The sun accompanied the final training of the season. On Tuesday, Mbaye Leye led his group one last time before granting them a few weeks of very useful vacation after a particularly grueling season on a psychological level.
The Senegalese technician does not yet know if his future will be written in Seraing but he will keep strong memories of the four months he spent there. Despite the “bitter taste” that relegation left him, he did a job that was widely praised internally. “It’s a little satisfaction, even if it can’t erase the sporting disappointment.”
What lessons have you learned from your four months at Pairay?
“It allowed me to see that I am on the right path and that my work is bearing fruit. I am a worker, I arrive at the stadium as early as possible and I leave it as late as possible. This work fascinates me because, throughout these four months, I have been able to observe a great improvement, whether at the level of the technical staff or the players. With the progression of elements like Fall, Solheid, Camara, Perrey and Diarra, we can say that the value of the group has increased, as was the case during my visits to Standard and Zulte Waregem with the emergence of young like Ameen Al-Dakhil, Hugo Siquet and Alieu Fadera.”
Unlike previous coaches, you never complained about the difficult working conditions. For what ?
“It’s simply my philosophy. I am the leader of this group and if I start to criticize the club, I give the players an opportunity to point out anything that is not working. In my eyes, only work is important, even if you have to cross a road to get to the training ground or if there is a problem at the hotel. Only in this way can we change the mindset of the players. When I sign for a club, I know the conditions that await me. Seraing remains a special club but I knew that I was not at Standard or Zulte Waregem, where the infrastructure was quality. Here, you sometimes have to ask for land to train on and sometimes, you… forget to give us one. People sometimes think I’m difficult, but that’s not the case.”
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We don’t see many African coaches in Belgium and abroad”
At the club, we salute the quality of your work, despite the relegation. Aren’t you afraid that this line will ruin your CV?
“An average person, who hasn’t followed the club on a daily basis, will simply wonder who the coach was and will conclude that he is rubbish. Personally, I have always detached myself from everything people say. What ultimately bothers me the most is the bullshit that football connoisseurs throw around. I know why I agreed to take on the challenge that Seraing offered me. Many coaches would perhaps not have dared to get involved but I came away from this experience with a certain satisfaction with the work done. After the victory against SL 16, our supporters refused to leave the stadium because they absolutely wanted to greet me and after the relegation, they admitted to me that their only regret was that I had not arrived sooner. Even so, only 10% of people will think I still deserve a chance, at any level.”
Let’s talk about your future. You have signed a six-month contract, renewable for one year if continued. Is this option also valid in the event of… administrative maintenance?
“We need to discuss it with the club. Going down to Nationale 1 is not one of my goals. I always have very high ambitions and I know that we can very quickly find ourselves outside the world of football. Receiving opportunities is not always easy and we don’t see a lot of African coaches in the Belgian championship or abroad. I’m working even harder to show what I’m capable of.”
Are you ready to return to coal to help Seraing raise its head?
“My arrival was a win-win for the club and me. This allowed me to show what I knew how to do. All those who know Seraing are well aware that being one point away from holding on at the dawn of the final day represents a great performance. Since I started as a coach, I have only taken on complicated missions. When I look at the evolution of the Standard, I tell myself that my successors have not had an easy life. I repeat, I still finished in sixth place and reached the final of the Belgian Cup with the core put at my disposal. Same with Zulte Waregem, which still had the possibility of maintaining itself at the time of my departure. Statistically, this doesn’t bring me anything but the club’s employees are aware of the work that has been done. I think I also achieved it in Seraing. With the arrival of a little more quality in the winter transfer window, we could have done something.”
Having a sports director who doesn’t pull me in the legs like at Standard, it’s important”
What lessons have you learned for the rest of your career?
“During the last four months, I have had a very good relationship with my sports director, Mario Mendoza. This is the basis of success, even if we were unable to obtain maintenance. Having a sports director who is on the same wavelength as me, who doesn’t pull me in the legs when I’m absent as was the case at Standard (Editor’s note: his relationship with Benjamin Nicaise was practically non-existent), it’s is important to move forward in life and consolidate the work I do with the players.”
What does your role as a consultant on RTL bring you to your coaching?
“I’ve been doing it for eight years. I learn a lot of things because I do it 100%. I analyze a lot of matches every week and I am open to learning. For example, I observe the way Leverkusen plays and that allows me to progress.”
But isn’t it frustrating not to be able to apply these principles in Seraing, where the quality of the players is not identical?
“It’s impossible, but if we can reduce the idea to 30%, that’s already added value. Sometimes it is interesting to use images from big competitions, especially on the defensive side. This evening (Editor’s note: the interview took place on Tuesday), I will show how a team like Real Madrid is capable of sacrificing possession when it is part of its DNA. When I show Jude Bellingham coming back twenty meters from his rectangle, you cannot afford, as a Seraing player, to only play when the ball arrives in your zone.
2024-05-02 17:00:00
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