Former emblematic scorer for PSG and Le Havre, Guillaume Hoarau has now swapped the crampons for the microphone of League 1+. Having become a consultant, the former French international is gradually building a new voice in the football landscape, with his player’s outlook, his taste for humanity and an approach nourished in particular by philosophy. For French Football Weeklyhe looks back on this transition, his way of exercising this new profession and also looks at PSG, its ambitions and the new season which is looming.
“I don’t play a role on television, I stay myself”
French Football Weekly: you recently took on a new dimension in your role as a consultant. What was the most difficult part of this transition from the player you were to the consultant you became?
Guillaume Hoarau: the most difficult thing was to look at my performances, to try to be objective and to judge myself without being too harsh in relation to what I can do and the means at my disposal. Then, we had to find how to develop this new activity and ensure that I, Guillaume, the former player, then today the consultant, could be comfortable in this role. It obviously involves a lot of work and a lot of reading. I read philosophy in particular. I try to find a balance between football and other areas. I can read twenty minutes on football then twenty minutes of philosophy, for example. It’s a way for me to broaden my thinking. Today, when I am in the field, I especially ask myself what I can bring that is different from what Xavier (Domergue, journalist editor’s note) or the other consultants are already doing. We talk about images, slow motion, emotion, but behind all that, there are men. I have always been a locker room player, attached to the team, and I have always liked the image. So I try to highlight the human behind the player. Because behind a footballer, there is also an identity, a story, a personality.
FM: What place does philosophy occupy in your way of working and thinking today?
GH: she helped me a lot in my transition. I often say it, when you are not doing well, when you have dark thoughts, once you have reached the limits of psychology, philosophy can take over. Philosophy is learning to think better in order to live better. Personally, it helps me a lot. Today, it also helps me in my work. When you read, you necessarily expand your vocabulary, your way of thinking and your way of expressing yourself. Orality is an art and it is not something obvious. So I told myself that I had to take this consulting role as a real job and work to progress. I’m not saying it’s the best method, but it’s the one that works for me.
FM: we also feel that you are very keen to remain yourself on the air. Is it important for you not to play a character?
GH: completely. If I am told at the start that I must be like this or like that, of course, that can make me react because that is not what I want to send back. What I want to be and embody is simply me. I’m not playing a role. It can sometimes seem strange or even a little off. I can put on my glasses and feel like I’m putting on my television speaker’s mask, but behind it, I’m still myself. People who know me know that the gap between who I am on television and who I am in life is not huge.
FM: When you become a consultant after a playing career, it can also be difficult to take an objective look at your former clubs. How do you manage this situation with PSG or Le Havre?
GH: Obviously, I try to be objective. My goal is to step aside and tell myself that I am simply the microphone, the voice that people hear on television. My eyes are there to convey to them what they don’t necessarily see or what they can’t feel from their couch. Afterwards, I remain human. I have the right to have feelings and feelings. But in my judgment, I really try to be impartial and objective. Whether it’s Paris or another team I’ve known, I’ll be able to say it’s not good when it’s not. Always with respect and taking into account the context.
FM: do you think that your background as a player can be an advantage in understanding certain situations that other consultants cannot necessarily perceive?
GH: certainly. When you have experienced a locker room, the pressure of a match, the doubts or the moments of confidence, you can inevitably have a different reading of certain situations. But this should not become an excuse to explain everything through the player’s experience. You also have to know how to step back and analyze what is really happening on the ground.
“Luis Enrique always exudes a lot of courage”
FM: to talk about PSG, you say that you have to know how to be critical. But over the past two years, it’s hard to find many negative things to say about this team. How do you view this new season after everything the club has accomplished over the last two years?
GH: Today, I am no longer a PSG player and I am not inside the club. So I observe from the field. If I refer to what I have seen in recent seasons, particularly in the state of mind and in this signing of Paris Saint-Germain on the pitch, I still find the same things. They won two years in a row and I feel like the message remains almost the same after these three seasons. Now I’m waiting to see the start of the season because there might be a little bit of tension in the air. There are still issues that have not been completely resolved with Barcola in particular.
FM: you are talking in particular about the departures of several executives from this epic. Do you feel that PSG must now succeed in rebuilding something with new players?
GH: there have been significant departures and new players have arrived. We must therefore recreate certain automatisms and a collective dynamic. But what strikes me is that Luis Enrique always exudes enormous courage and certainty in his convictions. For the moment, it hasn’t changed.
FM: Can Luis Enrique be the main guarantor of this continuity despite the changes in the squad?
GH: when you see them arrive on the pitch, it’s quite crazy because they are really in their bubble. We get the impression that they are convinced of their strength. Regardless of what happens during the match, the attitudes remain the same. As long as I see that, personally, I won’t be worried about Paris. When you see Real Madrid and the way the other teams are strengthening, you can tell yourself that this season is going to be different and that there will still be a lot of competition. But I think we shouldn’t worry too much about Paris. The vision is clear, everyone seems to know what they have to do and everyone is focused on the field to achieve results.
FM: so, after two consecutive titles, do you believe in a three-peat in the Champions League?
GH: I think it’s possible. Afterwards, in the Champions League, there are so many parameters and so many details that can be taken into account that it is impossible to guarantee it. But as long as I see this collective strength, this confidence and this ability to stay in their bubble, I think that Paris can still go very far.
