On the terrace of the new professional life center, we smell the barbecue. A new wind is blowing through Reims, carried by Luka Elsner. Tuesday, the new Champagne coach (41 years old) organized a lunch with all the administrative staff and technical staff, just to mark the occasion of his arrival.
The latter only took place Monday evening, after weeks of delay and negotiations with his former club Le Havre. “Since I made my decision, I was calm. I have experience and that counts in these moments, he explained Tuesday, in the small overheated press room of the training center. I knew we would find a solution. I really wanted to join this bandwagon. »
The driver of the locomotive is named Mathieu Lacour. The general director, in collaboration with recruitment director Pol-Édouard Caillot, had followed Elsner since the Union Saint-Gilloise era (2018-2019). “We then observed him in his Amiens period (2019-2020). He met our assistant director Yann Kombouaré there and he confirmed all the good things that we thought of him, explained Lacour. It embodies the Reims values and DNA. His personality fits our city: he is elegant, has modern ideas, and is very open-minded. And he speaks five languages (French, English, German, Slovenian, Italian), which is fundamental with our very international locker room. »
Samba Diawara will be his first deputy
In Reims, he will meet Teddy Teuma, whom he worked with in Belgium and on whom he counts a lot, but also Amir Richardson, a young Moroccan midfielder “who must raise his level, his intensity”. Above all, he will benefit from a stable workforce, only missing for the moment Yunis Abdelhamid (end of contract), who will be replaced position for position (the Swiss from Lugano Albian Hajdari is being tracked). “The team is made up of players who are maturing, who gained experience last season, and more mature players. The squad is well balanced, very complete,” rejoiced the Slovenian, who arrived almost alone.
As announced on our site a week ago, Adrien Tarascon will arrive as an assistant once his notice period with Lille ends. The rest of the staff will not move and Samba Diawara, interim at the end of last season, will be his first assistant.
Stability on and off the field which will be an asset for Reims: “We hope to rely on these numerous benchmarks to get off to a flying start and create good momentum. We have Lille, OM, Rennes and PSG during the first five days. You will have to be ready to quickly increase the intensity. » In pure Elsner style, whose game has often seduced despite inferior means in Le Havre or Amiens.
2024-06-25 15:59:08
#Reims #Luka #Elsner #finally #arrived #Champagne #ensure #postStill
