Like my son Evan, I kicked the ball as soon as I started walking. There is also a somewhat mythical image that my mother cherishes: I’m a little over two years old, bottle in my hand and I’m banging my hands. Then he became a very fast striker. As a kid, I loved putting faces on my friends. That’s what pissed me off. I also lived 100 meters away from a court, and there was a concrete wall where you usually played tennis. I have tied strikes above. I’ve always been interested in that: hitting the target, working on the gesture, working on my striking technique.
Have you ever wanted to reverse roles?
I happened to go to Target. I loved diving. Even today, I sometimes go there at the end of a training session, even in the France team, but in my head it was always more about setting the goal rather than blocking the goal.
I tried to imitate Shevchenko. At some point, I even wanted to race like him. He had a look of his own, with his hips… The problem is, we don’t have the same figure at all, so it didn’t make any sense! »
Was it like that with your brother Roman?
My brother was in the youth selection between the ages of 14 and 16-17. He had forty selections with the France team. He was once of the same generation as Tite Henry, David Trezeguet, and Nico Anelka. He was my hero, the star of the village. Every time we passed people on the street with my mother we were told she was the pride of the area. He was destined to have a great career, and even gave me my first French team kit, which I’ve obviously collected fifteen times. Today, the fact that there is such a small goal-scoring race in the French team with Thierry Henry is also a nice wink (With his 49 goals, he was two lengths behind the record holder, Ed). My brother and Tite lost each other, and when I was playing for Arsenal, they found each other one day as if they had never left each other. Romain then went to see Tite in New York, and joined the medical staff in Monaco as a dietician when Tite was a coach there…they reconnected somewhat thanks to me, in the end.
Henry, was he the ultimate model striker in your eyes?
Obviously, she was one of my first reviewers, even if Andriy Shevchenko has always been my first model. There was also Roberto Baggio, at the 1994 World Cup: These are my first memories of the World Cup, there was no France, I have Italian roots, Baggio was style, elegance and something powerful.
How are things going for young striker Olivier Giroud all of a sudden? Does he copy?
Yes, I tried to imitate Shevchenko. At some point, I even wanted to race like him. He had his own look, with his hips… The problem is, we don’t have the same shape at all, so it didn’t make any sense. (Laugh).
What were you looking for as a striker?
Target adrenaline. I immediately realized that I wanted to do it with my life and score a goal, it is also the first goal in football, who wins the match. It’s also the hardest part, but I was immediately drawn to it. When I was little, we were two key players on my team: Jerome and me. He was a defender, I was an attacker. In general, the higher the level, the more likely you are to fall. I never backed down.
why do you think?
I think I have something innate: a good shot, a good position, the ability to keep my cool in certain situations… I worked a lot, be careful, but I think I still have that strength. I don’t need to know where the goal is when I’m in the penalty area. I know exactly where he is, even when things are going fast. In addition, if you look at it, many of my goals scored in the penalty area were scored with one touch.
Does that explain your last goal against La Spezia?
In this business, I am very close to the goal. There, you have to stay as focused as possible, with your eyes fixed on the ball until the last minute, and above all, because eight times out of ten this type of restart ends up in the stands, you have to use the right contact surface to be able to aim the ball perfectly. Against La Spezia, with all humility, I handle it so well that the ball goes without effect. If I succeed in this gesture, it is also because I was able to develop a sense of purpose and gravity … When we talk about technique in football, we often talk about hook, body feat, stride, roulette, but finishing in front of goal is also technical And you have to work hard every day.
Have you ever done visualization?
I was offered to do it, but no, I never took part in it.
How do you live the truth of existence at a time when it is said that your profile is on the verge of extinction?
I hope there will be others after me targeting men Because it’s a profile that helps the team a lot, which is helpful, but I know today we tend to prefer guys who go fast, who go deep, who are more explosive… Counterexample, there’s Haaland. We have the same physique, left foot, quality in the air, but he has this extra strength. For a player of this size, it’s pretty impressive.
Are there things you might take away from your fellow strikers in the France national team?
Che Antoine (Griezmann)His pass characteristic is the fact that he has a hand instead of a foot. I think I’ll accept Kylian’s explosiveness Favorite, necessarily, even if he knows how to do many other things. generous Favorite He also knows how to do everything, but maybe I will take advantage of the technical comfort in small spaces.
