Bruno Irles and AS Monaco, twenty years of memories

He still has a house where his family returns in the summer, but more than a thousand kilometers now separate Bruno Irles from Monaco; and “seven or eight years” since leaving the club in 2014.

While Quevilly, 11e of Ligue 2, is preparing to welcome the teammates of Wissam Ben Yedder, the former 46-year-old defender admits: “Today’s AS Monaco has little to do with the one that I have known. I was especially happy for my direction ”when Quevilly fired the ASM, he admits, even if he does not forget the“ more than 20 years of his life ”.

Trained in Monaco and then launched in 1994 with the pros by Arsène Wenger, he played 84 matches in seven seasons marred by injuries and won, among other things, two French league titles in 1997 and 2000.

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As a Porto supporter before the 2004 final

He admits to having “stolen something from every coach” that he has known. Like Pierre Tournier, Claude Puel or Jean Tigana, from whom he keeps precious advice gleaned from his beginnings, alongside David Trezeguet. “In a professional group, there are 30 players, 19 of whom are not satisfied. Jean Tigana came to talk to us saying ‘be ready, because in less than a month, you will start a match’. And we, even if we were not in the eleven, we remained on the alert. We never gave up ”.

At the end of his career in 2003, he became supervisor for Didier Deschamps, the year of the Champions League final lost against Porto (3-0). Shortly before the meeting, he even disguises himself as a supporter of the Portuguese team to spy during the last training behind closed doors.

“I always have to have the cap and the jersey. But we still lost ”, jokes Irles, then became a trainer under the advice of another coach of the Blues, Raymond Domenech.

“When you are a high level player, you have the keys that others do not have to train, but that is not enough. The passage is complicated. The training allowed me both to learn my profession, to know what I wanted and to support young people in their careers ”.

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Mbappé, not at “300% in phase”

And the latter are numerous, “more than 200”. From Layvin Kurzawa to Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, from Valère Germain that he “has changed in all positions except attacker!” “To Kylian Mbappé, he follows” with pleasure their evolution “.

The relationship with the future Parisian striker, trained in Monaco, will not always be good. Irles sometimes dismisses the holders in U17, believing that he does not have the right attitude, especially in the defensive involvement.

“There were players with whom it was fluid, others less. It is not the only one that was not necessarily 300% in line with my methods, but it is not a problem. The important thing is that they succeeded ”.

In Quevilly, the Rochefortais passed through Arles-Avignon, Sheriff Tiraspol and Pau, continues to train former Monegasques, such as captain and defender Romain Padovani. His years in the Principality could serve him on Sunday, in a competition where QRM often shone

➤ Sunday January 2

13 h 45 : Brest (L1) – Bordeaux (L1), Cannes (N3) – Toulouse (L2), Vitré (N2) – Nantes (L1) (these three multiplex matches on Eurosport 2) , Versailles (N2) – La Roche-sur-Yon (N3) (Eurosport player) ;

16 h : SC Bastia (L2) – Clermont (L1), Montpellier (L1) – Strasbourg (L1), Nancy (L2) – Rennes (L1) (these three multiplex matches on Eurosport 2) , Bergerac (N2) – Créteil (N1) (Eurosport player)

18 h 30 : Jura Sud (N2) – Saint-Etienne (L1), Quevilly-Rouen (L2) – Monaco (L1), Thaon (N3) – Reims (L1) (these three multiplex matches on Eurosport 2) , Linas-Monthléry (N3) – Amiens (L2) (Eurosport player)

21 h : Chauvigny (N3) – Marseille (L1) (Eurosport 2)

The 16e final against Monaco is not the only concern of Bruno Irles this weekend. According to information from The team, Quevilly-Rouen coach is getting closer and closer to Troyes, who dismissed Laurent Batlles from his post on Thursday. Negotiations between the two clubs to reach an agreement are on track and Bruno Irles could join the Aube at the beginning of next week. The technician of 46 led Quevilly to an 11th place in L2 at the halfway point.

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