> “My main role is that of an educator. Every sporting activity is associated with an educational message. The pre-training program is based on three components: sports, academics, and education. Although there are people authorised to intervene within the club, I sometimes participate in extracurricular activities.”
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> “In my opinion, the role of an educator is quite similar in all clubs. There’s the role of ambassador, which involves absorbing and transmitting the club’s values to the players, and the role of the coach, who seeks to develop the players in all aspects. At Paris Saint-Germain, the difference lies in the level of expectation. We must strive for excellence everywhere, offer the players the best, demand the best from them, and do so constantly. The ambitions are high: to develop top-level players in a club that wants to be at the top. Therefore, we must provide the necessary resources. This requires a spirit of innovation, research, and a focus on the very highest level.”
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> “Interests in football vary across generations. I find that there’s much less presence in city pitches, in five-a-side games, in those places where unstructured play is crucial for player development. It’s in those moments that players progress tremendously. It’s up to us coaches to find the right ways to engage them as well. For several seasons now, in our youth development program, we’ve been trying to recreate this ‘ street football’ context that characterises our players at times during training sessions. In those moments, some players surprise us, and that passion resurfaces.”