Juninho facing the media, here in August 2020 during the Final 8 of the Champions League in Lisbon. FRANCK FIFE – AFP or licensors
- Just two years ago, Juninho arrived as a real “child king” at OL, with whom he had won in the 2000s, the club’s seven French championship titles.
- After the failure of Sylvinho, who was also his, the Lyon sporting director has found himself since Tuesday, in full media settlement with Rudi Garcia.
- Could this episode, to say the least unusual for OL, weaken “Juni”, attracted to the field as Garcia reproaches him?
Even Bernard Lacombe and Claude Puel had never offered us such a settling of media accounts in the history of OL. Since Tuesday, the now ex-Lyon coach Rudi Garcia and sporting director Juninho have unveiled, with wagons of punchlines and a fascinating transparency, to which point their collaboration had, for many months, become impossible. While Lyon’s leaders are working hard to convince Christophe Galtier to join them, can this lunar epilogue in a club known for its stability weaken Juninho, two years after his great return to OL?
Rudi Garcia accuses him, in bulk, of sulking when his Brazilian recruits (Bruno Guimaraes and Jean Lucas) do not play despite the good times for the club at the end of 2020, of “getting angry with everyone” at OL, from Bruno Cheyrou (head of recruitment) to Vincent Ponsot (director of football) via the training center, to “talk to the players behind his back”, to only discuss with him “the composition of the teams and the tactical ”, and to be“ in impulse decision-making ”. Juninho was obviously not left out, Wednesday night on OLTV, when swinging (at least) as many niceties on the former Lyon coach.
Between Garcia and “Juni”, the supporters quickly chose their camp
For his ex-partner during the coronations of 2002 and 2003 Jean-Marc Chanelet, “” Juni “only reacted to the” war “launched by Garcia. He is a very whole person and their very tense relationship must have eaten away at him. “The omnipresence of Juninho within the professional group reminds the former Lyon right-back of the functioning of Bernard Lacombe:” As an advisor to the president, he often came to the locker room and spoke directly to the players. Finding Lyon supporters siding with Rudi Garcia and not that of Juninho is clearly more mission impossible than ever this week.
🚨 The exclusive interview with @ Juninhope08 🚨
Our Sporting Director takes stock of the season for Olympique Lyonnais in the program #OLNS, and discusses the objectives for the future! 🎙
Follow this interview live for free on #OLPLAY 👉 https://t.co/KB6UJRYYw8 pic.twitter.com/c23yIsy7bb
– Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) May 26, 2021
“On the one hand, there is a man who presents himself as not being guilty of anything like every time he fails with a club, believes Antoine (29), editor on the supporters site Commercial coffee. On the other, we have Juninho who recognizes that he may have failed but who learns from his mistakes and will not repeat them. From there, who do you think is easier to believe? However, do the supporters remain as excited about their sports director as they are when they take office?
“Juninho is a blessing for Lyon”
“I loved his speech on OLTV, who is always so honest and spontaneous, appreciates Alexandre (25 years). The transparency of the character reinforces the credibility of his words. Still, the main lesson for him after this Garcia episode is that his proximity to the field may be misplaced. But would he have had it with another coach? I have the feeling that it was a war of ego and not a sports director insisting on coping his trainer. “
“Juninho is in love with OL and despite these two difficult seasons, he is fortunate to have unfailing support from a very large majority of supporters,” says Clément (18). Jean-Michel Aulas knows how important he is in the relations between the club and its supporters. Beyond that, while he was sometimes considered too smooth and unobtrusive at the club because his speeches are rare, he was able to reaffirm a project, values and a positive and ambitious vision for OL. It is a blessing for Lyon. “
Sylvinho, Gouiri, the full-backs, Juninho’s failures?
Strong words for a seven-time champion of France in the greater Lyon of the 2000s, who has not yet been able to fully transmit his culture of winning to a club without the slightest trophy since 2012. “Juninho has a guiding thought for the club and he will do everything possible to imbue everyone in the club with it, continues Antoine du Café du Commerce. He is in the desire to build a group, a collective spirit not only between the players, but with the whole staff, from the stewards to the leaders. “
The failure from the outset of his compatriot Sylvinho on the bench, the departure he validated from Amine Gouiri, revelation of the Nice season, or the absence of major recruits in the positions of full-backs and winger does not tarnish- they not all the same his first two seasons in the skin of DS? “Juninho has never directly disappointed me because, for example, I am convinced that it was not him who brought Garcia back,” says Milazzo (23 years old). The problem is that there is Jean-Michel Aulas above him, who said he wanted to take a step back and leave the sporting powers to “Juni”, but who continues to manage everything in the shadows. “
“He would like a more direct influence on the ground”
Add to this the difficulties in stabilizing the organization chart around the Brazilian, between a Florian Maurice disappointed not to have obtained his post and since left for Rennes, and a Vincent Ponsot who spent last summer from deputy general manager of legal to general manager of the soccer. A promotion which is not without consequence on the field of influence of the former captain of OL. Could the latter find himself a coach in the coming weeks? A hypothesis in which Jean-Marc Chanelet does not really believe, who does not consider him “weakened by this episode with Garcia”.
We feel that “Juni” is close to the field, that he attends training more than other sports directors in Ligue 1, and that he would like a more direct influence on what happens there. But he saw with Sylvinho that this position was double or double. If that doesn’t work, what place does he find at the club next? I will be surprised if he takes over the team. “
An impression shared by Antoine, the day after Juninho’s long stint on OLTV: “I don’t think he’s looking for himself between a coach and a sports director. I do not see him capable of being on the bench because of his strong emotivity, and I think that he himself is aware of it ”. Not sure that OL need such a dramatic twist after this grim ending to the season without the Champions League.