Absolument non, Monsieur Faubert!

Setanta Sports bringt heute ein Interview mit West Hams Mittelfeldspieler Julien Faubert. Darin spricht er ziemlich offen über seine Probleme, sich an den englischen Stil (im Match und im Training) zu gewöhnen, und über die Unterschiede zwischen englischem und kontinentalem Fußball. Faubert glaubt daran, dass sich der Klub für einen Europacup-Platz qualifizieren wird.
Auch das Gerücht, dass Giovanni Trapattoni zu West Ham kommen könnte, wird wieder aufgewärmt.
Dass ich davon absolut nichts halte, habe ich schon einmal deutlich gemacht.
Mag sein, dass es taktische Lücken ("tactical gaps") in West Hams Spiel gibt - und Mr. Curbishley ist daran sicher nicht unschuldig -, aber der Defensivspezialist, der derzeit bei Red Bull Salzburg auf der Betreuerbank sitzt, ist sicher nicht der Richtige, um West Ham weiterzubringen.
"Trapattoni? Absolument non, Monsieur Faubert!"

Hier das Interview mit Julien Faubert:

"I have a person at the club who speaks French and helps me with the translation and he is Italian and speaks to me about [Trapattoni’s possible arrival].
"He would be a huge boost for our tactics because we have gaps in that area of the game, on the defending and positioning aspects.
"His arrival is possible, it is up in the air. I don’t know if it will happen or not.
"For the moment only bad things happened to me, first the injury, then the robbery. It was difficult, especially when you move to a new club, but it is part of the past and I am looking for better days. "Being a starter is the next objective, but I have to pass stage after stage. I have been waiting for six months so I can wait for a few more weeks. I am not at my top form yet so I won’t risk being stupidly injured again.
"They do everything upside down and everything is different here and the league can’t be compared to the French one.
"They fight for every ball and the refs don’t whistle often. Then, the games are much quicker, they are not focused on tactics at all, there is no time to rest.
"You arrive at the stadium an hour before the game, contrary to in France where you are away with the team in a hotel a night before.
"It shows you if you are a professional or not because you are your own boss. It’s up to you to eat well, to drink enough, and to rest to be ready on D-day. We rarely speak tactics at training. It’s only based on little games and since I’ve been here we have just done two tactical training sessions, we just do games, try to play in little spaces with everybody in the front.
"They had ideas about French players so they tested me when I arrived; kindly kicked me (laughs). What is good here is that they kick you, then you kick them, but nobody complains, it’s just part of the game.
"Honestly, you have to be physically strong; everybody is big in my team, apart from the small strikers. They don’t like cry babies, players who stay on the grass. You have to accept being kicked and give it back to them.
"It’s their game and if it happened at training in France it would finish in brawls, but here the mentality is different.
"I think that we haven’t been lucky from the start of the season because many players have been injured, a lot of recruits have been injured, but players are starting to come back, Craig Bellamy for example.
"I think that we can qualify for a European cup, that is the club’s aim. I think that we can do it.
"They want to create a new training centre and within two or three years to create a new stadium a little less big than Emirates Stadium but the same kind."

PS: Montag Abend spielte Julien Faubert in einem Trainingsmatch gegen die Queens Park Rangers. Beim 2:1 - Sieg von West Ham waren auch Craig Bellamy, der der walisischen Nationalmannschaft abgesagt hat, und Bobby Zamora im Einsatz.