“Grégory Lacombe was our Messi”
Before the Rouge et Blanc’s trip to Bordeaux this Sunday (5:05 p.m.), asmonaco.com went to hear from Nicolas Maurice-Belay, trained at the Academy and former Girondins player. Souvenirs.
He arrived on the Rock at only 16 years old. After a stint at INF Clairefontaine, Nicolas Maurice-Belay joined the AS Monaco Academy in 2001, before making his professional debut in 2003. Launched by Didier Deschamps, the elegant left-hander played 25 games with the beaten Diagonal jersey, before leaving the Club for good in 2007 for Sochaux, then signing for Bordeaux four years later. Before the meeting against the Girondins, this Sunday (5:05 p.m.), memory interview with the former winger.
Every time I meet leaders or educators from AS Monaco, it warms my heart and it makes me nostalgic because it’s a part of our childhood. I am still in contact with coach Frédéric Barilaro and other people at the club, which shows that this period is still in the back of my mind.
Former AS Monaco winger
Hi Nicolas. Tell us how your arrival at the AS Monaco Academy went?
I spent three years at Clairefontaine but I had signed for Monaco even before joining the INF. So I arrived at the Academy in 2001 and for me everything was new, I was discovering the South when I was Parisian, and these are unforgettable memories. In terms of the “package” quality of life and sporting quality, I don’t think you can do better in France. I was in the same generation as Sébastien Grax, Laurent Lanteri, Laurent Mohellebi, Sofyane Cherfa… The atmosphere was incredible.
Have you kept in touch with your former teammates?
Yes, we are often on the phone together, whether these players are successful or not, whether they are still in football or not. When you are in a training center, you leave your parents because you have the objective of becoming a professional, but there has never been a negative atmosphere between us. Besides, I find myself perfectly in the book written by Abdou Diallo and his former teammates from the Academy (The kick-off of our dreams, ed. Les Livres du Dragon d’Or), when we are ten years apart. Every time I meet leaders or educators from AS Monaco, it warms my heart and it makes me nostalgic because it’s a part of our childhood. I am still in contact with coach Frédéric Barilaro and other people at the club, which shows that this period is still in the back of my mind.
You took your first steps with the pros during the crazy 2003-2004 season, at the Vélodrome, in the Coupe de la Ligue (2-0 defeat). How did you experience this great moment?
We were having a very good season in the CFA and there were some rumors that coach Didier Deschamps was going to send the reserves to Marseille in the League Cup. Personally, I thought he would only send a few youngsters and in the end he sent a hell of a lot of them! It’s an unforgettable memory because it’s in a mythical stadium, with Didier Drogba or Camel Meriem opposite, and even if we prepare you for that moment, it marks you.
This season is that of the epic until the final of the Champions League. The excitement in and around the Club must have been at its peak…
It was amazing. At the start of the European campaign, the Stade Louis-II was not full, but in fur and as it went, especially against Real Madrid and Chelsea, it was packed! We met everyone in town. It was crazy, there was such excitement around this group, which was so strong. The way Monaco were stronger than Lyon for most of the season was almost shocking in their mastery. But unfortunately, the season ended without a title… And in addition, I doubled the balls compared to this Champions League final against FC Porto.
Why ?
The day after this meeting against Porto, we were to play the final of the CFA championship against Rennes. The reserve players who were at the end of their contract absolutely had to play this match because it could be decisive for their future, whereas I, who was younger, did not see things from this angle and I preferred to go to Gelsenkirchen to see the Champions League final (laughs). It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the end, the whole Club went to Germany except us… and we lost against Rennes! I was disgusted (laughs)! There are emotions in life that should not be missed. It is a real regret that I have.
Rubbing shoulders with players like Morientes, Prso, Giuly, Nonda, even a little, must have accelerated your progress…
Even though I was younger than others, I was regularly called to do sessions with the pros. And when you practiced with them and you missed a pass, everyone looked at you! But it was a requirement that I loved. And it’s something that I missed during my career, even though Monaco had shown me the right direction. When you rub shoulders with Didier Deschamps or Antonio Pintus at a very young age, you know what high level is. But when you’re young, you don’t always see it that way.
