In the presence of the President of AS Monaco, Oleg Petrov and Paul Mitchell the sporting director, Philippe Clement was officially presented to the press this Wednesday at noon in Monaco. Oleg Petrov first of all wanted to thank the former coach of the Principality, Nico Kovac, for all his work within the club. He then highlighted the career of Philippe Clement who “has an ambitious profile and who has the experience it takes as a coach and that he had as a player before” to be the man for the job. AS Monaco.
Paul Mitchell meanwhile said that a new face must be given to AS Monaco. “In order to give ourselves the best chances of achieving our goals, we had to make a change within the club. The best profile that emerged is that of Philippe Clement. We have a keen eye on the Belgian championship with the Cercle de Bruges and Philippe’s performances obviously did not escape us. We are very happy to welcome him today. “
Philippe Clement began by explaining the club’s ambitions. “It’s a very nice project with a lot of young people and experienced players, it’s a good balance. I’m happy to be in one of the top five championships in the world today.”
Asked whether he has already been able to observe the qualities of his group, Philippe Clement returned to the last eventful days spent within the club. “Everything went very quickly. We started the discussions last weekend and since the meetings have followed in addition to training. I watched several club games this week but I will need some time to adapt. Today ‘yeah I’m going to have to get to know each player. “
“Ligue 1 does not have a lot of difference with the Belgian league”
Regarding his vision on Ligue 1, Philippe Clement said he was closely following the performance of his former jewel at Club Brugge, Krepin Diatta, and having analyzed the championship following his two meetings against Paris Saint Germain. “I followed a lot of Monaco matches following the departure of Krepin Diatta and I analyzed Paris Saint-Germain for our Champions League matches. The scouting cell also gives me a lot of information on interesting players in the championship . Ligue 1 is a very physical championship with a lot of commitment. There are not many differences with Belgium even if the level is higher. That does not change the differences in the style of play with the Belgium.”
Regarding his departure from Club Brugge, Philippe Clement believes that there is no ideal time. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been thinking about the perfect time to quit something. As a player it was the same thing but in the end I learned that the perfect time doesn’t exist. You can have a road in your head for the future but it is never this that you take. I did not think of leaving Bruges now but there are always circumstances, a project that comes to you. As I read, it has been several years since a Belgian trainer had not come from Belgium to France any more, the last being Raymond Goethals more than 30 years ago, that is to say, that is why I think that when the train passes, it is necessary to take it. “
On his goals with Monaco, Philippe Clement does not hide his ambitions. “Me, I want to win everything. That’s my goal. I’m unlucky that sometimes it’s not possible, but that’s life. You have to do everything on a daily basis to create winners in my core.”