Three years after his tense collaboration with Juninho at Olympique Lyonnais, former Gones coach Rudi Garcia spoke about their disagreement and the particular character of the former Brazilian sports director.
Tensions at OL. It's no secret that Rudi Garcia and Juninho didn't get on well. The ex-coach and sporting director of Olympique Lyonnais maintained tense relations until the departure of Rudi Garcia in 2021. A difficult episode which remains in the throat of the French coach: “He attacked me on the on a personal level, that's not good, underlines Rudi Garcia in Carré I call him Iznogoud He wanted to be caliph instead of the caliph. I remember going to see. THE president (Jean-Michel Aulas) to tell him: “It’s okay, I’ll give you back the keys, you just have to give him the team!”
“A depressive side”
If their collaboration went well at the start it was, according to Rudi Garcia, thanks to Gérard Houllier, advisor to the president who died on December 14, 2020. “He had him as a coach. He was certainly one of the most capable to temper him, explain to him what his job was.” Because “Juni” lacked direction, believes Rudi Garcia: “I think no one explained to him what his role was, the role of sports director.”
If he sees the Brazilian as “a footballing legend” and “one of the greatest players at Olympique Lyonnais” and if he recognizes his flair for finding good recruits like Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes, Rudi Garcia regrets that his temperament has impacted his work: “When he talks about football, he knows what he's talking about,” he admits before pointing out “his constant worry” and a “depressive side” which, according to him, has “rubbed off on the Brazilians” during the 2nd part of the 2019-2020 season.
Tensions which still leave Rudi Garcia with regrets today: “If I had to do it again, I would try to have a little chat with Juni to try to temper him a little, so that we all remain positive and behind the project.” Because that season, OL played in the last League Cup final in history (defeat on penalties against PSG) and the semi-finals of the Champions League (elimination against Bayern Munich). ).
