Gerard Precheur, a delight in triplicate

• Precheur is one of final contenders for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2017
  
• He won a league, crater and Champions League three-way with Lyon final season
• Precheur looks behind during a 3 vital chapters of his veteran career

Player, instructor and manager – Gerard Precheur boasts all 3 roles on his CV, and any theatre in his career has helped him grow and attain in a next. He talks FIFA.com by all a stairs that led him to a third three-way in dual years with Lyon final season, a glorious feat that has warranted him approval as one of 3 possibilities for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach 2017.

A venerable yet undone player
“I played in midfield. we had good technique on a round but, above all, really good jaunty potential, says Precheur. “I was strong, absolute and had good stamina. On tip of that, we had challenging mental strength.” Together, those qualities helped him mangle by during a immature age, and he was usually 18 when he began personification in France’s second division. “Three years later, we was in really modernized talks with Metz and Nancy, yet unfortunately 0 came of it. It was a tough blow psychologically, generally as we found out so late that we had small time to collect myself behind up.”  

That valid to be his final cheating with a tip tier, yet he after put it to good use. “That knowledge was really useful to me serve down a highway when we began coaching youngsters,” he says. “I always done certain to ready them as good as probable for that given it’s a large disappointment.” Precheur eventually called time on his personification days while still usually 27, and he changed directly from a representation to a cave during Valence to start his initial coaching job.  

Fulfilment as an instructor
“I was already a girl manager when we was a actor given we had diplomas to arise youngsters,” he recalls. “It was a purpose we enjoyed a lot.” It was one that he put on hold, however, as he supposed a post as a coaching instructor for a Ligue de Paris after 4 years in assign of Valence.

Nevertheless, he began to feel a titillate to manage immature talents again, and he approached Aime Jacquet, his mentor, who after suggested he take over a newly combined women’s football dialect during a French Football Federation (FFF).

“I supposed yet hesitation,” Precheur says. “I’d already detected women’s football during my time in assign of a informal team, and it was like adore during initial sight.” It was a heady time as well, with Precheur assisting manage a introduction of women’s football during a FFF’s Clairefontaine training domicile – until afterwards a refuge for a men’s game.

“At a time, French women’s football focused above all on physicality and athleticism, and we couldn’t contest with a Scandinavians, Germans or Americans,” he adds. Precheur’s response was to trigger a character formed some-more on technique, that drew impulse from a coaching methods used by a men’s teams.

The Nancy local afterwards continued to arise by a ranks during a FFF and eventually took assign of a National Football Institute (INF) for both men’s and women’s football, while also scouting a opponents of France’s comparison men’s team.  

A manager pushing a Ferrari 
“In 2014, we got a call from Olympique Lyonnais, who offering me a pursuit of manager of a women’s team,” says Precheur. “All those years with a association were intensely rich, yet we was entrance to a finish of my goal and we wanted to put into use all I’d schooled as an instructor and tactician. Lyon were giving me a possibility to request my philosophy on a representation and to go into battle.   

“At Lyon, it was like holding a circle of a Ferrari, yet one that had veered off a highway given it was 4 years given they’d been French champions. Patrice Lair’s depart had caused problems and we had to do repairs and get a fine-tuning right to take stick position again.”

Precheur went on to win 8 of a 9 trophies accessible during his 3 years during Lyon, yet there were positively hurdles along a approach – despite, or maybe given of a talent during his disposal. “It’s not formidable to win with Lyon. What’s formidable is to win everything and contend a same harsh standards all a time. You have 0 room for error.

“The final deteriorate was formidable given we had lots of players withdrawal and lots of players nearing and we had a large patrol filled with internationals,” he explains. “Every weekend, we had some-more players unhappy they weren’t personification than a 11 out on a pitch.

“To be one of a possibilities for a pretension of manager of a year is a smashing prerogative for me, given people contend it’s easy to manager OL and all their good players, yet that’s simply not true. On tip of that, it’s a prerogative for all a years I’ve invested in women’s football.” 

Honours with Lyon
French championship titles: 2015, 2016 and 2017
French Cups: 2015, 2016 and 2017
UEFA Women’s Champions League titles: 2016 and 2017

Did we know? 
Gerard Precheur will applaud his 58th birthday on 23 October, a day of The Best FIFA Football Awardsâ„¢ ceremony.

Article source: http://www.fifa.com/the-best-fifa-football-awards/news/y=2017/m=9/news=precheur-s-treble-2910048.html