Will the young people of AS Monaco allow their training club to grab the Ligue 1 podium? Accustomed to the end of seasons as a cannonball, the Rocher club will be able to count this Sunday in Nantes (5:05 p.m.) on its young nuggets, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Edan Diop, scorers last weekend to overturn the match against Strasbourg in the space of barely four minutes (4-3).
Eliesse Ben Seghir has had a string of starts since his first appearance on December 28, marked by a double against AJ Auxerre (2-3). But the hatching of Edan Diop is much more recent, with a first call-up to the pro group on February 19, and only an hour of play in the legs before his decisive entry last Sunday, against Strasbourg.
“La Diagonale”, a trademark of Monaco
The two young players come from the AS Monaco training center, a hallmark of the club for many years as evidenced by the careers of Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet or Kylian Mbappé, all trained on the rock. “It’s a source of immense pride for me and all the employees of La Diagonale [le nom du centre de formation de l’AS Monaco], it’s a job for everyone, rejoices Pascal De Maesschalck, the director of the training center. There is no secret, the club has always trained players, it’s a very deep history, and the DNA of the club. Even more today with our president who has reinstalled an ever-present culture. We build a team with young people ready to play. »
AS Monaco is in third place in the ranking of the average age of starting players, with 25.3 years and 63 days on average, behind Reims (24 years and 275 days), but ahead of Lorient (25 years and 142 days). ), according to a mid-season ranking by the LFP. It has since come back down since Ben Seghir and Diop had not yet been established at the time of the classification. For the share of club-trained players used this season, AS Monaco is in 8th place in the standings with 8.6%, far behind OL with 52.1%. But among the top eight, only AS Monaco can still claim the podium, no offense to OL.
Perfect communication between coaches
For Pascal De Maesschalck, the secret of the success of the AS Monaco training center lies in close collaboration between the coaches of the different categories, to guarantee better monitoring. “There needs to be perfect communication between them. There is fluidity between the U17s and the U19s, for example. When Manu Do Santos [l’entraîneur des U17] believes that a player is ready, he will see Frédéric Barilaro [l’entraîneur des U19] to say him. And when Fred thinks a player is ready, he comes to see me and tells me that he has to be brought up to a pro group, ”explains the training boss.
The recruitment of Philippe Clement, known for his appetite for launching players from the training center, is the last link in this chain. “When he came to see us at the end of October to find out what we thought of Eliesse, we told him he was ready to train with them. And when he returned from the truce, he had playing time, ”illustrates Pascal De Maesschalck.
“We have said it several times but young people are at the heart of the club’s project, and not only those from our Academy, we also bring them from elsewhere. They are very important for us, assured Philippe Clément after the victory against Strasbourg. If they are not given their chance when they deserve it, they cannot grow and give as much. Eliesse has been doing things well for months, Edan has been doing things for a few weeks. Now it will be up to them to confirm as there is no guarantee. I don’t choose a player because he is 18 or 38 but for what he shows. »
“Different paths, the beauty of training”
But be careful, too, not to go too fast. This is where the experience of Frédéric Barilaro, at the club for “an eternity”, comes into play. He warns: “You must not be mistaken, when a player rises too quickly, it can be difficult to stay at the top “. Eliesse Ben Seghir (2005) and his friend Edan Diop (2004) did not have the same development, whereas Diop is however a little older.
“They have two different backgrounds, that’s also what makes the beauty of the training. Eliesse, we immediately perceived that he was a talented boy. He’s been decisive since he’s been there, and he was already playing with the U19s when he was U17. Whether he will be as fast as a pro, you can never know. But of the talented players that we support, we know that one day or another they will be professional, ”recalls the U19 coach.
“Edan, on the other hand, had to deal with later development and maturity. He was also training with the U19s at the age of the U17s, but he was small and played lower. He didn’t have the athletic ability to play higher even though he had a lot of quality, especially in terms of accuracy. Then he has grown enormously in the last two years, and it has been a bit difficult. His race was disjointed. And from January 2022 he began to impose himself among the U19s. There we discovered qualities that we had not seen too much, like his decisive side, ”confides Frédéric Barilaro.
No ignition
As when he had the young Kylian Mbappé under his orders, “Fred” is careful not to ignite. “We wish them the best, of course, but we never predict this or that career. Even for Mbappé, it was rather his relatives who predicted a bright future for him. But it’s so difficult. Edan and Eliesse have their heads in place, and that’s the most important thing,” he recalls.
Because the work done at the training center can suddenly vanish, too often because of those around you. “The problem is that they want to have everything right away, our role is complicated on that side. We know the job, some players will take longer than others. But if relatives tell them that they are ready…”, regrets the experienced coach.
Recruitment from the age of 12
Work that began well in advance, from the recruitment of players aged 12 to 19. “At 12, we must be ready to assess a player and know if he has the qualities to play in our academy. It’s difficult because they are so young. We recruit for our amateur teams between 13 and 19 years old, and we also have other avenues for aspiring players who come to strengthen our training center, ”explains the director of the training center.
The policy put in place by AS Monaco, by its president and the management of the club, with experienced coaches, a complete technical staff articulated around physiotherapists, physical trainers, not to mention schooling, are all assets to convince a young player to join them. “The best publicity remains the performance of our players from the academy, just watch the match on Sunday”, recalls Pascal De Maesschalck.
Eliesse, for example, chose AS Monaco, when his two-year-old, Salim, opted for Olympique de Marseille. He has since been loaned to Valenciennes in Ligue 2, just to have some playing time, unlike Marseille, who are in last place in the CIES Football Observatory ranking, with 0 scored in terms of playing time. game for club-trained players.
Upgrade to Elite group
Pascal De Maesschalck also wishes to recall the management’s recent decision to withdraw the reserve team from the amateur championships, to focus on an Elite group. Offering, here too, more latitude and diversity to coaches and players alike. “When you have the possibility to play on Wednesday or Thursday, the center players are de facto available for the pro group on the weekend. There you can develop players, more than teams and that’s what we want at the academy. There is also a wide variety of opponents like Saint-Etienne, Rennes or Marseille in France, or Chelsea, Braga or Berlin in Europe, which allows our players to be able to analyze a match and adapt to it. adapt according to the proposed game”, he lists.
Frédéric Barilaro, “more old-fashioned”, is a little less convinced even if he too underlines the tactical diversity offered by the transition to the Elite group: “We have always trained players, and Elite group or not, Eliesse Ben Seghir would be all the same with the pros today”.
If the two members of the training center do not necessarily see young players move up to the pro team by the end of the season – “complicated eight days before the end of the championship” – the 2004-2005 generation should make a breakthrough in the pro squad next season. With a few names already to remember: “Striker Malamine Efekele, or midfielders Mamadou Coulibaly and Mayssam Benama”, list Frédéric Barilaro. You have been warned.
