Yoann Gourcuff - a fall from grace

Yoann Gourcuff.

In 2009, French midfielder Yoann Gourcuff, playing for Bordeaux on loan from AC Milan at the time, was considered one of the best midfielders in the game. “Le successeur” translated to ‘the successor‘ as the French media dubbed the good looking, but shy Gourcuff as the heir to France legend, Zinedine Zidane, had a torrid time at AC Milan resulting in his loan move to Bordeaux. With that, Gourcuff found a place called home at the Stade Chaban-Delmas – contributing 30 goals in 49 games in his first season as Bordeaux ended up as French league and Coupe de la Ligue champions. Gourcuff’s move to Bordeaux was made permanent in 2009/2010 for an approximate £11.8 million deal where he continued to impress, spearheading Bordeaux to the Trophée des champions and quarter-finals of the Champions League. The future seemed bright for Gourcuff. However, a wretched and controversial 2010 World Cup campaign and an injury-hit career at Lyon later, Gourcuff considerably had a fall from grace to where he is now currently, not as highly regarded as he used to be.

Successor to Zidane?

“He [Gourcuff] has a lot of technical qualities. He is a player who can be decisive in extra time and in the final pass.” – Jean Makoun

Gourcuff, now 25, had the world at the palm of his hands from 2008-2010 – in that period, the playmaker had directly contributed to 49 goals in 91 games for Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux, quite a remarkable return; while in that period, he also won 4 major trophies while collecting a plethora of individual honours such as 2008-2009 Ligue 1 Player of the Year, 2009 France Football French Player of the Year. He was part of Ligue 1′s Team of the Year for 2008-2009 as well as 2009-2010.

The comparisons to Zidane seemed to be vindicated heading into the 2010 World Cup – not only did they both come from the same school, play similarly, and achieve success for Bordeaux, but they were similar in build and height (both standing at 6 foot, 1 inch) and were both able to operate as a withdrawn striker or a trequartista. Fellow French international, Franck Ribery had mentioned the similarities between the two players as well, stating that he gets “the same sensations” with Gourcuff “that I had when I played in the team with Zidane.”

“Apart from the imagination of a No 8 [creative midfielder] and the talent and technique of a No 10 [withdrawn striker], he [Yoann Gourcuff] has the strength of a No 6 [defensive midfielder.] I felt ill when Zidane retired. Watching Gourcuff has cured me. When I see players like him, I feel like a small boy again.” – Former France international, Christophe Duggary.

Wrongly sent off – Gourcuff.

However, the fall from grace was to begin for Gourcuff. In what turned out to be a civil war for the French national team, France suffered a World Cup campaign to forget as Les Bleus finished last in Group A behind Uruguay, Mexico and South Africa in what was seen as an easy group, but it was the off-the-pitch incidents which played a key role. Nicolas Anelka was dismissed from the French camp after disagreements with manager-at-the-time, Raymond Domenech which led to a training boycotting led by Patrice Evra.

As for Gourcuff, he had his own problems – he was rumoured to being isolated by his fellow internationals, training and eating alone with no form of socializing with the other players as L’Équipe reported that Gourcuff had lost the faith of France’s senior players. Some players were judged to have a grudge towards the Bordeaux man as reports were leaked that Anelka and Ribery deliberately ignored Gourcuff in the game against Uruguay, choosing not to pass the ball to him when given a chance. Dropped for the game against Mexico, Gourcuff regained his place in the team for France’s final game against hosts, South Africa – however, he was wrongly sent off in the 25th minute after an unintentional clash with MacBeth Sibaya which all but ended Gourcuff’s terrible first World Cup campaign.

“It is no coincidence these are the players who have frozen Gourcuff out in South Africa. They resent the way the French press builds Gourcuff up as Zinedine Zidane’s successor. They envy the positive attention he receives from the media. They regard him as arrogant and pretentious because he reads books and expresses himself eloquently when analysing a game.” – Irish Times.

Lyon's latest acquisition – Gourcuff.

Returning from South Africa, Gourcuff was still highly rated due to his domestic exploits from the previous two seasons and was linked with moves away from Bordeaux with Real Madrid, Arsenal and Lyon all reportedly interested – in the end, he chose to move to Bordeaux’s rivals, Lyon for approximately £19 million, becoming France’s most handsomely paid player at the time, earning over approximately £70,000 per week.

