Léo Meyer knows that his time at Tours Volley-Ball is numbered. A priori. He knows his mission: to replace Zeljko Coric during his suspension, i.e. during the first two days of the championship. Suffice to say that he already has only one match left to play with TVB, in this case in Toulouse, Saturday October 5.
After which the Touraine captain will resume his place on the field – a place he has not left in training of course – and Léo Meyer will have to look towards other horizons, a future which is not yet defined.
“I felt released”
“But I am focused on my two matches with Tours”he assured Saturday evening, at the end of the first of the two. And this was seen against Montpellier because, as great as the mission of replacing Coric was and delicate that of launching the TVB season in the shoes of the No. 1 passer, Léo Meyer took up the challenge. “It’s not easy to do, but I felt released. »
At 27, the boy has already traveled from Rennes to Düren in Germany, via Estonia and Switzerland. He has even already started in Ligue A, at Nantes-Rezé. But he had never played in a club like Tours, let alone assumed such a responsibility.
“Positive pressure every day”
He discovered a “Positive pressure every day in training, with a very complete staff, great conditions, a top locker room…” He had to find his place, his marks in this new configuration with three passers on a daily basis. “I took a step back for a week or two to see how it was going. I try to give my best so that things go well and so that people keep the image of me as a player who wants to do well. »
And that’s what the public was able to feel this Saturday. Against Montpellier, he knew how to navigate this pressure, playing without being inhibited by the weight of responsibilities. “I work to manage not to put pressure on myselfhe replies. The staff, the coach, the players also put me in the best conditions. »
“We played better in this match”
So, of course, Léo Meyer did not manage to lead the TVB to victory (0-3 defeat). But above all, it is an entire collective that has experienced its current limits.
“Our preparation was not easy. There were lots of little problems which meant that we couldn’t find stability in the game.”he recalls before analyzing: “But I think we played better in this match than since the start of the season. There is still a lot to do to be able to compete with a team like Montpellier. In the first two sets, we made small mistakes and in the third, we perhaps started to struggle a little physically. We showed a lot of desire and aggression but it didn’t pay off and we saw players lower their heads. But last year, TVB had five defeats at the start and that didn’t stop them from going to the final.”he says in a deliberately positive state of mind.
Meyer imposed his “personality”
And which is his since he was called to the rescue by the TVB. Arrived “like a normal player, who does not think about the number of matches he could play or not but about earning points”he will therefore have imposed himself in a temporary hierarchy which did not designate him de facto number 1 ahead of Alexandre Gabin. But Léo Meyer showed his ” personality “ as Marcelo Fronckowiak has emphasized on several occasions.
It will certainly still be valuable on Saturday in Toulouse. Whether there is victory or not in the end. The rest will remain to be written. “Perhaps playing in Tours will unlock somethingsketch Léo Meyer. It’s not nothing in people’s minds, and even for me. As for the rest, I’m waiting to see. It’s not in my hands except when I’m on the field. »
