The sports director takes stock
Well taken over during the season by Paul Clément, AS Monaco is progressing on an excellent dynamic. If the club could not win a place taking it directly to the Champions League, its end to the season in the league confirms its rebirth. Paul Mitchell, the sporting director of the ASM, gave an interview to detail the current situation of the stable of the principality and set the objectives for the coming season.
3rd Ligue 1, behind Marseille, ASM did not qualify directly for the Champions League and will have to go through play-offs. Paul Mitchell gives the keys to success, with one word, “experience”: “We will have to be in the best physical and mental condition, at the peak of our condition, to face this major challenge. We must also use the experience of the last season, learn from that, to adapt our preparation and show our best qualities, our best face at the moment T. We will also have to rely on the growing experience of this group, that we have been building for two years now.
Then, the English sporting director unveiled the club’s ambition for next season and outlined his expectations: “We have just won two podiums in two seasons, and have played in a final then a semi-final of the Coupe de France, as well as a round of 16 in the European Cup. We want to continue to develop our players, to be competitive very quickly, and not to find ourselves in the situation of the last two seasons of having to make a huge final sprint to play the leading roles. The idea is to always push the limits a little further, to challenge the team in this preparation with more friendly matches, and to support the progress of young people, as we have done so far.”
And finally, Paul Mitchell returned to the transfer of Aurélien Tchouameni to Real Madrid and took the opportunity to take stock of his succession as well as the transfer window in general: “First of all, I would like to point out that his transfer is the result of collective work, and that he sincerely deserved this opportunity. We have a lot of up-and-coming players in this sector of play, who will have the opportunity to show themselves, with Eliot Matazo who grew again last season, Soungoutou Magassa, who signed his first pro contract this year and who training with the group since the resumption. There is obviously Youssouf Fofana, who had a superb second half of the season in Ligue 1 and Jean Lucas, who will start his second year here. We have a lot of qualities internally for the deadlines that await us. And I would like to note that the squad came back in very good physical condition. We are very clear in our mind, and that is the same for every player. We have a shareholder who is very ambitious, and who wants the best for AS Monaco. He wants a very competitive team, it’s important for him. So to let other players go will require very, very large offers, like for Aurélien Tchouameni with Real Madrid.
???? A new friendly encounter in sight for our Red and Whites, this time with the reception of the @FCSG_1879. https://t.co/n66GzbGspe
— AS Monaco ????????? (@AS_Monaco) June 14, 2022
Paul Mitchell therefore revealed the course of action that AS Monaco was going to take. A balanced sporting philosophy, no more big sales to be expected, continuity, and a focus that wants to be mature for the play-offs that will happen soon enough…