AS Saint-Etienne finished 2024 very poorly, but Ivan Gazidis' speech sets the tone for the month of January and the transfer window.
Largely defeated against Olympique de Marseille, AS Saint-Etienne will not have had the right to dream in the Coupe de France. From the 32nd finals, it's direction the door and there will therefore only be maintenance to save the Greens' season. Ligue 1 has for the moment given a first verdict on the truce, and if Olivier Dall'Oglio has jumped, it is because satisfaction is not there. The transfer window considered disappointing and too eccentric by ASSE has not convinced and criticism has already started to arise regarding the new owners. Enough to provoke the rather rare speech of Ivan Gazidis, the South African president of the Forez club and for whom the directions taken since last summer are good, even if they must now be brought to fruition with the new coach, Eirik Horneland.
The Saint-Etienne leader therefore does not call into question the first investments, and ensures that everything is done to ensure that the Greens settle comfortably in Ligue 1 in the years to come. “ We have made a lot of investments and we will continue on this path. We want Saint-Étienne to regain its place among the best clubs in French football. This will not happen in six months. The first months allowed us to understand the context, to learn and to listen. Now we enter the action phase. The priority is to stay in Ligue 1 this season, but we must also build solid foundations to be successful in two, three, even five years. Of course, we are open to the idea of improving the team. After the summer emergencies, we better understand our needs today. We will continue to invest intelligently moving forward », Delivered Ivan Gazidis to the microphone of BeIN Sports, before calming all those who considered the Saint-Etienne team too young to fight with their opponents in Ligue 1.
« I think there has been criticism about the lack of experience and the youth of the team, but it is not justified. Several teams have younger and less experienced squads than us. Our players have good qualities. We simply need to offer them a gaming system that allows them to fully express themselves. », Firmly made clear the president of ASSE, for whom it would be good to stop complaining, and to find a way to make the players purchased by him play well. What action in 2025?
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