OL educator between 1988 and 2019, today present within the technical center of FC Bourgoin-Jallieu (N3), Armand Garrido spoke at length this Tuesday during a Space organized on new But_Lyon account. We have transcribed the best passages for you.
On the Bourgoin – OL Cup match
“We have this chance. At Bourgoin, we are not here to win the Coupe de France but to face a team of this standing. OL, I am very sensitive to it. Having spent 30 years there, it is my favorite club. I'm an OL supporter all year round but in this match, I'm going to lean towards Bourgoin… and if we have the chance to score a goal, I wouldn't show it too much (…) Quite frankly, it's an exceptional event which will go down in history in the club (…) It has to be a great match, whatever the result.”
The most talented of the generations he trained
“There were lots of good generations but the one that left the biggest impression on me was 1987 where you had Anthony Mounier, Loïc Rémy, Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Rémy Riou, Julien Faussurier… For me, it’s was the most beautiful. You come to training, you have a lot of fun. I don't know if it's the best season but I had a lot of fun with them (…) Paul Le Guen, who was the coach of the first team, even came to see us train. Sometimes he told me that I let Hatem Ben Arfa do too much, but if I had tried to train him, I could only have distorted him…”
On the emergence of Benzema
“I’m very proud of it. When it was presented to me at first, I was left wanting more. I said to myself: “Yes, this kid has talent but he doesn’t do much.” And then he arrived, in the shadow of Ben Arfa, who already had his fan club. As Karim was a discreet person, he stayed behind and worked. Nature did the rest: he expanded, he grew, gained self-confidence, exploded… One day, in training, I met our physical trainer Guillaume Tora who said to me: “Have you seen Karim ? He blew up all the meters, he has the best speed tests…” I told him that it wasn’t possible, that there was an error. I remember that, a few days later, we went to Sochaux and we won 4-0, Karim's quadruple. Under the eyes of Lionceaux first team coach Guy Lacombe. Alain Blachon, who was his assistant, comes to see me: “Who is this player? Where do you get it from? » At that time, Karim did not have a contract. When I get home, I pick up the phone and tell the leaders to do something. We had a moral commitment but nothing was done. Everything happened very quickly behind (…) From 17 to 18, he had everything.
(Very moved) When you tell me: “you had this player in your hands”, I still find it hard to believe it. I tell myself that I dreamed. We can only be proud of that. Even more knowing where I come from. I didn't have a professional career. I was a little educator in a neighborhood club.”
On Alexandre Lacazette
“For me, it's true that Alex wasn't always the starter because we weren't always satisfied with his commitment to training… and on match days, he didn't always have the depth, the volume we hoped for. But, on the other hand, we couldn't do without him because his natural talent was already so strong that in 20 minutes he could change a match for you. Physically, there was a big awareness (…) with maturity, with his years in England (…) When I see him today doing 70-meter fallback runs, I sometimes say to myself that it is not is not him, that it is his hidden brother (smile)”.
On his departure from OL
-“I had a broken period. I didn't take well to the way my departure happened. It wasn't an easy time for me. Especially since I had a family problem that took hold. I cut (…) And then, when you have the virus, you have the virus. I went back (in football). But I had six months of complete breakup.”
On the complicated results of Lyon training today
“We stopped working in the right direction. The histories were dismissed by a director of the training center (Jean-François Vulliez, Editor's note) who wanted to impose its operation. Everything that resisted him, he pushed aside (…) A training center is not a Pole of Hope. In a club, we train players to compete… and there, we forgot about the competition. The last French Champion title was me who won it in 2013. Since then, they have won the Gambardella with Éric Hély but that is the only title! For years, competition was no longer the concern (…) In addition, we removed the Lyon DNA
Today, those who have recovered the Academy, it is not their fault (…) The team in place seems to have a lot of good will. I go see them from time to time. We talk a lot. There are things that will be put back in place and we will get back to working well but it will take time. The land has been mined (…) They are dealing with the legacy of what happened in previous years. I have nothing against anyone but things have to be said. At one point, we gave responsibility to people who were not capable of training in a training center.”
The relocation of the training center to Meyzieu
“I lived in Tola Vologe, where the players just had to open the window to see the pros training, and Meyzieu. When I was in U17 at the Meyzieu Academy, I wondered why no one came to see the young people and I thought it was a shame. And then at one point, I moved to Décines. I tried to see both. I had the feeling that it was easier to go on vacation to the depths of Spain than to cross Meyzieu to go to the training center.”
On Pierre Sage
“The doctrine is to rediscover the pleasure of playing to rediscover the pleasure of winning. Pierre Sage, I only knew him from afar. I had the opportunity to chat with him, to share football things over a meal. He's someone who pleasantly surprised me. He has no truths: he listens, he shares, he is easy to access.
Would I have liked to find myself in his place, returning to the first team from training? No. And that’s where I place the admiration. Managing this kind of situation requires a lot of perspective and a rested mind. Me, I'm more anxious (…) Pierre Sage, at the educational level, is someone who is at ease. I was more of a worker. He’s more of a boss.”
To listen to the entire interview again, this is where it happens:
