AS Saint-Etienne : ASSE – Bordeaux – After his feat, can Etienne Green dream of a Landreau-style destiny? | ASSE News

It is often a story of a combination of circumstances. To start in Ligue 1, a young goalkeeper owes it as much to his talent as to his lucky star. Sunday, it is because he had no choice that Claude Puel started Etienne Green. The Stéphanois owes his debut to a massacre at the post: Stéphane Ruffier gone, Jessy Moulin (ischios) and Stefan Bajic (ankle) on the flank, the coach of the Greens had only one of his four professional goalkeepers (Boubacar Fall was him in quarantine) fit to play. The rest, on the other hand, Green owes it to himself.

A clean sheet, a stopped penalty, well-felt interventions, the title of player of the weekend awarded by our Internet users and the most important victory of the season (0-2, in Nîmes) for the Greens: he could not dream best baptism of fire. Etienne Green, so-called because Saint-Etienne was missed by his mother in exile in England, wrote one of the best stories of the season, he who has been defending the Greens jersey since he was nine years old. Everything was perfect there, in a scenario that no one would have dared to imagine.

Landreau, opposite trajectory

“His performance did not surprise me, reacted Claude Puel after the meeting. I knew he was capable of making such a match. It was huge. He is calm, intelligent. He is no longer an introvert. He’s released, that’s good. Let him savor.“As the other goalkeepers of the club are still not out of the infirmary, Green will be entitled to a second consecutive tenure on Sunday against Bordeaux. After the euphoria, he will have to confirm. What can he hope for now, at 20 years old , while he forced the fate of the Greens last Sunday?

The last Ligue 1 goalkeeper to have stopped a penalty for his first match, Mickaël Landreau had never let go of his place afterwards. But the circumstances were very different. Certainly the number 1, Dominique Casagrande, was injured. But Landreau had already gained the upper hand on the lining, Eric Loussouarn, incredibly feverish when his chance was given to him. Finalist of the Gambardella, international in all age categories, Landreau had solid foundations. Circumstances undoubtedly precipitated a destiny which seemed to be drawn. Green’s is nowhere near so straight.

Lining in the youth, removed from the group in Gambardella

Hero on Sunday, he has never seemed able to embody the future of the Greens so far. At the training center, he was never number one. In U17, he is helmed by Nathan Crémilleux, holder with the Bleuets during the Euro. In U19, he does not even appear in the group in Gambardella. Stefan Bajic, the club’s great hope at the post, and Crémilleux are systematically preferred to him until the final victory. Last season, he played only the first two days of the championship with the reserve in National 2. Bajic, Crémilleux and Vermot are preferred to him.

Younger than him, Bajic tasted the pros bench a year and a half before Green was entitled to it. The future is darkening quite clearly, especially since his contract ends in June 2021. Can the match in Nîmes change everything? “He is a player who had a lot of shortcomings, who needed to gain self-confidence, reacted Claude Puel after the success in Nîmes. I would like to thank his trainer, André Biancarelli, who was huge for him. He is a very intelligent boy. It’s a first game. It’s huge and great for a kid.“

Windmill and the Cooling Example

Sufficient to obtain a contract extension, but probably not to follow in Landreau’s footsteps. Not right away at least. Signing a successful premiere, without complex and without pressure, is one thing. To impose oneself, with constancy and authority, as the number 1 of the Greens is another. Jessy Moulin had the bitter experience of it.

Exceptional last season with two major victories in Nîmes and against Lyon when Stéphane Ruffier was treating his injuries, he no longer experiences the same success and has lived a mediocre year since he was installed as the holder. Behind him, next season, logic would like a smooth transition between him and Bajic. What about Green in all of this? He was never scheduled to take over from Moulin. But sometimes, the combination of circumstances …