Soccer. After a dark season, AG Caen wants to open “a new era”
By Aline Chatel
Published on
In what waters will theAG Caen this season in National 3? This question many people ask themselves. At the end of a rather disastrous exercise, marked by a rescue on the wire – at the upper level, if the Stade Malherbe reserve had descended, the AGC would have been relegated – the Avant Garde opens a new cycle. With Olivier Meurillon, she went to look for a “man of challenge” whose curriculum vitae is not much to do with the bottom of the N3 table. But will that be enough to be a competitive club again?
AG Caen is an ambitious club. My personal ambition is for us to be able to play something interesting with five games remaining. But I need some time to gauge the whole squad and the adversity.
Surrounded by Félix Legras (assistant), Nicolas Vrel (goalkeeping coach) and Reynald Lemonnier (physical trainer), Olivier Meurillon is the one who must put the Avant Garde back on track for success. “When I arrived, I had the feeling that a feeling of incompleteness and almost waste predominated. The leaders became aware of what happened. They want to grow the club. We have entered a new era. »
“The club is ambitious”
Former National coach, Olivier Meurillon does not hide it: “I was not led to sign in an N3 club given my career. It was not in my plans in the offseason. But discussions with Bruno Belas, president of AG Caen, convinced him to come and bring his know-how.
They wanted to trust an experienced coach in order to be able to inculcate this high-level requirement.
Olivier Meurillon aspires to “make everyone want to play for the best possible place in the championship”. In this quest, he relies on a group that has been somewhat overhauled in the offseason. Executives have remained, such as Maxime Roynel, Morgan Hardoin or Joël Lembo. Others have left, like Captain Léo Hamel or winger Benjamin Renaux. “I wanted to keep the existing structure and bring in players with game profiles that interested us. I wanted to combine experienced players and young players who want to prove that they have the level. »
Talent among the recruits
Jules Huet arrived before the new coach. The other recruits were chosen or validated by Olivier Meurillon. The former professional goalkeeper of Châteauroux Wilfried Befdianthe central defender Valentin Léon (ex SM Caen)midfielders Zourab Sopromadze (formerly Mondeville), Majid Ait Ouaissi (formerly Deauville) and Guillaume Coulibaly (formerly Saint-Lô)the winger Arthur Marut (ex-Valenciennes) and the attacker Younes Khedir (ex-Rueil-Malmaison), presented as a big potential, have signed. There will be talent in this formation.
Recruitment was done to fill a number of desired or undesired departures. There was also a need to add numbers to a relatively small workforce.
A first friendly win
The Avant Garde is certainly armed to live a very different season from the previous one. The friendly matches could deliver the beginning of truth, even if it will surely take time for the automatisms to be created. Thursday July 28, the Caennais won their first preparation match against Chaumont en Vexin (R1).
Our performance was quite positive. We were leading 3-0 at halftime, then 4-0. On a less well finished for lack of rigor.
Thanks to goals from Kevin Goba, Zourab Sopromadze, Maxime Roynel and Alexandre Dias, the AGC won 4-2. She will play again this Saturday, July 30 (11:00 a.m.) in Quevilly against the reserve team of QRM, resident of N3.
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Sport in Caen in the My News space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.