Yes ! Because it's really difficult when you're not playing. Here, I find the ground again, I am part of the project, we achieve results with the group. Honestly, I missed it.
Do you need confidence?
Yes, it’s a bit of the trademark of the Reunion Islanders (laughs). We need to feel a little “loved”, a little considered. This does not mean that we absolutely have to play every match. It's just feeling confident in your qualities. In Brest, I know they trust me and I try to give it back. Especially since I was in a complicated situation and they came to get me. Just for that, I have to give 3,000%.
You are playing in the Champions League but, at 22, it might not have worked out for you in professional football…
It was decided by a thread, really by a thread. I did the “last chance” test in Clermont in 2016 and I gave myself the means to be able to sign. Corinne Diacre, then coach, made me turn professional directly and gave me the opportunity to play in Ligue 2. Pascal Gastien also helped me a lot. Finally, it happened. If I am here today, it is thanks to the Clermont club.
You also went through the National. What do you remember from this winding journey?
I've done everything in my career (laughs). I started by playing in Reunion with the seniors when I was only 15 years old. Then, I arrived in Angers among the young people, I signed professional but I was loaned lots of times, to Luçon, to Poiré-sur-Vie. Then came this test in Clermont. I constantly had to prove that I had the ability to play at a high level, even if I didn't have the opportunity to do so in Angers, which remains a regret. All of this has strengthened me a lot, physically and mentally. The journey hasn't been easy but I'm happy with what I've done.
Is that why you are a fighter on the field? Did it come from what you experienced before?
I repeat it often, I was not the most talented in Reunion. I was lucky to arrive in mainland France, to be able to play at a very high level, but it's because I didn't give up. I fought until the end to achieve my dream, quite simply. That's my brand, to not give up, and that's what I try to instill in my children: if you want something, go get it.
You have scored three goals and provided five assists with Brest this season. For an attacker, are you too selfless?
I am often criticized for that (laughs). Honestly, I don't have a preference between a goal and an assist. Me, I just want to win. Afterwards, well, yes I am criticized for being too generous and too smug but I won't change my nature, that's how I am! Of course, I'm a striker, I'm expected to score and I'd like to have a few more goals. I am thinking in particular of the matches against Rennes, at the head against Nice. I would have liked to be five, six goals with Brest today.
But you are down to five assists!
In Prague on Kamory's (Doumbia) goal, I can hit. But if the guy next to me has the empty goal in front of him and I'm facing the goalkeeper… I think about that, it will be easier for him to score. Maybe it's my fault, I don't know (laughs).
You are often reduced to a large profile. Did you suffer from this, from this first image that people have of you?
Yes, always. Sometimes we don't even watch my matches but we say, “Ludo is tall, he has square feet.” But be careful, technique for me is good control, a good pass, a good delivery. You won't see me doing a roulette or a leg pass. My goal is to be as clean as possible to help my teammates and offer solutions. There are matches where I sometimes head a lot of balls, and obviously it's a little more random, so let's say to ourselves that I only know how to do that. There you go, I've suffered from this all my life, and I will continue to suffer from this throughout my career, I think. But it doesn't matter, as long as I have fun, as long as I do the best for my partners, that's fine with me.
Do you like the player you are?
Yes, I like it. A sentence from Karim Benzema struck me. He said that today we are obsessed with statistics. The guy can be catastrophic the whole match, if he scores a goal, he will be rated 6 or 7 out of 10. But another who will be good for his team but who does not get a chance, he will have 3, 4. Because that he is a striker, he just has to score to be well rated? For me, when a player moves well, when he serves as a relay, when he makes the game more fluid, it is just as important. On a long ball, I will manage to control it, put it away and if it results in a goal after another two or three passes, I will have done my job and I will be very happy. But in front of the TV, the guy will say to himself, “What the hell is he doing on the side when the goal is in the middle? » In any case, I love what I do. Benzema is the game, he picks up at the right time. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did that too. I'm going to suffer from it for the rest of my career, but that's how it is.
You have a calm character. Does this come from your Reunion origins?
Reunion is everything for me. I was born there, I stayed there for 18 years, I have my whole family there. I miss them a lot, I've been in mainland France for twelve years now, I only see them twice a year. They come in December, I go in June. I never go anywhere else on vacation and this calm, as you say, obviously comes from Reunion Island. As they say there, “gently in the morning, not too hard in the afternoon” (laughs).
