Emblematic figure of French football, the former coach of Bordeaux, OM, Montpellier and even Lens, Rolland Courbis tells us about “his former players who have marked him”.
David Ginola
“David was already above average technical, physical and athletic qualities. For example, he was quite capable of starting a big sprint in the 89th minute. Afterwards, like many talented young players, he saw himself evolving as number 10, while I saw him more in 11, on the left side. Subsequently, I followed his career with a lot of attention and affection, and if sometimes I’m wrong, and other times I’m right, I was right ”, remembers Rolland Courbis.
Zinedine Zidane
Rolland Courbis has a strong link with the eternal number 10 of the Blues, world champions in 1998: “Obviously I put Zizou in number 1. Everyone could have guessed that he becomes a very good player. I remember situations where when the other players were stuck, he always got through it. I can tell you that when you have it in your locker room, you are much quieter. On the other hand, where he surprised me is that I would not have thought he was so big, with the golden balloons and everything we know. The other area where he surprised me and where I did not believe it at all, is evolution, or rather what looks like a metamorphosis in relation to his qualities to be a future coach. ”
Christophe Dugarry
Rolland Courbis remembers other world champions: “Christophe was a huge player who made a career below what it should have been, even though she is already beautiful… For me, he could have done even better. Otherwise he is someone who does not leave me indifferent because there have been coincidences which have meant that we have often been brought to evolve together. ”
Bixente Lizarazu
“He’s a boy with personality and character. Besides, we did not necessarily agree on his positioning because I saw him still evolve a bit higher than the rear side. At times I even had fun putting him squarely in an attacking position, a position he was otherwise capable of occupying, since he had been younger. ”
Laurent Blanc
“I had the pleasure of recovering him on the Barça bench, and in Marseille we gave him the captain’s armband, responsibilities by making him shoot free kicks and penalties … And he regained his place in the team of France for the World Cup 98. So after, there was a disagreement when he left because I wanted to change the central hinge, and he came to ask us with his agent to let him go to Inter Milan. We accepted with pleasure, especially since at this time the Italians had just recruited Ronaldo. On top of that, it gave him a schedule with one game every eight days because Inter were not playing in the European Cup, so in the end it remains a good memory. ”
Robert pires
“He was a player that I found very good, and while I would have liked to put him in the center because I preferred a Dugarry on the side, I did not think he would be so good. I saw him do amazing things, but unlike a David Ginola he had a lack of elegance that may be detrimental to him. But I can assure you he was really impressive. ”
Jean Pierre Papin
“He is a player that I have especially followed throughout his career because I only had him at the end in Bordeaux. Now if we want to compare him to a current player, I would say he reminded me of Cristiano Ronaldo in the sense that even though he was less talented, he worked just as much. He was the kind of player to arrive before training, to leave after. Papin is a player who has really managed to draw 200% of his qualities through hard work. ”
Claude makelele
“He was used on the right side whereas I saw him more in the axis as a torchbearer / recuperator, a bit like a Tigana. On his time at OM it was an average success, but he was able to progress in this position alongside Mazinho at Celta Vigo to become one of the best 6-8 in the world, something that did not surprise me more than that.”
Ousmane Dembele
“He is a boy as talented as he is whimsical. So he will still have to progress in the way of concentrating and living his profession, but besides that he is not someone gifted, he is quite simply a player that we place in the gifted category. ”
