Goalkeeper for France and Montpellier, with whom he won everything, Vincent Gérard retired after the Paris Olympics. He discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the French goalkeepers as the Blues play against Kuwait this Thursday at 6 p.m.
Now retired from Metz, the former goalkeeper of the Blues and the MHB, Vincent Gérard has rubbed shoulders with the three goalkeepers of the French team, whether at club or national team. All born in Hérault (Montpellier for Desbonnet and Belhacène, Sète for Bolzinger), and passed through the MHB training. He gives his opinion on the play of the three 2024 European champions.
Rémi Desbonnet
Rémi Desbonnet (32 years old), had to move to Nîmes and be patient to join the French team. He now has 52 selections (since 2021).“He's the player with the most experience, the greatest European background and who, at the moment, is performing very well in his club”, explains the 2017 world champion. “He broke through late because there were people ahead of him”, continues Gérard.
On a mental level, “he's always had to be strong in his head, he's someone dominant, who wants to show that he's number 1 and take responsibility”, assures Vincent Gérard.
On the technical side, “we all know his quality of passing. Obviously, he is very good at it. He has a very good quality of analysis of the game”, says the former goalkeeper of the Blues. “Paradoxically, even if he is not very tall, I find him very good on shots from 9 meters. On high impacts, he tends to grow taller. He is very strong, he catches the ball with both hands.”
Smaller than his two teammates (1, 82 m against 1.91 m for Belhacene and 1.98 m for Bolzinger),“He is a little more limited by his size, on impacts at 6 meters, where he was forced to adapt his game, to put himself in a little more danger, to save a little more, because he has less amplitude than Charles can have.”
Charles Bolzinger
The youngest of the three (24 years old, 16 selections), but a rather unusual physique, very slender. “He takes up a lot of space, especially up close, analyzes Gérard. He has qualities of flexibility. We see with his big arms, his big legs that he raises, that he is capable of making a lot of saves at 6 meters. And in that, he is very complementary to Rémi.”
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“Paradoxically, at 9 meters, he needed to refine the style of goalkeeper he wants to be, Gérard continues. I often told him that I found him too nice, that 'he had to mark the opponent, the competition, a little more.”
On the mental level, “He's still young, so he needs to assert himself, to be mean in goal. It's a bit more complicated for him at that level.”
“He reached this level quite quickly. He was able to surf for six months where he was simply exceptional, notes the Messin. He was able to touch the French team. It's up to him to succeed in settling in there…”
A Montpellier school ?
Three goalkeepers, all of whom have been through the MHB training, should we see the existence of a goalkeeper school “made in Montpellier” ? Not necessarily to believe Vincent Gérard, who also went through the MHB center. “Rémi and I had a lot of training with Branco Karabatic. We were lucky that Montpellier used him. It was really a real plus for us”, concedes the Messin. "Charles and Samir too, they come from the area. They were hard workers, trained at the pole. We can take our hats off to the Montpellier pole for that. Sometimes generations come through. But it wasn't written for the two of them that they would reach a high level. Just as it wasn't written for Rémi and me either. We can only congratulate the French team for having managed to get the best out of these players", explains Vincent Gérard.
And to put forward as explanations: "Maybe being in constant contact with the high level helped them progress. They grew up with the great Montpellier that won the Champions League. They saw those games and maybe it inspired them more than if they had lived in another region."
Samir Belhacène
Also arriving late in the French team, the Stuttgart goalkeeper took advantage of his time in Germany to see his popularity skyrocket and secure his place in the Bleus (29 years old, 15 caps). “He had 2 or 3 very successful months with Kiel. He was able to take advantage of them to reach the French team last January. He has reached this status,” says the man who was his teammate at MHB and Kiel. It was a little more complicated recently. The reality of the professional world is catching up with him. I am well placed to know.”
“He's the one who goes the furthest, warns Vincent Gérard. He didn't play much at the start of the season. He has qualities in between. A good recovery, a good reading. He takes up space. He is able to close the corners. He is an interesting goalkeeper. He may still lack international experience.” On the mental level, “there too, he is a bit in between, from what I perceive, continues Gérard. He may be looking for who he really wants to be.”
But for the goalkeeper with 157 caps, the Blues are armed. “The cards have clearly been redistributed since this summer. It's up to them to find a way to operate to bring the French team as high as possible.”
On the occasion of the first match of the France-Qatar World Championships, Samir Belhacène and Rémi Desbonnet were preferred to Charles Bolzinger, who was finally in the stands. I subscribe to read the rest