Lionel Rouxel, former scorer for En Avant Guingamp, is now the coach of the French U17 teams. Within his selection, a player from Saint-Etienne is regularly called up: Djylian N'Guessan. Author of 14 goals in 10 selections, the Saint-Etienne striker makes the talk with the blue jersey. His coach, interviewed by Poteaux Carrés, evokes the new nugget from Saint-Etienne.
Lionel Rouxel: “He is a player who has two characteristics for the high level. He is a space player, he plays deep and moves quite well between the lines. He is accessible in the game. Djylian is also a player of surface, who has progressed and who is becoming a scorer as he always was.
When you have these two qualities, you can and must, to be a complete player, participate in the game as he does. And you also have to be at the finish, because it's your goal, your objective, your role to score goals. Djylian is good in these two characteristics, but still needs to improve in these two areas. He must be even more perfectionist, even more precise in his choices and in his gestures.”
Lionel Rouxel: “He must be able to evolve at one time or another with the professional team of Saint-Etienne”
“His heading game needs to be perfected, whether on deflections or finishing. Djylian has grown, I don't know exactly how tall he is, but I think he's over 1.85m. He must be able to impose himself more in the air, he can also improve his deflection game, his one-touch game. He must improve his body play, because he sometimes has difficulty protecting himself. A little even stronger in the upper body. He obviously needs to improve on his left foot, but also on long shots. Outside the area, he would benefit from being more precise in his shots.
He must be able to evolve at one point or another with the professional team of Saint-Etienne, discover the high level and continue his story with ASSE. I also told the club to do what was necessary for Djylian to continue the adventure. This is what he is doing and I am delighted about it, because Djylian is a child of the club, he joined it at the age of 7.
We, in relation to the selections, we realize that the players who succeed in their club are those who do not live too far from the stadium, they are local players. When you have players of this quality, it is logical and coherent to continue the adventure and continue to progress in an environment that suits him.”
A register close to Ekitike and David
“Djylian still has a lot of steps to take, he is upgraded to the reserve team, but he has not yet reached the world of senior professionals. The potential is there, he is exploiting it. We are working with him because any international youth experience allows him to grow as a man, he will progress as a player.
Compare him to Hugo Ekitike (editor's note: who plays at Entracht Frankfurt)? Yes, it can be compared. I pretty much agree with that. Ekitike is a 2002, Djylian is six years younger, but their profile is relatively close. We can possibly compare them. Another name comes to mind, that of an attacker that I like: the Canadian LOSC striker Jonathan David. I think that Djylian can fit into this register. Hugo Ekitike and Jonathan David, we can do a mix of the two.”
