FC Nantes: “I would be nothing without the collective”, considers the former Canary Medhi Leroy

“Football is my life.“The spontaneity with which Medhi Leroy aligns these five words sums up the relationship he has with the ball. Withdrawn from professional fields since 2009 and a last experience at Vannes, the former left-hander,darling and even mascot of Jean-Claude Suaudeau“, he slips into a shy and nostalgic smile, settled in Maine-et-Loire where he took on the role of technical manager of FC Andréa-Macérois, in Sèvremoine. A vocation. of the last century and his days spent alongside Raynald Denoueix, Loïc Amisse or even Jean-Claude Bauduin, former PE teacher.I owe them a lothe greets. I love what they instilled in me and the taste for trainingI really learned it in Nantes“He is now trying to pass it on to the U13s, U17s and Seniors, far from the hustle and bustle of the professional world where he recognizes himself less and less. But always keeping an eye on the performance of the Canaries,”[s]we heart club” and of Troyes, “a family club with a good group of friends“, two clubs facing each other this Saturday evening.

Transmit, “a vocation, something that takes me to the gut”

It’s been three decades and the ritual continues. Transport, land, sleep. Almost every day, the 43-year-old opens the door to the FC Andréa Macairois clubhouse at 10 a.m. sharp. The coffee is flowing. At the end of the room, his small office. “I am happy”, sweeps the one who still likes to take free kicks to test his keepers. For four and a half years, Medhi Leroy has had the keys to sport. Coaching, training, recruitment. “It is above all a human adventure“, slips this apostle of transmission. “In fact, when I looked back at 30 and wondered what I had left of my career, all the coaches I’ve known came to mindrewinds the Nazairian. I adore what Suaudeau, Baudouin, Denoueix, Eo, Amisse, and I probably forget some, have made of me. They made me better as a man, as a player. At the time, I was a blank slate and they wrote good things, I think I became a good guy thanks to them and at the same time I want to give back everything I learned because it’s a vocation, it’s something that grabs my guts.“

For me the team is and always will be above the individual and I don’t even know how anyone can think differently.

Ambitious for his club of 500 licensees in the heart of the Mauges which he hopes to raise to Regional 2 “medium term“, Medhi Leroy has a certainty in his work: “what I am doing today with my U13s will then, later, allow me to save time when they are seniors and thanks to that, we will be one step ahead of the other teams. When we have 5, 6, 7 players who have been trained together, they will shine thanks to the collective”hopes the double winner of the Coupe de France with the Yellows who also registered his name on the list of winners of the Intertoto Cup with Troyes. Collective. Still and always. “I would be nothing without the collectiveslips the technical manager. Today in the professional world, we are very focused on the individual. Obviously a team needs it, but it’s the collective that carries it all. For me the team is and always will be above the individual and I don’t even know how anyone can think differently. That’s why I now watch the professional world from afar.”

A life of football and fresh water

On the pitches on Saturday and Sunday with its teams, professional football has gradually taken a back seat by force of circumstance. “On the other hand, I always watch the game on Sunday evening, it’s my ritual“smiles the former European under-18 champion alongside Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet. Just that. The same goes for the matches of Pep Guardiola’s team, “it’s my fan side of tactics”. Without forgetting to regularly take a look at the news of FC Nantes, “my club” as he affectionately calls it. “I’m still told a lot about it, here there are a lot of club supporters”, assures the former Trojan. He also talks about it a lot, he reads, he watches in the morning, noon and evening, with family or friends. “I am a real enthusiast.“A football fanatic keen to perpetuate the legacy of his illustrious trainers.”I was an average player and they made me click and I owe them a lottestifies Medhi Leroy. They made me love learning. It’s really something that suits me.“

Life is about emotions and football is a well of them and without that, I don’t know what I would have become.

Nine years after having definitively hung up his crampons in Cholet, the midfielder retains from his career “the moments spent together” more than medals and trophies. European evenings against Leeds, Newcastle, Villareal or Arsenal are part of it. “It’s precious“, he whispers. Sometimes he shares his memories with his young shoots.”Football is my life, it’s what fed me, it’s what allowed me, apart from my children, to have had real emotions, continues Medhi Leroy. I cried, I laughed. Life is emotions and football is a well and without that, I don’t know what I would have become.”