“I want to thank everyone at Bordeaux. They helped me improve as a player. I now want to work hard, progress and win trophies by becoming part of this Lyon team and helping the club achieve its goals. This is a new start and a real challenge.” – Yoann Gourcuff.

However, Gourcuff’s new adventure with Lyon has been a disaster up till now with constant injury problems sidelining him. The World Cup saga seemed to be having an effect as when fit, he didn’t seem confident on the pitch, appearing to be trying too hard under such high expectations as it seemed the pressure was getting to him.

“The flak Yoann Gourcuff has been taking recently has really got on my nerves. Picking on him will only knock his confidence. He is a shy guy anyway, so constant criticism won’t do him any good. As a player, you can’t just ignore the critics.” – Arsenal legend and former France international, Robert Pires.

To make matters worse, Gourcuff had problems adapting to manager at the time, Claude Puel’s 4-3-3 formation as the Frenchman was used to having a team built around him at Blanc’s Bordeaux.

“My vision of football is very close to Laurent Blanc’s. I’ve adapted to Claude Puel’s vision, but it’s different to mine.” – Yoann Gourcuff.

Injury prone – Yoann Gourcuff.

Gourcuff’s first season at the Stade de Gerland ended with only 4 goals and 5 assists in 36 games and the following 2011-2012 season under new manager, Remi Garde wasn’t made any easier for him as he missed Lyon’s pre-season preparations after being forced to undergo surgery on his left ankle in July 2011.

“Yoann has had personal problems because of his injury but in particular, with him, people are always watching to see if he’s playing, if he’s not playing, if he’s playing well or badly, if he’s going to return to his Bordeaux level, or whatever. – Teammate, Lisandro Lopez.

When fit again, he played second fiddle to Lyon youth product, Clément Grenier before another injury in February 2012 sidelined him once again for 2 months. In the space of 2 years, Gourcuff had drifted from France’s golden boy into obscurity as the world got very few glimpses of the explosive talent everyone witnessed during his Bordeaux days.

“He’s [Gourcuff] a good player but I ask myself if he got it wrong going to Lyon. I don’t get the impression it suits him.” – Former France international, Willy Sagnol.

Gourcuff in action against Brazil.

While Gourcuff’s Lyon career had been stuttering, his international one was gaining pace as he reunited with former Bordeaux and new France manager, Laurent Blanc following the 2010 World Cup as the Lyon man played a key role for France in qualifying as they topped their group for EURO 2012, however, his last appearance for France came in March 2011 due to the many injuries he had suffered since.

Making a return for Lyon in April ahead of EURO 2012, Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas was confident that at least 5 good games for Gourcuff, and he’d make the France team – Gourcuff showed signs of improvement and having played a total of 340 minutes of football since his return against Toulouse, he was selected for Blanc’s preliminary squad much to everyone’s amazement. Was it a case of favoritism seeing as the two worked with each other at Bordeaux? Blanc explained himself:

“During his long absence, no-one has imposed themselves in his area [playmaker] of the pitch. [Regarding suggestions that Gourcuff's 2010 World Cup could have an effect on the current squad] Don’t make him out to be a wolf, because he isn’t one.” – France manager, Laurent Blanc.

If Gourcuff was to make the final 23 man squad for France this summer, it’d be a great achievement given the injury-hit season he’s had but it could also provide him the platform to get his career back on track with France being potential dark horses in the tournament. As for the 2012/2013 season, Gourcuff, who turns 26 in July, could be handed a fresh start for Lyon but I feel his progress has stagnated in his time there and a move abroad would help him, particularly Arsenal as does Robert Pires:

“I know Arsenal well and it would be ideal for Gourcuff. Wenger rarely fails to help a player, particularly if they are French.” – Arsenal legend and former France international, Robert Pires.

A change of scene bundled along with the French environment at Arsenal, along with a manager such as Arsene Wenger could very well revive Gourcuff’s career just as Wenger did with Thierry Henry and Robert Pires. Gourcuff still has time on his side to regain his Bordeaux form which made him so coveted and prove why the media were right to label him les successeur in the first place.