Second part of our long and fascinating interview with Fleury Di Nallo. The OL legend talks to us about today's attackers, is enthusiastic about the latest Lyon phenomenon Malick Fofana, talks about his record, Alexandre Lacazette and deplores the absence of street footballers today in Ligue 1.
Aim ! Football Club: Fleury, do you think that the time of small attackers is over in football?
Fleury Di Nallo: of course not! It wasn't that long ago that Lionel Messi was the best in the world and he wasn't a giant in size. I will also take the example of OL. Fofana is not big and who is the best at the moment? It's him! Already 40 years ago, we were already starting to say that with the arrival of the big attackers and the success of the Dutch that the little ones could no longer play. Today, we are starting to say that again and yet we have the example before our eyes. Fofana, he’s small, isn’t he? And well it’s the best! Besides, Lacazette is not tall either… Having tall defenders is normal but for attackers, there is always a place for small ones.
How do you view Ligue 1 attackers?
I think it’s changed and that’s why I like Fofana. He is different from the others. He's a bit like us before. This is also why he is loved in Lyon. The Lyonnais have always liked this kind of profile. We never had very big guys, apart from Nestor (Combin) who was a little bigger. Chiesa, Lacombe, me… There is a culture of children in Lyon.
We still have the feeling that there are fewer technical players, instinctive players…
It's true ! The profile has disappeared a little, why? In my opinion, this is due to the evolution of society. The children no longer play football in the classroom and yet it is the best school there is. Two years ago, I did an interview with OL in the courtyard where I lived (the Cité des jardins in the 7th district of Lyon, Editor’s note). There's nothing there anymore… At the time, in my building, there were three of us who went to professional clubs. In the building next door, there were two others… In my backyard, there were five players who had a career. Now it no longer exists! However, the court is still the same but no one plays football…They leave early for a club or turn to something else but there is no longer this street culture.
“Lacazette? He will run out of time to beat me”
Alexandre Lacazette is your runner-up in the ranking of OL's top scorers. Are you surprised to see him come close to your record?
No, but he still has an advantage over me: he takes penalties. He scored 30 while I never took a penalty. If I had drawn them, I would not be at 222 goals but at 260… But I think he will run out of time to beat me. Today, how far is he away (35 goals, Editor's note)? He's almost at the end of his contract, right (this summer, Editor's note)? I don't see OL keeping him for another year. He is soon free, he has a huge salary. The American is not there to please people. It will still be complicated to score around forty goals in a few months…
Today, in the entire history of Ligue 1, only one striker has done better than you in the jersey of the same club: Kylian Mbappé (256 goals with PSG)…
Yes and where did Mbappé play? He made his score by being in the best French club of his time. I played in an OL which was below Paris, Saint-Etienne, Marseille, Monaco, Nantes. In a Lyon which was the sixth or seventh club of its time. I think that if I had played at Sainté at the time, I would have scored a few more… What you have to understand is that in our time, the statistics did not have the same importance. We finished the championship with more than 20 goals, we left the following season without asking the question. This figure of 222 goals was reported to me well after my career… However, I was not aware of all that and if I had in mind to make a record impossible to beat, I would not have gone to the Red Star during the season on a whim.
During your last visit to the OL training center, two years ago under Laurent Blanc, many players did not know you. Does this lack of club culture sadden you?
Yes and no because most of them were not from Lyon. Afterwards, there is no longer, for many, this love of football which carried us. When I started, Ernest Schultz was the reference in Lyon. There was also Hjalmarsson, Jensen… I remember those people. Footballers today have nothing to do with it. They no longer have the same mentality.
Is modern football too rotten by money in your opinion?
I really realized this when I was a player agent a few years ago: I was too disappointed with the players. They only think about the money… In our time, we didn't think about it. There wasn't any (laughs) We thought about winning to get a match bonus of 300 francs. Now the players don't care. Even with match bonuses of €1500.
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