Before Girondins – Monaco: Josuha Guilavogui, a strong bond and a captain’s mind
Fifteen years later, the vagaries of football made the trajectories of the new Bordeaux coach, then director of Saint-Etienne training, meet again with the midfielder, who arrived at the end of January from Wolfsburg. This Friday, David Guion fondly remembered the “small” 1.88 m today. “I obviously know the value of the player, but also the qualities of the man,” he praised.
“In 35-40 minutes, I fell in love”
In 2014, the technician told the Forezien website “Square Posts” how he beat the competition to take out the promising kid from Toulon, a few days before the National U14 Cup in 2005. “He came for the first time at 13 years old. The file remained in a drawer and then we had a big stroke of luck. I know Bruno Bini well who, at the time, was the CTR of the Mediterranean League. He calls me and says: “Listen David, I’m going up to Clairefontaine with my U15 team and I’m going to stop at l’Etrat where we could accommodate teams. He decides to do a little training. Of course, me, I’m going to see out of curiosity and there, I fall back on Josuha. In 35-40 minutes, I fell in love. »
Freshness and pedagogy
Three and a half years later, Guilavogui will start in the first team after having notably evolved in U16 and U17 under the orders of Guion, with a golden generation (Faouzi Ghoulam, Emmanuel Rivière, Loïc Cétout, Loïc Néry…) who then became champion of France U19 . “Josuha and the coach had remarkable personalities. Jo was already an enthusiastic person, always with a smile. He was an athlete, who was good for recovery. Loïc Cétout was captain but he pulled the others in his own way, with his freshness. He did not hesitate to lead. David Guion was rigorous and precise. He had a good pedagogy on and off the field, explained things and their causes with meaning ”recalls Yohann Andreu, replaced on the side by the neo-coach from Bordeaux.