Erick Mathé, new MHB coach: “The challenge will be to win a title after the Patrice Canayer era”

Montpellier will start its season on Tuesday in the Coupe de France. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

A few days before the start of the season, Tuesday September 3 in the Coupe de France in Sélestat, the new MHB coach Erick Mathé spoke to Midi Libre, answering questions about his way of training, his objectives and his squad.

First of all how are you ?

It's okay, I've recovered from that big disappointment with the French team. I've also gotten back into my professional and personal habits. I know this city and its surroundings well. I've found that rhythm again. I have to admit that when you come back from winning a competition, you arrive very tired. Firstly because you play more matches, but then because you celebrate it a little. So the elimination in the quarter-finals of the Olympics saved me that, but honestly, I would have preferred to arrive very tired…

It was an exceptional moment for the whole country, it was perhaps difficult to perceive in your bubble, but what did you remember from these Olympics??

Clearly, an exceptional craze. Obviously, we were much more in demand than during a normal competition. But when you go by bus to go to the match and you have the spectators singing on the side. And not only in the last meters of the course, but almost all the way. There were people from everywhere. Afterwards, the slightly negative aspect is that, yes, I think we were always in demand. And the fact that you play in France, of course, you have even more.

But not only partners or media, but also those close to you. So that wasn't easy to manage. Life in an Olympic village, whether in France or elsewhere, is also a disruptive element. Because you meet all the athletes from all over the world. And when you come across Léon Marchand or Antoine Dupont in your elevator… Obviously, it's not every day that I come across them. It's not a usual environment. We were more relaxed in Lille, even if it didn't last long. It was more like that kind of organization, despite everything. And the atmosphere in Lille was really exceptional in this stadium.

It was also an additional pressure to be at home, to have these Olympic Games in Paris ?

I think it's an additional pressure that we hadn't anticipated as much. Yes, there is pressure, it's a bit, to draw a parallel, like your first home match here in Montpellier. Of course, you have the pressure, because you want to do well. You know that you're going to be carried, but you know that there's a lot of expectation. All the more so for French handball. Almost all team sports have been in the final, except French handball. It's a bit like the world is upside down compared to what we used to see.

But it also carries you. I think we didn't measure it enough. It's this balance that's not easy to find. Obviously, you're carried. Obviously, you're at home. But you're also ultra-publicized compared to usual. Abroad, we always manage to put ourselves in our bubble, to better control our environment. Here, it's everywhere. Nedim Remeli who carried the flame in Créteil. Nikola Karabatic who carried the flame in Paris. It's right in the middle of your training schedule anyway. It's doable, but it's not easy. Yes, when he carries the flame at 10pm, we don't have any training. But during this time, he doesn't do his recovery, he's not focused. He leaves the bubble in quotes.

A club he returns to after six years

Do you feel like you're returning to the club you left six years ago??

Yes and no. Already, this place (the FDI Stadium) which has completely changed. It was a place that was perhaps a little old-fashioned, but which breathed a lot of things. I find that it brings another color, this place is interesting for the club. Inevitably, it can only be different when you have known for 30 years not just the same coach, but the one who managed the club's human resources (Patrice Canayer). So, inevitably, every day, in meetings, in reports to staff, we are a little waiting to know how I position myself, what my way of managing the whole thing will be. Even if I am not general manager, I have daily reports with the employees obviously. Whether it's to set up my office or the operating rules.

I know that there was also a questioning by saying that Patrice was ultra-rigorous. Will the club lose a little of this rigor?? I think that I am someone very rigorous. In any case, if we talk about it in Chambéry, they will say it without any hesitation in my opinion. But I have my own way of doing things. I am younger and I perhaps have a way of operating on a daily basis, I was going to say spontaneously lighter, but that is perhaps not the right term. But I have my way of being which is not Patrice's, obviously

Have you spoken with Patrice Canayer since your arrival ?

