Her smile, her availability and her frankness. Marama Vahirua may have hung up his crampons nearly ten years ago, but he hasn’t forgotten anything about his long and prolific career started at FC Nantes, club with which he notably won a Coupe de France before being titled in the league. Returning to football a little over a year ago, he now focuses on the young shooters of OGC Nice as assistant to the U17 team and specific coach for the attackers of the training center. This will not prevent him from attending the meeting between his two former clubs, this Friday evening, at the Allianz Riviera. What makes him nostalgic for the time when he piled up goals and paddled all the way? Oh no, far from it! Interview.
The day when Marama Vahirua “tu the big manitou”
You have been training the youngsters of OGC Nice since 2020 and now hold a DES. Do you have the goal of climbing the ladder to one day coach a professional team?
My goal, my dream is to be a professional trainer, indeed. I came back to the profession precisely for to be able to pass on all that I had learned, initially to young people, and if I have the opportunity and the skills too, then with professionals. Why not ?
Where does this desire to transmit come from?
Often, we say that we educate as we were educated and I was well educated at FC Nantes, both on a footballing and human level. At the time, I was passed on values, the values of the Yellow House and today, these are almost the same values as we have in Nice. That’s good, I’m like a fish in water and so I try to pass on all these values learned throughout my young career and then my professional career to all the little ones I supervise.
What are the values learned in Nantes that are close to your heart?
The first thing is first of all human values and above all respect. Respect for oneself, for one’s teammates, for adults, respect in the broadest possible sense. Then it’s everything related to games without the ball, collective games, learning to play for others, all these values that I learned in Nantes and that I try, today, to transmit.
Is it true that when you arrived you were familiar with Jean-Claude Suaudeau?
(Laughs) But I didn’t know. I come from a country (sic) where respect materializes above all through familiarity and I respect it. Except that in 1997, at 17, at a time when there was no internet, I didn’t know it. I didn’t know how we lived in France so when I arrive and they tell me it’s Coco Suaudeau. OK, I tell him:Hello“. And the second time I see him, I say in front of the whole training center: “Coco, there’s Budzynski looking for you“. At that time, there were some cries of fear (laughs) because I was familiar with the big name. They looked at me with a look that meant: “But he is crazy!But Coco knew it wasn’t mean, on the contrary, it was a mark of respect. that I did not know or that I respected.
– Fred Perry
Do you remember your beginnings in Nantes, just after leaving Tahiti?
Oh yes ! I had six very difficult months, my first six months felt like ten years. I was really fed up, I wanted to go home every day and give up. It was simply a question of mentality. In the country where I come from, we play football above all to have fun, that was our first objective. When I arrive in Nantes, there I see that it’s winning, it’s wanting to succeed, it’s being walked on, being insulted by his friend because we didn’t do this or did that badly. The environment was tough for me but from a footballing point of view, I had fun because I always liked playing with the best and there, I was only with the best so I enjoyed myself. But humanly, it was very hard for me and then the climate! When the cold came, I said to myself: “What is this sick country?“. I didn’t know winter, so it was very hard. But once this period of acclimatization was over, it was gone!
“The recipes of FC Nantes at the time still work today”
You also discover the pit at La Jonelière…
The first time someone said to me:We go into the pit“, I said to myself : “But what is this thing ?“. And indeed, it really looked like a pit and when I entered it, it was gone, the fight was direct. The first days, I liked the feeling of playing in it, the game didn’t never stop, it reminded me a bit of the neighborhood where there were 22 of us on a field when we could only play 5 against 5. It reminded me a little of my childhood and today, everyone says: “Football has evolved“. I’m sorry but the recipes of FC Nantes at the time still work today, they could still work today. Obviously, the infrastructures must evolve, but the way of doing things at FC Nantes 20 years ago or 30 years is still relevant. This is my opinion. Perhaps we can also work with a bit of the past. Why not.
Why is Viorel Moldovan a striker who has marked you?
