A Stroke of Genius: The Unbelievable Rise of Eric Roy and Stade Brestois

The magic of football has no limits. It surpasses everything, including the imagination of the most daring. Because very few people would have dared to think about Stade Brestois in the European Cup when Eric Roy took over the reins, in January 2023, of a club then relegated (17th). Even on Football Manager, the task seemed impossible. And yet, here is the Breton club two matches away from a first participation in the Champions League, at the end of a crazy first year and a half for Roy on the Brest bench. “When I chose Eric, a lot of people didn’t expect it, which I can understand, admitted the sporting director of Brest, Grégory Lorenzi, in After Foot a week ago. more trained for ten years, many people had forgotten it”. But the choice was much more thoughtful than one might have initially thought.

A completely different approach

“It was an especially emotional choice in the sense that I knew my locker room, my players very well, and I knew very well what they needed,” he continues. Having spoken several times with Eric, he is the one who seemed to me to be the most in line with what my locker room might need in terms of management, aura, discussion.” It is clear that he was right. Since the arrival of Eric Roy, Brest has been collecting points at an unreal speed. Since April 1, 2023, the Breton club has taken 77 points in 42 championship matches, or 1.83 points per match on average! Only Paris (89) did better over the same period. The secret of Nice? Its management, quite unique.

Eric Roy (Stade Brestois) congratulates his players after the draw in Paris

Credit: Getty Images

As soon as he arrived, the results and the way of playing changed, he had a completely different approach from the previous coach, explains Pierre Lees-Melou in L’Équipe. I’m not criticizing Michel Der Zakarian but Eric brought a certain freshness, a new system and it took off straight away.” The Brest coach draws his strength from his players, and vice versa. Very close to his group, he is almost more the father figure of the family represented by the locker room than a coach. “He interacts with families on match nights, he gets to know everyone, is interested in your private life,” continues Lees-Melou. And it pleases.

I felt a coach close to his players and not a coach with fixed ideas

I remember that when he arrived, he received us all one by one, Hugo Magnetti said in January in an interview with the LFP website. He wanted to create proximity with the players, which was a little different from what we had known before. With Michel Der Zakarian, I would say that, in his management, there was a little less proximity and more rigor. I immediately saw a coach who was very close to his players. I felt someone was being listened to and not at all a coach who came with fixed ideas. It made the difference in my opinion.” And if the results were slow to follow (2 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats in the first 11 matches last year), the entire squad ended up following in the footsteps of their coach, who never stopped transmitting confidence and serenity to his group.

Eric Roy hugs Romain Del Castillo, Brest hero in Lorient (0-1)

Credit: Getty Images

Given our situation when he arrived, he initially brought us positive vibes, explained Hugo Magnetti. Despite the good interim of Grougi-Bourgis-Lachuer before him, we were no longer winning much at that time… So, his state of mind boosted us. He brought his calm, his serenity.” And nothing beats trust. “For a player it’s very important when a coach trusts you,” admitted Romain Del Castillo in an interview for Free Ligue 1. In addition, he manages to trust everyone, even those who don’t play. I think they feel the confidence of the coach and, for the group, that is essential”. With confidence comes performance and with performance comes results. “Éric Roy changed Stade Brestois,” assures Magnetti. Because what we are doing this season, I think we knew how to do last year. But first, we didn’t want to take the risk of losing. Now we can do it while having fun.” Without forgetting the basis of the Brest game

He’s more of a manager than a coach

He gave us an identity, that of playing with our values, which for us means never giving up, explains the Brest midfielder. We feel like we’re part of a family. We all want to fight for each other. He has already had several hats in his clubs in the past within sports management, so this allowed him to have a different perspective from that of a coach”. But if the Roy method works so well, it is also because his management pleases his players with its relative gentleness.

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He’s more of a manager than a coach, assures Lees-Melou. He doesn’t often shout or talk much during a session. He’ll take the guys aside, talk to them one-on-one.” A method that is not new. “His style is between the methods of the old coaches and the new ones,” explained his former player in Nice Danijel Ljuboja in January 2023. Everything is programmed, he doesn’t do anything halfway. He knows when to be calm and when to shout.” Whether it is to defend his team or complain about the refereeing or to criticize his players when they disappoint him, like the match against Montpellier last year.

King Eric

You can have a match without, I was a player too, but what really displeased me was the attitude of everyone,” he fumed. Because, for King Eric (“he hates “We call it that,” laughs Lees-Melou), the main motto is to never give up. “What he tells us a lot is that we have to be one. boring team to play, difficult to beat, that for that, you have to put in the intensity”, explains Magnetti, symbol of this Stade Brestois which never ceases to surprise To the point that the surprise is no longer one. . And that the choice Eric Roy now has a stroke of genius.

2024-05-09 23:11:00
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