More than a coach

The first fortnight when you take over a new team is a key period for a coach.

The time that you spend with the players at this point will decide what you are able to do – or not do – moving forward. In that first fortnight, my coaching staff and I focus mainly on the physical preparation of the team, but always working with the ball. If you want to build a good team, you have to do it from a good physical base.

Then comes how I want my team to play. If I had to define it in a few words, it would be a game based on possession, attacking, quick counter-attacking after regaining the ball and, most importantly, having a collective spirit. You can’t achieve the model of play you want if you don’t have team spirit.

That formula worked very well at Dijon, where I spent five seasons between 2002 and 2007. That was a very important step for me, coming after things hadn’t worked out as I had hoped at Saint-Étienne, where I was in charge for only 16 games. The same formula worked well at Le Mans in the 2007/08 season, which eventually took me to Lille.

At Lille, in the 2010/11 season, we won two major trophies – the French league and cup double. And we did it against teams with much bigger budgets than us.

I used the same formula again at Roma in Serie A. Although we didn’t win trophies with one of the great clubs of Italian and European football, I think we did a great job in our three seasons there. On top of that, Italy made me grow a lot as a coach, tactically. It was also important for me to coach in a country other than France, as it gave me new experiences.

"Guardiola’s change did not alter our game plan. We played the game to make use of our strongest weapons"

After three years in Italy, I returned to France in 2016. The destination this time was Olympique de Marseille. One of the biggest clubs in France, but also a complicated place to coach because of the high demands of both club and fans.

In 2018, though, we took them to a European final after a long time away. The last time Marseille had played in a European final was 2004, and the last time they had won was in 1993, when they beat AC Milan to win the European Cup. This time, however, Atlético Madrid were the better team – they beat us 3-0 to win the Europa League.

Luckily, I had another chance in Europe not long after that. It was in 2020, in the Champions League with Olympique Lyon. We knocked Juventus out in the last 16, in a tie where we played the first leg in February and, because of Covid, the second leg in August. We went to Turin with a 1-0 lead from the first leg. It was a very tough match and Juventus won 2-1, with two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, but we went through on away goals.

After the Juventus tie, the Champions League was decided in a format that had never been played before: single matches from the quarter finals onwards, and at a single venue, Lisbon. Our opponents in the quarter finals were Manchester City. They were big favourites, especially after they had knocked out Real Madrid in the last 16. City also had more match practice than us, having already played the final stretch of the delayed 2019/20 Premier League. By contrast, we had only played two games: the match against Juventus and the French League Cup final against PSG, which we lost on penalties.

In addition to the difficulty of playing against Pep Guardiola’s City – and the difference in experience between the two teams – there was a problem we didn’t expect. We didn’t know how they were going to play until the game started. Fernandinho was in the line-up, and to our surprise he didn’t play in midfield, but as a central defender in a line of three.

Guardiola’s change did not alter our game plan, though. We played the game to make use of our strongest weapons. We were physically strong, aggressive in the duels, fast and accurate on the counter-attack, and we won 3-1. That took us into the semi finals, only four days later, and it was a match in which we paid for the tremendous physical wear and tear of the game against City. Bayern Munich, the eventual winners, beat us 3-0.

"Even if we won games in the league or did a great job in the Champions League, the relationship got worse"

By that point, I was starting to have two very different feelings at Lyon. I was very comfortable with the team and the players, but I didn’t have the same feeling with the team’s sporting management. My time there was really difficult – which was a pity, because at the beginning my relationship with the sporting director was excellent. But month by month, even if we won games in the league or did a great job in the Champions League, the relationship got worse and worse. It was not possible for me to continue working at Lyon if there was not a good atmosphere.

I took a break after my departure from Lyon. It was necessary, because I had been working in different teams for a long time, and with that comes a lot of pressure.

Once I had regained my strength, the idea was to continue coaching in Europe. I turned down offers from other places in the hope of achieving that goal, but after several attempts Al-Nassr finally convinced me. I know many said that going to coach in Saudi Arabia was a comfortable decision on my part – a place with less pressure than Europe. But it wasn’t like that.

I took Al-Nassr as an opportunity to work in a new and demanding league – and to learn to adapt to working conditions very different from those my coaching staff and I had been used to. The first of those unfamiliar conditions came in the pre-season.

In Riyadh, the city where Al-Nassr are based, it is impossible to have a pre-season as demanding as the one we would usually plan. The temperature in August during the day is above 45 degrees Celsius. So we went to Malaga in Spain, to work hard in a long training camp that included double sessions on many days.

The players understood well what we wanted from them, physically and also tactically. The first few games, we played with a three-man defence and two wing-backs who covered a lot of ground on the flanks. It was a system I had used on a few occasions at Lyon. The aim was to first consolidate the tactical concepts, then build the team around a 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2, knowing the players would be able switch to a back three if we needed to at any point.

"Sometimes, advice from a more experienced teammate adds up to much more than the coach’s words"

At Al-Nassr, we also had a lot of young, local players in the team. That was good news, because I have always enjoyed training young players. You can work with them patiently to build their talent. That is why I always ask them to play just the way they are, to be brave, but also to listen to the coach, the assistant coach or their teammates. Sometimes, advice from a more experienced teammate adds up to much more than the coach’s words.

Next came my time in charge of Napoli in 2023. We were fourth in Serie A and well on the way to qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League, before my departure. It was an unbelievable and unfair dismissal.

So that has been my career so far, having begun as a head coach at Corbeil-Essonnes back in 1994. At times, I have worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was no break, just work and work.

I came to believe that that was the right thing to do. If I wanted to be a good coach and be successful, that’s what I had to do. I was convinced of it. With time and experience, I realised that I was wrong.

A coach also needs to rest. If you don’t, you run the risk of burnout. You lose the mental freshness that you need to find new ideas or solutions to the problems that arise. It is good to take care of all the details, of course – but if done to excess, it can all be too much.

In my career so far, I have been privileged to coach some fantastic young players. At Lille, I had Eden Hazard. With him we created a winning team that played fantastic football. That Lille side had other young players who grew a lot with us: Lucas Digne and Divock Origi, for example.

"I don’t just see myself as a coach. I also think of myself as a developer of young players"

At Roma, Lorenzo Pellegrini became one of the great leaders of the team and Umar Sadiq began his senior career with me. Not forgetting the great performances that a young Maxime López achieved in my time at Marseille.

We also changed the position of some players, with big success for them and our teams. At Lille, we moved Mathieu Debuchy from midfielder to right-back, and he went on to play for the French national team. The same with Aurelien Chedjou, who moved from midfield to become one of the best central defenders.

At Roma, we promoted several players with positional changes, such as Alessandro Florenzi, an attacking player who became the starting right-back for Italy. Boubacar Kamara went from centre-back to defensive midfield at Marseille, while Bouna Sarr was an attacker we moved to right-back. He was subsequently signed by Bayern Munich to play that position.

We repeated all of this at Lyon, where Maxence Caqueret emerged as a young player with big potential, while Maxwell Cornet was converted into a left-back.

In that sense, I am very proud of what I’ve done along the way. After so much experience, I don’t just see myself as a coach. I also think of myself as a developer of young players.

Now I am looking forward to new adventures!