His arrival, the title of 1978, Arsène Wenger… Interview with Jean Petit
AS Monaco wishes a happy birthday to its former midfielder, the third most capped player in the history of the Club with 426 games, who is celebrating his 73rd birthday today. On this occasion, he granted us an interview in order to come back to his best memories.
He has spent most of his life in Monaco. Arrived at the age of 20 in the Principality, Jean Petit has never left and continues to come regularly to AS Monaco matches. Winner of two French championship titles then assistant coach for more than 25 years, he will therefore have spent his entire career there. On the occasion of his 73rd birthday, the former midfielder to 426 games and third most capped player, looks back on his best memories and gives us some anecdotes. Interview.
I went to Luchon for two years with Just Fontaine, my Junior coach. I was spotted by a Monegasque, friend of a former secretary general of the Club, who was taking his cure in Luchon. We then had to discuss with Red Star since I still belonged to this club, and there was an exchange of players, allowing me to come to AS Monaco in 1969.
Hello Jean. Tell us about your arrival at AS Monaco?
I started football when I was little in Toulouse. I did all my classes. The Club then went bankrupt, then merged with Red Star Paris. We had to go to Paris and I didn’t want to. I anticipated my call to the army because we had to follow the Red Star, and without the agreement of both parties, I could not join another club.
I finally went to Luchon for two years with Just Fontaine, my Junior coach. I was spotted by a Monegasque, friend of a former secretary general of the Club, who was taking his cure in Luchon. We then had to discuss with Red Star since I still belonged to this club, and there was an exchange of players, allowing me to come to AS Monaco in 1969.
The Club is then in Ligue 2 when you arrive.
When I was in the army, the Club was still in the first division. But the season before I arrived, in 1968-1969, AS Monaco finished 17th in the first division and played in the play-offs against Angoulême, 2nd in the second division. They win at Angoulême and lose at Monaco. And during the Belle in Paris, Angoulême won. Instead of being in the first division, I find myself in the second division (laughs).
AS Monaco then experienced several ups and downs, but you made the choice to stay. This is a great proof of loyalty.
Yes, but at the time, European clubs did not buy French players. We couldn’t let a team go down, we had to help them back up. It’s loyalty of course, but I felt good in Monaco. I knew there was potential.
A potential that materialized in 1978 with the title. Tell us about this season.
We end up champions thanks to a big season without knowing too many injuries on the side of our key players. Recruitment had been good with the halls of Alfred Vitalis, Rolland Courbis, Bernard Gardon and Raoul Noguès. Jean Luc Ettori also arrived at the training center. We were a team of friends, it was felt on the ground. We all went out together to the restaurant after the games in particular.
A few games into the season, we said to ourselves “If we win the last five games, we will be champions”, because we were in the fight with Nantes. And if I remember correctly, in the last match, they were hooked and we won, which allowed us to be champions. But these five games, out of the wins against difficult opponents since we played in Paris, Saint-Etienne, Lens and Bastia, who were finalists for the European Cup, four days later. It was a great season, it was playing well and the friendship was present.
Do you have an anecdote in mind of this famous 1977-1978 season?
I remember that Delio Onnis told us before starting the season that he had dreamed that we were going to win the first five games of the season. Which was not easy since we were promoted, especially since we were going to Bastia from the first day. We win this one and then we win the next four. I then tell him “why didn’t you dream of six games”, he replies that “no, I dreamed of five”. On the sixth day, we received and we finally lost (laughs).
For me, it’s that of 1978. I remember that the parade had been extraordinary in the streets of Monaco. There were so many people. I was in a car and I started to take the road that goes up to the Palace, from the Condamine Market. I met people coming down from the Palace, and we passed each other. There was a crazy world.
You won another title in 1982. Which is the best?
For me, it’s that of 1978. I remember that the parade had been extraordinary in the streets of Monaco. There were so many people. I was in a car and I started to take the road that goes up to the Palace, from the Condamine Market. I met people coming down from the Palace, and we passed each other. There was a crazy world.
It was also the best because for many it was their first title. And I didn’t give a good memory in 1982 because I got three strains on the same muscle. They had to operate on me and I stop my career in stride.
Who are the best players you have met?
I would say Christian Dalger with whom I also played in the French team. He was a player capable of eliminating two or three players in the living room of the house. He had a very good shot. He was a player who played on the right side of the attack, who provided countless assists for Delio Onnis.
I saw him play one day in the Coupe de France as number 10, he had been excellent. He had the quality to play in this position. He was a very competitive player and he had a facility for eliminating players. There was also Delio who scored a lot of goals, while participating in the game.
You have scored 78 goals with AS Monaco. It’s pretty good for a midfielder.