And what about them?
I think Kylian can take the lead. Perhaps Karim could have slammed the basketball in front of the goal, a gesture that I work a lot in, and sometimes I get disgusted with them in training. (Laugh). Instinctively, I think it could take some of my strength away.
Being an attacker is also the most ungrateful situation. You can go 90 minutes without touching the ball, win the World Cup without scoring a goal, and it’s often you who take the whistles…
In fact, I’m still in the spotlight. If you score, that’s very good, but if you don’t, you’re the first to be noted. It’s like the Guardians, you’re exposed. After that, I’ve always loved it. I never sought fame, but I was always willing to accept criticism. I don’t want to change my attitude to anything in the world. It’s hard to explain what it feels like to score a goal in the last minute against La Spezia. When that happens, you forget yourself, and you forget yourself so much that you take on the red. (Laugh). You cannot have such feelings while doing something else. Moreover, we have been talking about it recently with Zlatan, and this is what we miss most when everything stops. That’s why as long as our bodies allow us, we hang on.
“When you score a goal at the last minute, you forget yourself, and you forget yourself so much that you take the red. We’ve been talking about it lately with Zlatan, and that’s what we miss most when everything stops. »
Did you have a great relationship with Ibrahimovic?
We often talk about everything and nothing. After the match against La Spezia, I told him I thought he’d never seen that before: the guy who scores and gets a red afterwards! We mess around a lot together. We’re still five years apart and he knows I had a crush on him as a teenager. When I was 17 years old, he had already become Zlatan.
Do you think we don’t always understand the intricacies of your situation? We say to ourselves, for example, that in 2018, after the World Cup, you would like to have a board explaining to everyone what you did to help the France team.
Yes, even if I’m not going to repeat the date. Come: Against Australia, I come and do the second with Paul Favorite. Against Peru, if Kyks didn’t push it, I would probably score. Against Argentina, I help him. At the back, it’s work to undermine defences, I help open up spaces, and in the end, there’s nothing more beautiful than being world champion, even if there’s always going to be that little lack. I tell myself that by showing more speed I should score against Belgium. After that, it went like this. Now I’ve read players who say I never scored in finals, but I did score against Switzerland in 2014, scored three goals and assisted two at Euro 2016… At home, I even have a bronze shoe because I was the third best scorer in the competition. In the end, there’s also this goal-scoring thing, which isn’t obsessive, but warm in the back of my mind.
If you only had to maintain one goal, what would be the goal?
You will answer me yourself anyway. (Laugh). It’s Scorpio vs Crystal Palace (As of January 2017, editor’s note)Obviously, because it’s a crazy thing. Halftime, I see the slow motion and the guys say to me: “Do you realize what you did?” I think I’ve seen it 50 times and I’ve tried it many times in rehearsals, but everything has to come together, everything has to be perfect. Already, it is necessary that the right one be the one that makes you center, that the ground is slightly dampened so that the ball merges on your heels … There, I was touched by grace. I wanted to do this gesture, the acrobatic stuff, that’s my thing, but there, like that, it was crazy. It’s also essential to have hip flexibility, balance, and maximum success. Again, all is well.
“It is true that I eat kiwi every morning, but dancing, no, that is not my strong point at all.”
Have you always had this flexibility?
Always, and I stretch myself a lot not to lose it. In Italy, they recently repeated that I performed a contemporary dance in the Stubbs. In one article they wrote: “Gerrod’s secrets are eating kiwis and dancing.” It’s true that I eat kiwi every morning, but dancing, no, that’s not my strong point at all. (Laugh).
What is your relationship today with goalkeepers?
Fairly strong relationship, even if it’s here, now, they expect certain crazy situations because they know me by heart. Hugo (loris) Clever because generally he’s not the one who does the work in front of goal with us. We only do it with the goalkeepers the day before games and often with Steve or Mike or Alphonse, but when Hugo is involved he sometimes regrets being there. (Laugh).
Interview conducted by Maxime Brigand and Matthew Rollinger in Clairefontaine
#Jerrod #dont #change #job #world
