Valenciennes is playing its survival in L2, this Friday evening (8:45 p.m.) during the last day, in the Saint-Étienne cauldron that few of its troops have had the chance to know. Since his induction as a coach in mid-April, replacing Nicolas Rabuel, for eight commando meetings, Ahmed Kantari has entrusted some of the keys to his maintenance to his young N3 guard. Minots who monopolized second place in their Amateur Championship and whose experience in the professional world was almost nil. But, with the supervision of certain former players, in particular Joffrey Cuffaut (very uncertain this Friday evening), Mathieu Debuchy, Julien Masson or Adrian Grbic, they are currently performing at an average of 1.71 points per game.
The former central defender of PSG, Brest, VAFC or Lens did not go crazy. He relied on his legitimacy, because of his knowledge of men. As a former teammate, former assistant or trainer. He had no intention of becoming a youth either. His major changes concerned three positions. The goalkeeper with the ousting of Stefan Bajic, international Espoirs, in favor of Lassana Sy, 19 years old. The central defense with the replacement of Jonathan Buatu by the induction of the great Jordan Poha, 20, supervised by an experienced player. And, finally, an attack player, whether Sofian Boudraa, 19, or Yacine Haouari, 20.
5,14
The average number of players aged 21 or under starting at kick-off in the seven matches led by Ahmed Kantari. They were six in the last success against Grenoble (1-0, May 26)
The coach wanted to gain time to accomplish this performance of reaching 45 points (goal difference of -5), currently the best total among the six teams (VA, Annecy, Pau, Rodez, Laval, Dijon) mathematically concerned by the struggle to maintain. He therefore relied on kids who had known his methods for eight months, his operation on merit and his game plan in 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2. With the desire to get a result thanks to a powerful offensive animation. The succession, moreover, showed up within the pros with the banana. She contributed to reducing the time of inertia by animating the sessions with her desire and the habit of exercises.
This breath has given pep to training with a framework slightly tightened to two groups of ten (sometimes three), but with players psychologically ready to fight to preserve the sporting interests of the Hainaut team. The staff also decided to increase the intensity of the exercises, which the entire workforce took about three weeks to digest.
The work, six days a week, pays off. There is still a serious Stephanoise step to climb with, perhaps, the defense of N3 on the Geoffroy-Guichard lawn. It would be a feat in such a short time. It’s time to reproduce one last time the effect already observed in competition, with success in Le Havre (2-0 on May 22) then against Grenoble (1-0 on May 26). But above all four matches out of seven without conceding a goal, three successes and only one defeat against Bordeaux (0-2, April 29).