Between September 17, 2020 and its historic success in Marseille (2-0) and January 31, 2021, the day of a victory in Nice, AS Saint-Etienne experienced an incredible descent into hell, which made it pass 1st place on the outskirts of the red zone. As in all locker rooms affected by such a crisis of results (1 victory, 7 draws and 10 defeats), tensions appeared between the players, the former reproaching the young people for a certain recklessness in the face of the sporting crisis.
“The young people were more carefree”
At the time, both Claude Puel and his players had gone to the front lines to deny these rumors. But it turns out today, now that the crisis has passed and ASSE is saved, that the so-called tensions were not the figment of the imagination of ill-intentioned journalists. This is what emerges from the interview given by Puel to the daily Liberation:
“Some were very aware of the situation, the fathers of families, for example. On the other hand, the young people were more carefree which forced us to call to order. As for the collective aspect … You are only entitled to one player at the table during meals or when you condemn the locker room, the impact on the notion of group is enormous. And we had to settle things outside football every day. Afterwards, we know very well that those who make a living from football are not the most affected. We are not going to complain. “
“My role is to make the player discover what he has in him,” said Claude Puel, AS Saint-Etienne coach. @ASSEofficiel ⤵️ https://t.co/Qwi6BEZb32 pic.twitter.com/WGq0LP4NEv
– Release (@libe) May 14, 2021