Anthony Braizat (here at the head of Stade Lausanne Ouchy during the brilliantly won play-off against FC Sion in June 2023) wants to instill a new work dynamic in Xamax players.
Pascal Muller/freshfocus
In the Swiss Football League, the first part of the season was marked by two huge disappointments. The first concerns Young Boys, this fallen champion that no one expected to be in such great difficulty (9th in the Super League). The second involves Xamax, which many considered to be the No. 1 candidate for promotion and which is trailing in 6th place in the Challenge League rankings, already relegated to 8 points behind leader Thun.
At La Maladière, we took advantage of the forced “departure” of Uli Forte – very conveniently released from his duties by the Neuchâtel leaders to allow him to retake Winterthur – to reshuffle the cards, now in the hands of Anthony Braizat (47 years old) .
“For a player to be good, you need fun and smiles”
Fired in November 2023 from Stade Lausanne Ouchy with whom he had joined a few months earlier, the former coach of Servette, Yverdon and Nyon thus continues his remarkable tour of Romandie.
New philosophy
What was his priority when discovering his new wardrobe? And above all, what did he say to his new players during the presentations? “My goal,” replies Braizat, “is to bring back joy and life in order to create team cohesion and a new work dynamic. I want to give them love again so that they dare to try things. For a player to be good, you need fun and smiles, and not arrive at training with a backpack full of stones.
Forte’s successor found a group “extinct”, even disoriented, a sign of an atmosphere that had become heavy with the defeats accumulated this fall. “The players wanted a change; in the end, they didn’t really know what to do anymore… In the interviews that I have already conducted, I clearly felt that they did not have confidence. In order to get back into the game, we are going to change our philosophy, by putting in place clear and simple things, with more verticality. Even if everything is not to be thrown away, it also requires a change of state of mind.
“The excuses are over! It should no longer be the other’s fault… If the best is 17, he’ll be the one to play.”
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But how is a new state of mind created, coach? “By working hard together and also taking care of the body attitude. There is no more credit, all the cards are redistributed. It is important that all players share the same idea of what we want to do together. We have to restore the dynamic, show how we want to defend and attack. I will explain to the guys why they play or why, conversely, they don’t play. The excuses are over! It should no longer be the other person’s fault… If the best is 17, he’ll be the one to play.”
Don’t live with the past
Deprived of a bench for 13 months, the French technician took the opportunity to slip into the role of consultant at Blue Sport. “What I missed the most,” he confides, “is the locker room, the human being. But I knew how to be patient.” Here he is with an attractive project to build, in a historic Swiss football club. “Xamax must not live with its past, but rather draw inspiration from it. It’s up to us to write a new story.”
“If we give a lot to football, we give ourselves the means to perhaps receive in return”
The Braizat signature is a mixture of natural demands and controlled relaxation. “If we give a lot to football, we give ourselves the means to perhaps receive in return. Since the resumption, the players have been working like crazy, with continuous days, from morning to evening at the stadium, and meals taken together.
After two friendly matches lost at La Maladière against Bienne (2-3) and Nyon (1-2) respectively, Xamax resumes the championship this Friday against… SLO (7:30 p.m.), the previous club of its new coach. “I have no animosity or resentment,” assures the person concerned.
Rejected in the second half of the ranking, the Maladière club is now significantly behind the leading duo (5 points on Carouge, 2nd, and 8 on leader Thun). What ambitions can he still harbor? “The objective is to start again well and above all to concede fewer goals (editor’s note: except Nyon, Xamax has the worst defense in the Challenge League). If we succeed, we can do great things.”
Anthony Braizat doesn’t dare say it but secret ambitions, still unspoken, very probably exist deep down inside him. Like those of repeating a feat similar to the one he achieved with the SLO in the spring of 2023, leading at the time to the most unexpected of promotions? The challenge is – perhaps – launched.
