Le Puy Foot 43: The secret to building a successful National 2 squad and making a run in the Coupe de France

Stéphane, you were appointed head of Puy Foot 43 last May. What assessment have you made since then?

It’s still a little early, but if we can’t make a definitive one, we can still make a first one. We know that the seasons are long and that the balance is precarious. But overall, I arrived in a very structured club, with important human qualities and values. I think whether it was me or the players, we were all very well received. That’s the first thing I found important to note. And then concerning the sporting aspect, with my general manager Olivier Miannay, there was a lot of preparatory work during the summer. Because we renewed 95% of the squad, we chose to go for fairly young players who have things to prove. And today, following a start to the season where we lost points a little stupidly due to lack of maturity, I think we were able to correct these little faults. The first assessment is that given the workload, and considering that there were a lot of changes, the atmosphere in the group is good, the boys work well, the results are rather correct, … We is on the right track. It’s up to us to continue to work hard to maintain this dynamic.

You succeeded Roland Vieira, who was the coach for a decade, at the head of a completely renewed group. You yourself remained in charge of your previous teams for a long time. Do you think you have the soul of a builder?

Yes totally. Building and being part of the life of a structured club is something that pleases me. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have the profile for a little more situations… How can I put it… To take on challenges in the short term (smile). But it’s true that I like exchange, I like building, I like human relationships. So this type of project suited me well.

An “identified and identifiable” game project

On the pitch, what is Stéphane Dief’s touch?

I don’t know if there is one. We coaches, we are often “pickers” of ideas, we are inspired by what we see around us, whether in amateur matches, during our confrontations, in professional meetings when we look at what what great coaches do,… We draw inspiration from all that and try to create our own identity. Personally, I want my team to have an identified and identifiable game project. I like to create this collective notion, which means that there must be something in common and that all individuals can express themselves within a defined framework in which everyone knows where their place and their role is, both sporty and human.

You were talking about reference coaches. Who are yours?

I admire different profiles. I really and obviously like what Guardiola (Manchester City) is offering and what he has brought. I’m not going to say that he revolutionized, because the term is a bit strong, but he really brought a special touch. I also really appreciate Klopp for all of what he has done with Liverpool, but also the managerial character of Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid) and the enthusiasm of Simeone (Atlético de Madrid). They are very different coaches from each other, but there are things in each of them that we can and must learn from. On my game project, I have made a habit of not talking too much about possession because I think that we don’t always send the best information to the players. My first idea is to have a team available in any case. Available to produce the game, unbalance and catch the opponent, create the conditions to put the opponent in difficulty and on the defensive level to be ambitious too. I don’t like to wait. I prefer the idea of ​​being proactive, that the game, when you have the ball, dictates what you have to do. And in the defensive and transition phases, you have to know how to provoke the opponent’s error.

And at the start of the season, are you satisfied with this content?

If we had to do a little analysis of our start to the season, the content was often very good. It was interesting. I’m not going to say unexpected but almost. We worked for it. Throughout our preparation this summer, we worked a lot on our game project and what we wanted to implement. But I must admit that despite the youth of the squad, the players were very receptive and really had the ability to quickly reproduce what we wanted. In this respect, it is rather encouraging. Now, we are focusing on working on details, small individual errors, lack of maturity, the ability to finish our actions better, etc. These are our areas of work today.

⏱︎ 90’+3

𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗿𝗲 Ponote again tonight! We continue 👊🌪

3⃣-1⃣ | #LPF43TFC 🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/9lx2dfLJBH

— Le Puy Foot 43 (@lepuyfoot) November 3, 2023

Remembering 2021

Photo Credit – Le Puy Foot 43

When a club comes down from National, the objective is necessarily to return there immediately?

When I met the leaders, whether it was the president, the director or the manager, what was clearly presented to me was to perpetuate the club in National 2 and rebuild from a clean sheet. On group N2, at least, the rest of the club being very well structured. So I’m not completely starting from a blank sheet, everyone knows their place and their role within the club well. That’s important. But for the N2 group, the idea is there: to perpetuate the team at this level, but also not to deprive ourselves, if we can, of playing at the top of the table. The club remains ambitious but to the right extent it seems to me, taking things calmly and in the right order. The National 2 remains a complicated championship, everyone is well aware of that. It is even more so with this reform which will certainly raise the level and make this division a more competitive competition, but which will still leave a lot of people on the side of the road. We must first ensure maintenance before undertaking the objectives for the end of the season.

Next weekend, you have an appointment with FC Seyssins (D1) in the 7th round of the Coupe de France. Thinking back to the round of 16 contested in 2021 by the club, is a run in the competition also a goal set by the club?

We haven’t set any goals and I don’t like to set too many goals for this competition. She can be so beautiful when things go well and so… ungrateful, you could put it that way (smile). This is why it seems complicated to me to set objectives in the Coupe de France. Afterwards, whether it is the staff or the players, we know the history of the club, the latest events and the great meetings that have taken place on this level. We are all committed to making the journey as pleasant and honorable as possible. We will already try to avoid the pitfalls. That of Seyssins is one. And then behind, whatever happens, an eighth round is never easy to understand. This is the last step before the 32nd finals. Whether against Hyères (N2) or Chaponnay-Marennes (R2), it will be a complicated match, I have no doubt about it. In any case, we would like to go to the 32nd finals, obviously.

Especially since in 2021, the celebration could not be complete due to the health context… The supporters were not able to accompany their team to the stadium, for example.

It’s true that today, things are more or less back to normal at that level (smile). We know that the Coupe de France is both a spotlight for the club, but it is also an important moment in a locality when there is a nice course, against a big professional club. For us who are new, staff as well as players, and even if we recruited two or three local players and two or three others stayed, there have been so many changes since then that we would be delighted to share that with our public for our first season at the club.

Coupe de France: the complete schedule for the 7th round

To sum up

The task appeared perilous, but he decided to take it on. After ten years occupied by Roland Vieira, the Puy Foot 43 sidelines discovered a new occupant this summer, in the person of Stéphane Dief. The 46-year-old technician, who led Vichy for a long time (2011-2016) then Moulins-Yzeure (2016-2023), is slowly but surely imposing his ideas within the Auvergne club, just relegated from National. Before embarking on the 9th day of Group A of National 2 then in the 7th round of the Coupe de France, the coach of the Ponots with the soul of a builder looks back on his beginning of adventure at the Charles-Massot stadium, dedicated to the implementation of a new project. Interview.