“WE will come back with a group of good football generation but for that, we need to build from the foundation, not from the roof.”
This was the statement from the new Fiji football coach Christophe Gamel, who is planning to change the fortune of Fiji football with his vision and projects which he brought from France.
Gamel who has been part of the Paris Saint-Germain FC as the assistant coach had also been the physical trainer for the Qatar national under-17 team for the qualification for the Asian Nations Cup in Yemen. He was also the fitness trainer at the Al Rayyan Sports Club.
He said Fiji had potential to improve their football standard in the country.
“Football standard can improve in future as I am working on that and we can produce very good players in future and we have a project in place and we need to have a seminar for coaches.
“I am a open-minded person and my desks are always open and anyone can come and see me if they want my help. I will do my best to help their teams and even some clubs have contacted me,” he said.
“We will work together and future planning is very important and we need to build better coaches who can go and help the teams. I want to move the process to schools to have their own academy because in future I will plan a way for the big clubs to have their academy for youths and develop them into the senior players.”
Gamel said football should be separated from schools.
“Schools are there to give education to children but not create football players. It is two different things, to create football players and to give education. These players could be contracted by the Fiji Football Association in future,” he revealed.
“I have asked the association to schedule a meeting with the minister for the Ministry of Youth and Sports. There could be problems sometimes with the communications since most coaches are teachers and trying to apply for leave is a big process with so much time being consumed.
“I need to discuss this since I know they are very important people and they can help us in a very good way.
“It might take us a minimum of three years but in the next 10 years we will have a competitive team for youth and senior side.”
Gamel said he was finding it hard to get the players who can play technical football.
“I do not see why we need to stop kick and chase football because in some matches we need this kind of play but this is not my point of view.
“I have studied some games and for me the key is to keep possession and to go vertically and that is why I am changing players in the team.
“I want more technical players and to be honest it is very difficult to find. In future the youths will develop their own skills,” he said.
“There are good coaches out there. When there are problems in the organisation I will help them. I hope they will learn with a good mind and to apply what they are learning.
“We have to take a new step and I am transforming this and I need the support of everyone, including the association. Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel is a very good person and he understands what my plans are.
“The association also needs to show they are ready to make steps moving forward. They have been very supportive in terms of the drug testing. I have conducted a drug test already but I won’t be able to tell you more because I am making a drastic steps and when everything is ready I will be able to tell more.”
He met Fijian star Roy Krishna in Australia last week and he was impressed with him.
“It is my normal duty to look at the players performance and nothing special with Roy Krishna as well.
“Roy is one of our players and it was important for me to see him because I have seen some of his videos.
“For me, it was not enough as I wanted to go and see him in person on the field and how he moves with and without the ball. I also looked at how he works with the team and I am happy with him.
