He did not come to Saint-Étienne to shine a light; he says he doesn’t like it. Except that on Monday, sitting on the ASSE bench at the Robert-Diochon stadium, many eyes will be on him. Manu da Costa, the new assistant of Laurent Batlles, will have been between 2013 and 2020 the very first coach of Quevilly-Rouen Métropole. Before returning to Diochon for the first time since leaving QRM, Manu da Costa talks about his role with his friend Laurent Batlles and tells us about his memories of Normandy.
France Bleu Saint-Étienne Loire: Manu da Costa, tell us already how you arrived this summer at ASSE as deputy to Laurent Batlles?
Manu da Costa : Laurent and I have a very close, very close relationship, but before this summer, we had never talked about working together. When I befriend someone, I have no ulterior motives. When Laurent arrived in Saint-Étienne, he asked me if the role of deputy might interest me. I smiled and told him that it depended with whom. Obviously, with him, I said banco. Beyond the strong friendship I have for him, there are also a lot of footballing affinities between us. All the elements were there to be able to collaborate.
What are these footballing affinities, precisely, which link you to Laurent Batlles?
The way of seeing football, its philosophy of play, the technicality which occupies a very important place in its project, but also all the human values which it conveys, its management. When you have a person like Laurent who has human values, with a vision of football that resembles you, content with a lot of technicality and attacking play, you don’t think twice before following him.
Between Laurent and me, it immediately matched. Manu da Costa
You and Laurent Batlles passed your Professional Football Coaching Certificate (BEPF) at the same time. During this training, you often performed exercises in pairs. One in the skin of a trainer, the other in that of the assistant. Was it then, too, that your complicity could have developed?
It’s true that between us, it immediately matched during training. Whether on and off the field, everything was fluid, without anyone being able to explain why, with memorable giggles that we still remember today.
You have held a position of head coach since 2013. Going back, in quotes, to a simple role of assistant, did that not bother you?
Not at all. I do not seek light, but the pleasure of daily work, human adventures. Today, in Saint-Étienne, I was not mistaken. Whether it’s the video analyst to the physical trainers, passing by the goalkeeper trainer, we form a very close-knit staff, with a lot of affinities. I totally thrive there. To find in these conditions this assistant position that I have already known in the past, that suits me very well.
This role of assistant, what does it consist of on a daily basis? What are you trying to bring to Laurent Batlles?
I already try, on a daily basis, to be a source of proposals in relation to what Laurent wants to put in place, whether in terms of exercises or simulations. Laurent asks me if I have any ideas, I offer them to him and of course, he’s the one who decides in the last resort, it’s his role and it’s normal. We also exchange a lot on the workforce, the lacks, the opponent or the individualization of the videos on our opponents. The roles are well defined and my roadmap is very clear, it was established from the start by Laurent. The work is important but things are well targeted and everyone has their task. I’m going to repeat myself, but I thrive completely in what is put in place, with human values specific to Saint-Étienne, a lot of humility and a lot of work. Laurent Batlles is a superb ambassador of his values and his staff resembles him. Let’s not forget either that we are at ASSE, a fantastic club. At some point, inevitably, this club will start again and we hope to be among those who will make it start again at the level it deserves. Humility does not lead to a lack of ambition, quite the contrary. To be ambitious is not to be pretentious. When you accept to take up a challenge like that of Saint-Étienne, obviously it’s to see better days, to do everything on a daily basis so that the future is much rosier. The phase we are in is not easy, but it is super exciting. The reality of high-level football is the results and at the moment we are hunkering down to put everything in place and to do better.
The pride that I keep today from my adventure at QRM is to have left with the feeling of having built something there. Manu da Costa
The quest for results goes through a first victory this season, perhaps at Quevilly-Rouen Métropole, this entity of a rapprochement between US Quevilly and FC Rouen, of which you were the first coach between 2013 and 2020. You have known everything there, the first steps of the club, a rise in Ligue 2, a descent in National, struggles for maintenance… What will you feel, this Monday, returning there under the colors of the AS Saint-Etienne?
Since my departure from QRM in 2020, I have not yet set foot in the Robert-Diochon stadium, it will be a first for me. The feeling will necessarily be a little weird because I will meet people with whom I have collaborated for almost ten years, it’s not nothing. People with whom I have created beautiful friendships. Now, the world of football takes you on different challenges and I will therefore return to Diochon in the shoes of an opponent and I will do everything to leave with the three points. Beyond my little person, what interests me today is that Sainté gives a really good image and that finally, we are moving back into the positive in terms of points.
To come back to your adventure in Quevilly-Rouen Métropole, what memories do you have of it today?
It’s hard to name a memory as there are so many. The pride that I keep today from this adventure is that I left with the feeling of having built something there. We started from afar, we structured the club with our means, which were not the most important. The first thing my successors said when they arrived was that this QRM club was structured and that they were pleasantly surprised to see the conditions in which we worked there. That is the best compliment I could receive. I experienced very good things at QRM, but in the end very few bad ones. All of this is now behind me and my focus today is on Saint-Étienne and the future.
The journey of Manu da Costa
Born September 3, 1977 in Rouen
Trained as a player at FC Rouen and AS Cannes, stints at Dieppe and Viry-Chatillon
2009 – 2012 : assistant coach and reserve coach of FC Rouen
2012 : coach of FC Rouen (National)
2013: coach of Compiègne (CFA)
2013 – 2020 : coach of US Quevilly then of Quevilly-Rouen Métropole (CFA, National, Ligue 2)
2020 : coach of Sporting Club de Lyon (National)
2021-2022 : coach of the US Créteil-Lusitanos (National)
Since 2022 : assistant coach of AS Saint-Étienne