Brest Stadium. What the “nice shot” Pierre Lees-Melou can bring – Stade Brestois
1 An atypical journey
As revealed in Le Télégramme on Thursday, Pierre Lees-Melou is a new Stade Brestois player. He signed up for three seasons plus an optional one this Saturday. Trained at the Girondins de Bordeaux, he arrived late in the professional world, at 22 years old. Considered too frail, he was not kept at the end of his U17 year. After returning to Langon, in U19, he then went to DH, to Mérignac-Arlac, then to Lège-Cap-Ferret, in CFA 2, where he became extracurricular manager in a primary school.
The end of ambitions? Not really. Because under the impetus of his trainer and former Brestois Nicolas Sahnoun, he tried out in Dijon. “We were pleasantly surprised by his technical level, remembers Stéphane Jobard, then assistant coach of Olivier Dall’Oglio within the Burgundy club. He was someone who was talented, but who didn’t know it. I think he was used to the idea of this life of amateur football with a job on the side. When we approached him, he was surprised that we saw so many qualities in him.
2 A fine player with a lot of slaughter
“He’s one of the finest technical players I’ve ever met.” These words are those of Maxime Le Marchand, now defender of RC Strasbourg and who played with Pierre Lees-Melou during his first season at OGC Nice, in 2017-2018. “On the pitch, it allows him to have a head start,” adds the player trained at Stade Rennais. “It’s also a medium with a large volume of play, which runs a lot”, continues Adrian Ursea, his former coach in Nice (2017-2018 and 2019-2020 as assistant, then main coach from December 2020 to May 2021).
Stéphane Jobard goes a little further. “He is an unclassifiable player, he has talent and can play very high up the field, with a lot of activity. He is able to make the last pass, to score. He’s also a playmaker, a player who knows how to get others to play, that’s a lot of qualities. It’s a nice shot for Stade Brestois ”.
3 A versatile environment
Stamped midfielder, Pierre Lees-Melou should offer a good range of solutions to Michel Der Zakarian, even if the now ex-Norwich player is not the pure recovery midfielder that Stade Brestois eyed at the start of the transfer window. “He is versatile, says Jobard. He can play in a midfield with three as a relay, with two in a more defensive position like the one who brings danger, he knows how to play on one side with a re-entrant foot. I found him very comfortable as a midfielder, a position where he can take advantage of his reading of the game and project himself forward, in a 4-3-3. »
“When he is between the midfield and the opposing defense, that’s where he can make the difference, abounds Le Marchand. With us in Nice, he played in this register, as number 8-10 ”.
4 A chef in his own way
In Brest, Pierre Lees-Melou arrives with solid Ligue 1 experience with experiences in Dijon then Nice, between 2016 and 2021, for 151 league games, 23 goals and 18 assists. He played a season in the Premier League with Norwich last season. What makes him a natural leader. A locker room leader too? “He can be a leader in his own way because he has experience,” says Ursea. But he’s not going to put himself in”.
“He will arrive in all humility,” adds Jobard. He has character, is able to express himself in a group, but he will do it with relevance, he is not someone who will shake the coconut tree. Maxime Le Marchand sees above all “a guy who will fit in very well. In the locker room, he has a good relationship with everyone. And he’s a lodger.
5 ‘Trouble adjusting to the pace of the Premier League’
After taking on a new dimension in Nice, Pierre Lees-Melou took a new step last season, delighting the prestigious Premier League in Norwich. Appeared 33 times in the league (one goal, one assist), he established himself as a starter in a struggling team all season and finished in last place in the championship.
Journalist at the Eastern Daily Press, Connor Southwell follows Norwich in England. “Lees-Melou struggled to adapt to the pace and physical intensity of the Premier League and was part of a Norwich midfield that was not effective in the top flight, testifies- he. The midfielders did not protect the defense well enough in the defensive phases or avoid attacks with goals or assists. Lees-Melou looked better in a more advanced No10 role, with a particularly impressive performance against Manchester United towards the end of the season. Many supporters attended more than one player who played over 150 Ligue 1 games but he was part of a very mediocre team that got relegated. Despite the descent, we had to Lees-Melou could have a real impact in the Championship. So there is a certain disappointment to see him go back to France”.