I had him before signing. I asked his opinion on the club, the staff, etc. I had him afterwards too, but not that much either. Because I know that Patrice is very interesting in discussions. But he also has very strong opinions. I also wanted to form my own opinion and not be overly influenced by his vision. Even if he always says very interesting things that should be taken into account. I also didn't want to model my vision on his.

Compared to what you found at the club, how is it going??

I feel comfortable. Certainly because I know almost all of them. I'm talking about the players, but I also want to talk about my staff. Because Baptiste Nicot (his assistant) worked with me in Bordeaux. Because Alain (Carmand, the physiotherapist) has become a friend beyond the colleague I had six years ago. We've always kept in touch over the last six years. In the administrative side, that's perhaps where it's changed the most. There, there's a way of working that needs to be rediscovered.

As for the players, they knew me as an assistant, either at the club or in the French team. There are still quite a few that I already knew. That makes things easier. Like in the French team, I was more in charge of designing training sessions. They are used to seeing me in the animation of training sessions.

His way of training

Are you going to continue to do it like that ?

Yes, yes. For me, it's not a problem to constantly make comparisons with Patrice. It's obvious. Patrice needed to train. I also think that I like it. Basically, I do this job for the training in the first sense of the term. I also need this educational relationship with others. I'm not a manager who watches the whole thing work and who just makes human choices. I need this contact. Afterwards, like everyone else, I may have moments of fatigue. It's also time for my staff to re-energize all that a bit and take charge of the group.

What did you learn from your time as Guillaume Gille's assistant in the French team ?

Lots of things. There, they are really the best of the best. I, who am used to training every day to help the players progress, or in any case this belief that it is from training to training that we help the players progress and that it is a cause and effect link. In the French team, you don't have time to really train, apart from preparing for the Olympics. And since you play every two days, I might as well tell you that training between matches is not where I rack my brains the most to design training.

We also had to swallow a bit of this frustration, because I want, I need to train. But we can see that the players are motivated differently. In addition, it's the new generation, they are addicted to videos, we have to give them material constantly. And the tactical exchanges are much richer than what I have experienced in a club. They hit it in a quarter of a second and they need to be constantly fed.

The data, the video… Has it become essential today ?

Yes, I really like to stick my nose in it. I watch between 10 and 15 matches a week I think. But I have that need.

Can we still surprise an opponent ?

I think it's quite cyclical. We see a really growing number of goals, with flat defenses, most of the time. But now, we're starting to see, in the European Cup or at the Olympics with Denmark, defenses that are getting bigger and bigger again. Denmark against us at one point they were almost in a 3-3. And that, we didn't see any more of that at all. And I think it's a bit cyclical and we're going to start seeing that again.

The seven-man game has prevented us from having these surprises. Because the solution has always been that we play with seven to break down that defense. I don't know if it will last much longer. They were waiting until after the Olympics to decide whether to stop playing with seven. We try to continue wanting to surprise. In Chambéry when we played Nantes for example, we couldn't beat them. The players said they might as well take risks. But who do you surprise the most?? You because you never prepared for them or the opponent??

For me there is another aspect. I don't remember who said this, but in football, a goalkeeper can stop most shots on penalties by staying in the middle of his goal and not moving. But what could that mean to everyone if you didn't move and they shot wide? ? It's that you didn't make the effort, it's that you're useless, etc. I think that in risk-taking it's a bit like that too. If it works you are the best in the world and if it doesn't work, what is this shitty coach? ? What did he bring out on us again? ? He has the best players on the planet but he takes risks. Does he need that to win? ? I think that the fact that we take fewer and fewer risks also, there is this side of being a little afraid of the return that can be made. Knowing that now we are seen from everywhere.

Before you could take your risk when you went to play in Ivry, you were sure that no one was watching you. Now that's not the case anymore. You make things a little more formatted. Because when you get out of that a little, if it works it's very good. But if it doesn't work you can pack your bags maybe and leave very quickly. Because it's not even about looking like an idiot. It's also your management that has pressure linked to that and can say to itself my coach is useless. I have to respond to public opinion.

