bordeaux's relegation to Ligue 2: "We need financial support"

"Unfortunately, we will have to hold on and ensure that the team does not stay long in Ligue 2. I experienced that with Bordeaux in 91-92 where we went down but the players had stayed and wanted to at all costs that the club goes up. With this team that we had this season, I wonder if by keeping the same players we will be able to stay in Ligue 2? That is not possible, unless you only count on young people and to clear the air. We need financial support. And for now, the club is looking for that."

On the young people of the Girondins de Bordeaux: "We need fighters, not mercenaries"

"There are good young people. We see the few boys who have played with the A team. It is certain that people find it difficult to understand. You have to know that when you start young people, you have to side, there are executives who lead them. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for the Girondins de Bordeaux this season. The majority of the boys who should have led this team to the top, on the contrary, it is them who brought them down. From there, we will have to leave with these young people, trust them and try to put together a team capable of competing with Saint-Etienne because they are in the same situation as us, and with the teams who want to find Ligue 1.

We need fighters, not mercenaries.

We need boys who love football and who want to bring this club back to the top level.

When you see all the matches we have lost this season at home (nine), it's the first time it's happened to the Girondins de Bordeaux.

When you lead 2-0 against Saint-Etienne, when you are in the fight not to go down and you lose the match, when you go to Nantes, when you lead 2-0 and when you finish you lose 5 -3, when in a season, you only make two clean sheets (games without conceding goals), it's normal that you find yourself at the end of the classification.

You wonder if there was a defense."

On the repetition of matches: "At a certain point, it lets go"

"I realize one thing, it's that in France, we supposedly removed the Coupe de la Ligue because it made too many matches. But it was to add international matches. The players, this are first of all men, they are not machines. When you see Mbappé who is injured, when you see Varane who is injured, they are boys on whom the France team is counting. But by dint of making matches, at a certain point it gives way. It's a shame that we continue to add more matches. There will be four matches at the end of the season, how do you expect the players not to have injuries? I don't do not understand."

His view of Raphaël Varane: "This boy is essential to the France team"

"When you see what he did with one of the best teams in the world, that is to say Real Madrid, he formed the central axis with Sergio Ramos. He was almost impassable this boy. He was extraordinary. Unfortunately, after his transfer to Manchester, he began to have health and injury problems. When we see the match against Denmark (1-2) where we are leading 1-0, he goes out and we lose the match. We can say that this boy is essential to the France team."

On Benzema: 'What he's done is phenomenal'

"If he is not Ballon d'Or this year, it is because there is no justice. When you see what this boy has done throughout the season, it is phenomenal. Already last year I didn't have anything against Messi, he's a boy I adore, but I would have given him to Lewandowski."

On Mbappé: "He is impregnable"

"It's phenomenal what this boy can do on his own. He can change the result of a match at any time. He's the best striker in Ligue 1, the best passer, he has everything, he can score, he scores and he is impregnable."