For several years after the retirement of Zinedine Zidane, the French public tirelessly searched for a worthy successor to the Blues legend. There are several who have suffered from this very heavy label to bear, starting with Yoann Gourcuff. A particularly elegant player, with a technique well above average, Karine Ferri’s husband made a name for himself during his time with the Girondins de Bordeaux, quickly becoming an important player in the French team.
Unfortunately, his big transfer to Lyon and the pressure inherent to his status were a little heavy to bear for the man who is now focused on his family and who has rarely spoken about his life as a young retiree. Within the French team, led by Raymond Domenech then Laurent Blanc, the 38-year-old Breton rubbed shoulders with several talented players, starting with Franck Riberyknown for liking to tease his teammates. An attitude that was complicated for Yoann Gourcuff to manage, if we are to believe another player of the time. Guest of the show The Legends podcast, Matthew Valbuena explained that he suffered the same treatment from the former Bayern Munich player when they both played in Marseille, but visibly, Karine Ferri’s husband lost his temper in the face of the winger’s repartee of the Blues.
Franck Ribéry makes Yoann Gourcuff lose his means
“Yoann Gourcuff was the same thing. I know it because I experienced it in 2010, with the World Cup in South Africa. Franck was there too. Yoann didn’t have the mentality. He had incredible talent, but if he lost one or two balls and Franck, who was a competitor, saw him, he could yell at him. He had that mentality, Franck, that of a leader. He lost all his football“remembers Mathieu Valbuena about the father of three children, whom he educated in Brittany in a city known for its beaches and secret coves.
The presence of Franck Ribéry and his attitude would therefore have made Yoann Gourcuff lose his means if we are to believe Mathieu Valbuena. “Sometimes Francky yelled at me, but in a good way. What I mean is that Francky is like that. It didn’t bother me or anything. On the contrary, I makes a force. Yoann is much more mentally fragile. I remember at the World Cup in 2010, sometimes Yoann lost the ball and he said to him: ‘The ball is your friend, it’s not fire!’, and he was quickly losing his means. Franck wasn’t there to make you lose his means, but that’s how Francky is. That’s also the difference.”explains the former international in this podcast.