Didier Deschamps has always liked me. The first time he had seen me during an opposition, he had been rave with me because he liked my profile. But he was very demanding. (…) Even if he likes you, the rules are the rules and rigor comes first. The coach always had confidence in me but mentally I was not at the level of his requirement.
Former AS Monaco winger
So it was Didier Deschamps who launched you as a pro. How was he with you?
He always liked me. The first time he had seen me during an opposition, he had been rave with me because he liked my profile. But he was very demanding. For example, once, a director of the Academy had told me that he had asked him questions about me to find out who I was, and about him had replied that I sometimes arrived late and that I could miss a little serious. Didier Deschamps then dropped him: “Fire him! (laughs). Even if he likes you, the rules are the rules and rigor comes first. The coach always had confidence in me but mentally I was not at the level of his requirement.
In 2005-2006 you still played more than twenty professional games in the season. Did you expect to play so much despite your young age?
Yes, it went very well, I was quite interesting in the game. And yet the squad was very strong, with Kapo, Meriem, Adebayor, Evra… Despite that, I didn’t take my chance enough. It’s like my career, during which I didn’t have very big statistics. In a way, you deserve what you have, because the high level foot is to be stronger than the average, especially on the mental level. Even if you have qualities, you have to bring more, have a real competitive spirit. And to come back to Didier Deschamps, even when I was in Sochaux and he in Marseille, he offered me advice on how to move on. He didn’t have to, so I really appreciated that he always had a little note for me.
Andreas Zikos shocked us. We were with Serge Gakpé, David Gigliotti and Olivier Veigneau, we looked at him and we said to ourselves that he had a hard drive in his head so he guessed what the others were going to do.
Former AS Monaco winger
Then you went on loan to Sedan in 2006, then was transferred to Sochaux in 2007. Is it a regret not to have imposed yourself in your training club?
Exactly. I let myself live, I never really worked hard enough to go higher. As a kid, I didn’t like shooting at goal. How many times Frédéric Barilaro and my other coaches have told me… But as I saw that I managed to eliminate my opponents, to “break the reins” along the line, I was in my little comfort. But the truth is elsewhere, it is in efficiency. When I came back on loan from Sedan and Monaco didn’t keep me, it was the first time I cried. It was the first failure in my life. When you haven’t experienced failure, you don’t have the mentality to tear yourself away. Of course, I evolved, but not enough to make the switch that would have given another turn to my career.
Of all your time in Monaco, who is the strongest player you have seen?
For a right-back, Maicon really impressed me. Defensively he was not bad, but offensively he felt the game so well. Andreas Zikos shocked us. We were with Serge Gakpé, David Gigliotti and Olivier Veigneau, we looked at him and we said to ourselves that he had a hard drive in his head so he guessed what the others were going to do. Shabani Nonda also impressed me a lot, as did Ludovic Giuly. The first times you go to training with them, it’s shocking. We were asked to do three minutes of sheathing while after 30 seconds I was cooked (laughs). And among young people, the one who was above the lot was Grégory Lacombe. Small, twirling, with a great left foot, he was our own Messi!
🔙 The rocket 🚀 Maicon in action during D22 of the 04/05 season 👊 #STIR pic.twitter.com/MT9OJM9Vjc
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) January 31, 2020
Now you have become a trainer in Mérignac-Arlac, in Gironde. The goal is to train pros one day?
Maybe I’ll dream of the pros one day, but I like to do it step by step. There, I take care of young people, I learn with difficulty to know myself as a coach, to know myself in defeat or in relations with the players. But I’m happy because we went to the 32nd finals of the Coupe Gambardella. I had also had Frédéric Barilaro on the phone, I was hoping to play against his team because I would have prepared a little tactic for him (laughs). We are also in the fight for the rise at the national level. So I try to take ideas from everywhere to progress as a coach.
Finally, how do you see Sunday’s match between your two former clubs?
I will make a neutral answer, from Switzerland. So I would say 2-2, because Bordeaux concede goals but know how to score. Above all, I hope that we will see a good match and that at the end of the season Bordeaux will hold their own and that Monaco will qualify for the Champions League.