I admit I don’t know, I have to do the math or look in old books (laughs). But it’s true that I had an average of five or six goals a year. I was playing in the number 8 position, able to help in front and behind, with good physical capacity. As I also wanted to help, I went everywhere (laughs).
After your career, you join the staff. Was it a natural choice?
Yes and no. After my career, it was not done in Monaco. I was first recruiter of young people. There were only two in France at the time, including me. I did that until the arrival of Lucien Muller in 1983, who had notably trained in Barcelona.
There, he used to have a deputy. But in France, it was something that was not done. He then asked Jean-Louis Campora who could fill this position, and he thought of me. He also knew me a little. And that’s how I started and stayed three years with him by his side.
You then worked alongside Arsène Wenger, Jean Tigana, Claude Puel and Didier Deschamps. Which one impressed you the most?
I would go with Arsène Wenger, insofar as he stabilized the Club in his performance. He stayed for seven years, including six consecutive seasons finishing in the top three. And in the European Cup, on a course made excellent like the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1992, lost against Werder Bremen (0-2). He stabilized it in the image of a great team and took us forward in recovery.
After the matches, we took the plane so that we didn’t have to go home by train, otherwise we ate at the station and we often arrived two days later. He improved all that then he came from Nancy, he had a few days to prove too. The two of us got along really well, and for seven and a half years, I think we did a good job.
I had a very good relationship with all the coaches. That’s why the President doesn’t want to put me as his first coach. He told me “if you want the place, I’ll give it to you. But one day, if there is no result, I will have to fire you and I want to keep you at the Club” (Laughs). All this meant that I stayed at the Club for more than 25 years.
Anecdotes about a coach?
No, I don’t have any particular anecdotes, but each coach has allowed me to evolve. Before Arsène Wenger, I was also Stefan Kovacs’ assistant, who had led the France or Romania team. He was one of the best coaches in the world at that time.
I had a very good relationship with all the coaches. That’s why the President doesn’t want to put me as his first coach. He told me “if you want the place, I’ll give it to you”. But one day, if there is no result, I will have to fire you and I want to keep you at the Club” (laughs). All this meant that I stayed at the Club for more than 25 years.
“Who’s the Good, who’s the Bad, who’s the Ugly? » 😂
🎂 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆 Jean Petit! pic.twitter.com/35Rch2BzAx
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) September 25, 2020
You also experienced the epic of 2003-2004, what memory do you keep?
From this epic, it is the match against Real Madrid. We had a team of friends but it was not due a big team, without really high-sounding names. But they played on the pitch like starving people, with the ambition that Deschamps exuded. But the meeting against Real was extraordinary because they had, at that time, probably the best team in the history of the Spanish club with Zidane and the whole gang (laughs).
I had never seen an audience so happy that we won. It was an extraordinary communion with a President who came for a year, and who had the chance to make this journey. He was only interim and he almost finds himself European champion (laughs).
Can we say that this team resembled that of 1978?
In the desire, the joy of playing and the friendship between the players, we will say yes. The players did not look alike but to be champion of France or finalist of the Champions League, you still have to have some in your stomach and that, yes we can say that the two periods are similar.
Is there a recent player that you find a resemblance to him?
It’s hard to say. Maybe João Moutinho. He was a player who presented everything for the team, and who was always there. He also attacked and defended. There are midfielders who are there to attack and to defend. He was small, me not on the other hand (laughs). We don’t have the same size but he wasn’t a player who was afraid either.
🎦⚽️ 𝕃𝕖 𝕋𝕠𝕡 𝟝 𝕕𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕤 🆚 @girondins !
With a 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒋𝒐𝒖 signed João Moutinho ✨ #RISK
🔜 #ASMFFCGB pic.twitter.com/YwQEKudxsV
– AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 18, 2021
A player should soon exceed your goals scored total. This is Wissam Ben Yedder. What do you think of him ?
I would also prefer him to overtake Delio Onnis (laughs). But Wissam Ben Yedder is a good player technically and skilful in front of goal. I think he needs a side player. I remember when there was Islam Slimani with him, it was really not bad. Slimani was tall, good-headed and selfless. The defenders forgot him a bit and he took advantage of it behind. It was a doublet that worked well in any case. He’s a deserving boy.
Jean Petit’s legendary 11: Ettori – Amoros, Roach, Quittet, Rostagni – Bijotat, Dogliani, Pastorizza – Dalger, Onnis, Emon
The legendary 11 he has coached or worked with: Barthez – Thuram, Marquez, E.Petit, Amoros – Hoddle, Gallardo – Bernardo Silva, Weah, Mbappé, Henry