French clubs are coming out of a gloomy European Cup season, one more. And that will not change in the years to come, announces Claude Puel in a ruthless observation on French training, and the departures of young people.
With maintenance now 99% assured, AS Saint-Etienne can finally breathe. Claude Puel is not, however, likely to take advantage of this relief to field a rejuvenated team, since the nuggets of the training center have been on the ground almost all season. A forced choice because of economic constraints and the departures of the most promising players each summer. A system that has the gift of annoying the general manager of the Greens, for whom club leaders only think of the wallet, and prevents coaches from having the opportunity to build a competitive team over the years.
“ I would like leaders to think about how to develop a team and not how to level the accounts. To compete with the big four championships, we will not succeed. The challenge is to better protect our training. The first pro contract is for three years, compared to five in England. It takes astronomical sums to keep them while we must continue to train them. So from the age of 16 they are put up for auction “, Explained in the Journal du Dimanche a Claude Puel for whom the problem totally concerns ASSE. The Wesley Fofana or William Saliba left after a good season, with differing successes, and that will apply for the next ones as well. And too bad for their end of training which is sometimes a little too fast.
” In Saint-Étienne, we incorporated 17-year-old kids who had not yet played in reserve among the pros. We skip steps because as soon as a kid breaks out, he leaves. We saw him with William Saliba and Wesley Fofana. We couldn’t do otherwise. Our players have a little individual touch because, at this age, they are allowed to express themselves. They spend the tiers later, abroad rather than here, where they represent assets liable to fill deficits. If there was an overall problem with our training, there wouldn’t be so many opportunities in England, Italy or Germany “, Warned the Greens coach, for whom France is truly a springboard on which a youngster bounces very quickly to go abroad. One more reason to explain why French clubs are still very far from their European neighbors.