After a last Deligue 1 match on May 17, for a defeat in the lair of PSG (3-1), in order to validate a very satisfactory 11th place for a modest promoted, AJ Auxerre was entitled to seven weeks of vacation! The players of Christophe Pelissier began their pre-season preparation on July 7, under the passionate eye of a Guy Roux still present in the vicinity at Father-Deschamps (the training center is next to the stadium).
“It was, it seems, a little long, but in modern football, the players are sufficiently informed of their maintenance program for the holidays. We still notice the enormous difference between clubs in today's football… ”he launches in the column he holds for The Republican Yonne. The “Druid Bourguignon” recalls that AJA has played a single French Cup match in addition to the 34 days of Ligue 1, when PSG obviously concluded its XXL season at 65 matches with the final of the World Cup in the United States last Sunday (3-0 defeat against Chelsea).
Life was very different for Guy Roux at the time. It must be said that the emblematic coach of the Icaunaise training took control of the team in 1961 in the regional division, 20 years before installing the club in French D1. Based on a high -quality training center and a judicious recruitment, Auxerre has produced several epics in European cups (notably in the UEFA Cup) and was above all champion of France in 1996 and winner of the Coupe de France in 1994, 1996, 2003 and 2005.
Guy Roux dissatisfied for Ligue 1
Guy Roux is first worried about the health of high -level players. Many people continue a marathon of matches with their club and their national team. Luka Modric and Bradley Barcola finished the exercise 2024-2025 with 73 official matches in the legs! But the 86-year-old technician also points to the omnipotence of UEFA and FIFA competitions at the expense of the championship and the Coupe de France, which, he recalls, has no possible extension (except in the final).
“Let us add the number of days and nights in planes and preparation days, we can have 200 days of football per season. It's a beautiful job. The ultra imagination of UEFA and FIFA, which have priority in the choice of game dates in their competitions, seriously compromises the national calendar ”thus launches Guy Roux in The Republican Yonne.