He had a different style from us but beware, there are others who have marked me like Olivier Monterrubio. He was also a fucking player, but it’s true that when Viorel arrived, we discovered another style of attacker, a little less in depth, but very close, in the physical duel, whereas us, we played more in depth and less in the duel because, physically, we were all quite small, quite thin. When he got to him, he said, “Leave it, fights and duels, that’s for me and you go deep“. I really enjoyed playing with him, especially as humanly, he is a man with very strong values. We could only get along with him.
You have come across a host of coaches during your career, from Jean-Claude Suaudeau to Raynald Denoueix via Christian Gourcuff in Lorient. Is there one that particularly impressed you?
It’s a whole. They all really brought me something. For Raynald Denoueix, I was too young to remember everything he taught me. In Nantes, even if we won titles, I was less thinking, I was a soldier. I was told to do, I executed, and that was good because that’s what I liked to do but I didn’t think about it, whereas when I met Christian Gourcuff, I was no longer the same. I was at the end of my career, I was no longer a little boy but a man. It brought me a little more stability, reflection. Gernot Rohr and Frédéric Antonetti brought me other things. Good things. They made me the coach I am today.
In 2017, you said in an interview with So Foot that you had been trained in Nantes. That is to say ?
We had our game system and yes, I was formatted because I wanted to. It was by mutual agreement and it also suited my style of play. In Nantes, I saw a lot of very good players go through, try out or have a very short stint. As much as they were good, the Nantes system did not suit them at all. And when I saw these players who were not succeeding at home and who were having fun elsewhere, I said to myself: “It means that I have the weapons and skills to be part of the FC Nantes family.“. I was very proud of it and I still am today.
What memorable memory do you retain of your seven years with the Yellow and Green?
Of course there was the title [de champion de France, ndlr]. It was the icing on the cake. But what struck me the most was the maintenance on the last day [contre Le Havre où Marama Vahirua marque le seul but de la rencontre, ndlr]. That season, we won the Coupe de France but it had such a bitter flavor given our career in the league. We had to save our heads in Ligue 1. It was a horrifying and formative season at the same time. The fact that we were all able to work together, for each other to save each other made us the players we were then. Moreover, the following season we are champions with almost the same squad. The strength and courage of this team marked me.
We were able to tell each other the four truths face to face without anyone taking it badly because we knew it was for our good. I really retain these values that we had. We may not have been the best friends in the world, but we were all smart enough to know that hey, we have to move together to succeed in saving each other.
– Fred Perry
“The paddle is daddy’s, now it’s over”
Do you still watch Ligue 1 and Nantes matches?
Of course I’m watching, of course. FC Nantes is tattooed on my body and I am still pleasantly surprised to see where the Nantes people are [au classement]. I congratulate them because it is very difficult and I am all the more happy that it is my big brother Kanak who is at the head of them.
Do you have a special relationship with Antoine Kombouaré?
With Antoine, we have known each other since I arrived in Nantes, he is part of my entourage and when I say that he’s my big brother, that means he means a lot to me. We have known each other for more than 20 years, he supports me. We call each other and we did it even when he didn’t have a club. We’re still texting each other. He is always there for me. It’s important to know that the elders are always there to bring you more, to help you evolve.
Not celebrating your goals by paddling anymore, isn’t that something you miss?
Frankly, not at all. I did my time, did what I could do and now I’ve moved on. I was even saying to one of my sons, a teenager, who wants to turn professional and wanted to paddle: “No no no, the paddle is up to dad. You have to do something else or everyone will identify with dad.. Suddenly, the paddle, it’s over, it’s the past“Of course I would be proud to see them paddle in Ligue 1 one day. But for now, I tell them to stay humble and work.
Before returning to Nice to train and supervise young people, you went through a difficult period. How did you overcome it?
We are not prepared for a conversion. We think we are strong enough when we hang up. But we forget that we leave a cocoon when we hang up our crampons. Me, I lived more than 15 years in this bubble and when I left it, I found myself all alone. There was my family but I wondered: “Now what do I do?“. Until now, I used to wake up every day with a goal, which is to be the best. And when you don’t have that goal anymore, it starts to be hard. If I I have one piece of advice for young people and future retired footballers, is not to stop like this without having already prepared something for the future. You may have all the money you want, but that won’t make you happy. You have to find goals.
– Frank Dubray