OL – Vanessa Gilles: “The Champions League gives you chills”

Arriving last season to replace the injured Griedge Mbock, Vanessa Gilles did not take long to gain unanimous support at OL. For Olympique-et-Lyonnais, the Canadian defender looked back on the start of the Fenottes season, the Champions League but also the development of women’s football in France.

Olympique-et-Lyonnais: 10 wins in 10 matches, OL couldn’t have started this season better…

Vanessa Gilles : The victories feel good, but the atmosphere in the team is also nice. We don’t have any injuries apart from Delphine so that’s a change compared to last season. The matches come one after the other as a player and competitor, it feels good to always be in the match spirit.

You played in the World Cup and went straight to OL behind. That’s not much rest…

I think for me and a lot of girls in the team, it feels good to get straight into it and quickly move on because the World Cup was very hard for most of us.

You are at four goals scored, this is not where you expect, but defensively, only three goals conceded. Is this a reason for satisfaction?

It’s always a goal to have the best defense. We always want the best of ourselves, so don’t be satisfied with the minimum and the three goals conceded. They hurt us because they were avoidable goals. When the matches come one after another and the big teams come, that’s when we will have to be perfect and therefore improve things from now on.

You played with Griedge Mbock against Dijon, what does that change in the way you play compared to Wendie Renard?

Griedge and Wendie are two of, if not the best powerhouses in the world. My game doesn’t change, we all have our different qualities, which are complementary for the good of the team. We have three profiles who can play together without it changing the dynamic too much. It’s nice to learn from both.

“There is a lot of positivity in the locker room”

Since your arrival, what has changed in your game, something that has been improved?

I learned a lot about working with the ball as we often have possession. Just being comfortable with that, being comfortable in situations where I’m more uncomfortable. I have a defensive role, but also an offensive one, so since I’ve been here, we’ve worked a lot on heading.

Do you realize how far you have come over the past year? You managed to find a place alongside Renard and Mbock…

When I was recruited, there were obviously certain doubts because I arrived injured. It’s never easy to join a big club and a big team like this. What helped enormously was the environment of the club, the atmosphere within the group. There aren’t many teams that have that support and positivity in the locker room. I see it with Delphine (Cascarino). When we see her, we always try to say a little word to her, a little wink. I know it made the difference for me. When I got back on the field, I felt like I was already part of the team. Do I realize it? Yes, there are demands at OL, it’s eight Champions Leagues, so I’m looking to improve to be worthy.

You are close to Horan and Hegerberg, there are other “clans” and yet, it is above all a collective power that emerges from this OL…

Egos are egos as competitors, we all want to win, whether on the field or when we play little games in training. It’s not negative, on the contrary, it’s very positive for me. We always want to come out on top and it’s the collective victory that counts, both for those who start the match or those who return. It makes a very healthy collective.

“If we find Chelsea again, it will be interesting”

Back to the Champions League, is the memory of Chelsea left aside or does it serve as additional motivation for this new campaign?

Last year, what happened at Chelsea really brought us even closer, because we were all going through tough times. We had the ability to win it and get eliminated like that was very hard. When we play the Champions League, when we watch the other matches, it’s always in the back of our mind. It motivates us for this year and the future. If there is Chelsea in the draw, it will be very interesting (smiles).

How do you feel when you enter the field for such a competition?

This is my third time more or less with Bordeaux. We talked about it with Lindsey (Horan) in Prague. It’s a whole different environment, a different mood when you walk on the pitch. With Lindsey, we had chills when the Champions League music sounded because it’s a dream for everyone. Whether you’ve won it ten times or not yet, it brings the same emotions, the same excitement. It takes you back to my childhood when I dreamed of participating and there we go to win it.

Doesn’t the fact of playing against three teams below on paper taint this excitement despite everything?

We all know what a tournament is and the requirements. We know what can happen in a tournament, so we don’t take the group lightly. We saw in Prague that we prepare as if we were playing the best team in the world. We know what the high level is and what it takes to win so we can’t take a team lightly and lower the cursor because we never know what they can do.

Attendance is likely to be low this Wednesday at Parc OL. Is this something that bothers you?

It affects us all, especially since the World Cup. We could see the emotions, what it meant in the stands to have full stadiums. It’s the football that everyone wants to play. Play in front of people whether at home or away. It touches us because we are going to support the boys and we can see that the stadiums are full. When we play the Champions League and it’s empty, it hurts. It’s great that our supporters groups (OL Ang’elles and Kop Fenottes 69) support us in Prague or here, it’s incredible, we love them, but we would like the whole city to get behind us.

“Women’s football isn’t charity either, we’re not going to beg to come”

You had some pretty harsh words before the World Cup about the development of women’s football in France. Do you think the locker room has a responsibility?

We always talk about the responsibilities of players for the development of women’s football, but it’s not up to us. Obviously, we have our part, but it’s not up to us to beg people to come. As Michele Kang says, it’s not charity either, we’re not going to beg them. We know the product, we know what women’s football is and what it could be. We see it in other countries so it’s very frustrating.

There was PSG – Fleury On Sunday, I stopped at half-time because the state of the pitch, the way it was filmed… If it doesn’t make us players want it, I can’t imagine for the supporters. It is up to the Federation to do better. They have the product, there is the quality so it is up to them to believe in their product. Michele Kang believes in it here and is trying to put in place a strategy to make it improve, because it believes in it, but it is up to the Federation to move.

When Selma Bacha says that the lack of growth in French football could make her think about her future at OL, do you understand her?

And not just a little! I left Bordeaux with this mentality of wanting to know something better. When I saw the infrastructure, the stadiums in which we played, it was very frustrating. I saw the product in the United States that it produced there. Maybe the level, the technique, it wasn’t better, but the marketing, the promotion, the stadiums, there were better ways to make the product attractive, especially in Los Angeles. There were 22,000 spectators at each match and they didn’t come out of charity, but because they were having fun. It is very frustrating.

In the United States, sporting events are above all a real family outing. Is it a question of mentality?

It’s not a question of mentality because in France, people love football too. The children want to come and we see it when the Blues play. I played against them a few months ago, it gave me chills to see the stadium full, to see people singing the Marseillaise, it warms my heart as I’m French too. People come and are interested, but it has to be attractive and not play at 9 p.m. for example.