Jean-Louis Gasset, who was appointed on Monday to replace Paulo Sousa as coach of Les Girondins de Bordeaux, has embarked on an express squad review to find a formula capable of revitalising his new club.
He left Le Haillan in 2010 as assistant to Laurent Blanc and as a training instructor, after a colourful and trophy-laden three-year cycle. He returned this week through the front door as No1 to re-launch a club that finished 14th and then 12th in the last two seasons.
In these troubled times, Jean-Louis Gasset's experience is a guarantee of seriousness, serenity and stability for the Girondins de Bordeaux. And he will need it as he runs the rule over a squad that has been formatted according to the tactical precepts of Paulo Sousa (three-man defence), and which gets along well despite the results drying up over the course of last season (Fourth in Ligue 1 Uber Eats in December 2019, 12th at the start of the pandemic).
Firefighter
Charged with playing fireman when he arrived at Montpellier Hérault SC in early 2017 and AS Saint-Etienne at the end of 2017 - two teams in serious difficulty - the old wolf (66 years old) this time inherits a team with no financial difficulties and no apparent problems at the outset of his tenure.
During his 17 months in the Gironde, Sousa had the support of four senior players: captain Benoît Costil, who reluctantly saw his specialist 'keeping coach Paulo Grilo leave, and three vice-captains, Laurent Koscielny, Jimmy Briand and Nicolas de Préville. Gasset is tipped do the same.
He knows Koscielny very well from the French national team, when he was assistant coach Laurent Blanc between 2010 and 2012, a little less Briand, whom he also crossed paths with in the Blue. He also spoke at length with Costil on the day of his appointment. Better still, he promoted the Czech Republic's Jaroslav Plasil - who spent a decade playing in the navy and white - to assistant, relieving him of the reserve-team staff duties ha had been charged with since hanging up the boots a season ago.
Pragmatism
Rather adept at four-man defence, the Hérault native is nonetheless a pragmatist. This was clearly on view during his successful move to the Forez (1.75 points taken per game), where he lined Les Verts up with three at the back - the system favoured by Sousa.
Will Gasset go right back to the drawing board? That remains to be seen, especially after Bordeaux, playing in a 3-1-4-2, hammered defensive tough nuts Reims 4-0 in a friendly last Saturday.
What about the troops? In a context of financial austerity, his roadmap will ask him to put his faith in local talent (eight new professional contracts during the off-season). However, at Saint-Etienne, Gasset favoured short-term youth experience to get out of a rut, without necessarily implementing a consistent policy of youth development when the team's fortunes took an uptick.