William Stanger : « It certainly brings back fond memories»

William, the Gambardella Cup is a familiar competition for you...
It inevitably brings back good memories, joys, collective moments, moments of play... We're entering a competition that the players, staff and directors are looking forward to with enthusiasm. You have to make sure you live it to the full, create memories as a group and enjoy yourself at the same time - that's why we're out on the pitch.

Could you imagine reliving the Gambard' in a different role? 
Becoming an educator was something I'd wanted to do for a long time. But to find myself here 21 years later is special, it's emotional.

What state of mind are your players in? 
You can feel the excitement, the players have already been talking about it for several days. It's the start of the saga of a competition that's really special. Young people are very attached to this Cup. We want to live it to the full and try to go as far as possible. There's certainly a lot at stake, but there's also the whole atmosphere that goes with it.

Will sharing your experiences be part of the pre-match preparations? 
I might mention the apprehension of the emotions, but the challenge is to remain ourselves or for the group to remain itself, and above all not to overplay, so that we can express our collective qualities to the full. 

We remember that you were part of that brilliant generation with Grégory Bourillon, Jacques Faty, Arnold Mvuemba, Yoann Gourcuff, Jimmy Briand... Is it enough to have the best players to win the Gambardella? 
No, you need a collective. For individuals to shine, the group has to be strong. You need personality from everyone. Talent, collective ideas, a lively group and character are what we need to create the right chemistry. 
 

How would you judge this generation? 
There are players who play every day in the Pro 2 group and others in the training group. We don't have experience of all the training sessions during the week. So we have to try and create something with the time constraints we have.

What do you know about your first opponent? 
We're going to take Saint-Brieuc very seriously, a team playing in the U18 R1 division, top of their league and on a good run of form. It's not going to be an easy game, and we know that, so it's up to us to do our job and get through this round.

Stade Rennais F.C. have failed to reach the final once or twice in previous seasons. Does that add extra pressure?
We're trying to use that to understand and identify where we're lacking so that we can go further. Every year there are different generations and different periods, so it's difficult to draw many conclusions.