In Nantes, we should have a smile. 10th in Ligue 1 after 13 days, the maintenance objective seems set to be reached after a difficult last season. It took a double clash against Toulouse in the jump-off to save themselves from relegation. Antoine Kombouaré had succeeded in his “commando mission”, he who had succeeded Christian Gourcuff, Patrick Collot, then Raymond Domenech on the sidelines. Never stingy with good words revolving around the lexical field of combat, envy, motivation, the Kanak trainer is known to be a fairly frontal person. The maintenance hero once again showed it at a press conference last week, frankly criticizing the level of young people leaving the training center.
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“They are far away, he observed. They are in the professional group so they train every day. They are progressing and every day they are learning but you have seen. They are behind players like Marcus Coco, Coulibaly. There are people in front. Abdoulaye Sylla (central defender, no game played), he has in front of him Pallois, Castelletto, Girotto. Yes, it is worrying and annoying but it is like that. Today, we are recruiting. The players who come from outside are good and better than the youngsters from the training center. Obviously, it’s harder for them ”.
Kombouaré’s words go badly
These comments have the merit of being transparent and unusual in an environment where smooth speeches are legion. They also have something to shock and even discourage the main stakeholders. Quentin Merlin (19), Abdoulaye Sylla (21), Gor Manvelyan (19), Mohamed Achi (19), Yannis M’Bemba (19) and Santiago Eneme Bocari (21) train regularly with the first team before playing for some in National 2 on weekends or being called up for Ligue 1, but remaining on the bench most of the time. It is very little and above all, the gap is widening between Kombouaré and the training center.
With the departures of Imran Louza at Watford and Abdoulaye Touré at Genoa this summer, Randal Kolo Muani remains the only player to come from the club in the eleven holder of Antoine Kombouaré. “I do not forget them because I made the choice to make them go up in the pro group. They are progressing well, but places are expensive in the first team. And the points are very, very expensive. So I am relying on the best for the moment ”, he tempered after this famous press conference, undoubtedly aware of having gone a little far.
Young people hesitate to stay in Nantes
Especially since there are some elements in a situation of failure at the club like Charles Traoré or Renaud Edmond but the damage is done. According to West France, these statements surprised the management but the latter does not do much to highlight the training, which has long been part of the Nantes identity. Mohamed Achi, called up for the France U20 team, Joe-Loïc Affamah, Robin Voisine and Lohann Doucet, four young elements from the 2002 generation, are in negotiations to sign their first professional contract but faced with the low playing time offered to young people and to this media release, some hesitate.
The trainers also took Kombouaré’s words very badly. They reproach him in addition to having no contact with them. He never comes to see young people. It is even his deputy Yves Bertucci who makes the link. “But, Kombouaré, that’s not the problem. The concern is that there is no clear policy in this club, and for years “, regrets an agent at RMC, believing that it is a way for the coach of the Canaries to express his needs in the transfer window this winter when the Traoré, Simon, Castelletto, Coulibaly will be selected by the African Cup of Nations. “Him, he is there to win games and has a short-term vision.”
The Batista Mendy case, illustration of a questionable policy with the training center
Professional players seem very far from it all, even if Kombouaré’s statements may have surprised some like Ludovic Blas. “A little bit in shock. But that’s how he feels, it’s up to the young people to show that the coach is wrong, quite simply. The coach is very frank, he is close to his players. If he has something to say, he says it. We saw that in the press, we didn’t really talk about it in the locker room “, confided on RMC this Thursday evening the midfielder, one of the best players at the club since the start of the season. However, this has implications, even sometimes indirect.
The case of Batista Mendy is still remembered at Jonelière. The 21-year-old midfielder refused to extend the contract between him and his training club in the absence of a satisfactory offer and a clear plan. He ended up going away last summer for free to the Angevin rival, where he had a blast. Conflicts had taken place over the Mendy case between Stéphane Ziani, then U19 coach, and Christian Gourcuff last year. Between that, the conflicts with the supporters, the town hall of Nantes, the metropolis of Nantes, the failure of the YelloPark project, FC Nantes is definitely not a club run like the others.
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