Yunis Abdelhamid should be the first recruit of Saint-Etienne in this summer transfer window. The Moroccan international will bring his experience to a promoted team. David Guion, his coach for four seasons, spoke to the site poteaux-carrés about his former player. Excerpts.
Abdelhamid, a good pick for ASSE
“Inevitably, Saint-Etienne will make a good move by recruiting him. Beyond the player, he is obviously a leader with exceptional human qualities. He will be able to lead the Saint-Etienne group on this, with real values of solidarity, real work values. Not just for the competition but throughout the week in training too, and that’s important! Above all, Yunis has the primary quality of a leader, that is to say, he is exemplary. This is why it is extremely reliable.
He’s a boy who also knows how to prepare. I know this from having spoken to him on the phone 3 weeks ago. He told me: “Coach, I’m far from finished, I’m going to prepare myself well to continue.” That’s really him! Humanly, as a leader, he is a very good recruit. The player improves, he takes care of himself. We see it today compared to previous years, with all the means now available to players, more and more players who are getting older continue to perform because they know how to take care of their bodies. Yunis Abdelhamid, he’s definitely in there. Yunis is remarkably professional. »
Very strong in duels
What really characterizes him is this ability to go into the duel and not give up. This ability to advance in the duel, to always be present in the duel, whether on the ground or in the air. We worked a lot on that: he has progressed enormously in his use of the ball. He has become much safer, much more technically reliable in his ball releases, in his restarts. Yunis has a good tactical adaptation. Olivier knows this, he will be able to align it as well in a 4-man defense as in a system with 3 or 5 defenders. With me we played a lot with 4 but I know that Yunis can play without problem in another tactical configuration.
An anecdote about Abdelhamid
“The Saint-Etienne supporters will discover a very sharp player. He’s not one to let things go in the offseason. He knows how to prepare. I actually have an anecdote on this subject. When we moved up from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 in 2018, I told him at the end of the season: “we are moving up to L1, there is another central defender who will come, there will be three of you for two places. Even four with a young person.” I didn’t yet have all the perspective I have now. He replied: “It’s normal, coach, there’s no problem. »
I had just got back from vacation and went to eat something in town when I ran into Yunis. I saw him in a tank top. I saw him sharp, his muscles showing. I said to myself: “That’s good, he’s got it all figured out, he’ll be ready.” When training resumed, he ate everyone up and he imposed himself. He had prepared himself, physically and mentally he was more determined than ever. He had revenge to take with Ligue 1. He had played there a bit for a season with Dijon without managing to impose himself. Yunis didn’t let this second chance to show off his qualities in the elite pass him by. He gave himself the means to succeed, he prepared all summer long.”
“Congratulations to the Greens for their mental strength”
“The Greens were able to find the resources to end their season in the best possible way. They managed to get out of the framework they were in to go for this promotion. We felt at the end of the season an ambitious team, which has experienced difficult moments. It has progressed a lot on the mental side. It was not easy to get back up after the draw conceded at Guingamp and the defeat at Quevilly. But the team managed to mobilize to beat Rodez in the play-off and cross this play-off against Metz.
Congratulations to the Greens for their mental strength! Yunis (Abdelhamid) also has a strong mentality, he never gives up and he won’t give up anything. I’m not saying that he will start the 34 league matches that the Greens will play next season for their return to the elite but he won’t give up anything. Plus with this Saint-Etienne environment… It will stick to him. I am convinced that Yunis will flourish at Saint-Etienne. He will love the unrivaled fervor that this club generates, the incredible atmosphere that the supporters create. He was very popular with the Reims public, I think the Greens fans will like him. They will quickly identify with him.
