Why the club reserve is not like the others
Axel Allag, Media365, published on Thursday January 05, 2023 at 11:28 p.m.
Last summer, AS Monaco withdrew its reserved team from the Federal Championships (National 2 or 3) in order to create an elite group which is particularly active in the Premier League International Cup. A well-thought-out decision which freed them from the pressure of the result but also to develop the potential of young players, such as that of Eliesse Ben Seghir, who scored twice against Auxerre in his first match in Ligue 1 (1- 2).
Last summer, when the AS Monaco team 2 had just been demoted from National 2, the decision was made not to return to National 3, where the reserves of the other Ligue 1 clubs evolve. A rather abrupt but considered decision because instead, the princely club has launched an elite group in the Premier League International Cup, a competition for players under the age of 23 and contested by 24 reserved teams from major European clubs, half of them English, according to The Team. “We wondered how to optimize the last step before integration into the professional world”, thus explained to the sports daily Pascal De Maesschalck, the director of the development of young players of the ASM. Oppositions against reserves of foreign and French pro clubs are also possible while 35 matches are practiced this season for this famous elite group.
Total freedom, less pressure for results
“We choose the type of match we want, when we want to place it and all that with the aim of optimizing the individual development of the player”, detailed Damien Perrinelle, the coach of the elite group, in the After Foot of RMC, Wednesday evening. The pressure of the result, so present in National 2 or 3, is obviously not the same in this unique context. “With this pressure of the result, you will play in a way more to win differently absolutely. As a coach, I have an incredible chance because I have the freedom to play any player at any what position if I feel there is a need at any given time”named the leader.
This strategy allows above all an optimal development of the young elements, and in particular Eliesse Ben Seghir, who registered a double from his first appearance in the elite, in Auxerre with the 17 spring on the clock last December 28 (1-2) . “When Eliesse joins the pro group, he is not lost, he does not play a different foot“, analyzed Perrinelle concerning the one who started for the first time in pro against Brest, on January 1 (0-1). This system arouses the interest of other clubs according to De Maesschalck, who did not not see this decision as an opposition to the FFF. “We don’t do that against the Federation. The coaches of the young French teams ask us what we are doing, we send them our matches”, claimed the leader of AS Monaco.