What kind of coach is Erick Maté? ?

Those I work with can sometimes tell you that I'm annoying. When Chambéry contacted me, when Bertrand Gille called Fred Anquetil to find out what I was like, he said that I had a lot in common with Patrice Canayer. I think I'm someone who's very demanding and rigorous. I work a lot. My personal environment would say too much. I'm someone who, even if he's rigorous, is very annoying about certain rules, especially outfits, lateness, etc. For the rest, I'm pretty good at the exchange.

I think I can listen to the players when they want to talk to me, when they want to give their opinion. I think I created that in the teams I managed. I am currently surprised that no one speaks on video, whereas I am used to giving people the floor. And I like people to express themselves. So, of course, you have to decide, etc. But when we say that we are looking for leaders, the leaders have to express themselves. I don't know a leader who only listens.

So, my job is going to be that, it's going to be the emergence of these leaders. And I think that giving them a voice, allowing them to say what they think in the game, but also in the operation, is something that I think I can allow.

I sometimes hear that Montpellier hasn't won for six years, that maybe we should come in disguised, more modest… It sounds false I think

What are the objectives set by your president ?

They are always very high, obviously. I sometimes hear that Montpellier hasn't won for six years, that maybe we should come in disguised, more modest… I think it rings false. Yes, we don't have the means of PSG. I apologize for the parallel each time with Chambéry, but I was saying in Chambéry that we have a budget of 4.5 million, the ninth budget. But when you come to Chambéry, you feel the weight of history, you feel the past, and you feel that it sweats, it stinks of the high level. But here, it's the same. We feel that we are a false third in the championship.

We feel that we are capable of overthrowing Barcelona, ​​Veszprem… whoever. I told the players that bad words and good words, they spread. And if we get into the habit of saying that it's been six years since we won a title and Montpellier that we can no longer win a title, it's a collective belief that takes hold and that can become sustainable. But it's not to be positive at all costs, but I think that the good word also spreads. Maybe the environment got a little exhausted thinking it could win.

I may be presumptuous in saying that I arrive with a hunger to win. At first, I hesitated to tell the players, but I ended up doing it, because it is still a challenge for me. But I think it can be for others too. It will be the challenge of wanting to win a title after the Canayer era. It is a bit of a leap into the unknown to arrive after someone who has been at the head of the team for 30 years… That's what I also like about my job, in my daily life, it's not being routine, it's going to face the unknown.

Someone sent me a message saying how to dust off the MHB. It has nothing to do with it, the MHB has been largely dusted off. The MHB is an institution, but despite everything, I think that everyone can put their mark on this institution. I also have my mark to bring, my ideas to bring and my way of seeing things.

Montpellier's game is made up of defenses and counter-attacks, what more do you want to bring ?

It's something that speaks to me and suits me well. I come from women's handball, and women's handball and at the time, it's less and less true, we had difficulties finding solutions around the zone. The watchword for the girls was to defend hard and to project forward. It's something that has always driven and inhabited me.

I don't like trench warfare, where we play while walking, even in training, I prefer to do an hour and a quarter training session that will be dynamic, that will push, than to do two sluggish hours. I like it when there is high intensity, and we also give pleasure to the public.

I'm not sure that the spectators will love to see us cross the field walking, and make 12 passes before going to shoot. We must also answer that, of course we have a duty to achieve results, but we remain a spectator sport. I think that this is also a concept to develop, and so this style of play suits me rather well.

Compared to your squad, how many seasons will it take to truly build your model, your team ?

It's difficult. I was told in Chambéry that I had time to rebuild and that I was signing up for this duration. The first year, people never really have time. But the first year is the best we've had, we finished third and we won the Coupe de France. So I don't want to give myself time, I want to bite into what will be possible to do, and the road will indicate whether we should take a detour or whether we should go down that road.

And I draw a parallel, even with my career, I am an ambitious person. My detractors see that as a fault, I take it more as a quality. It has been said that I have a career plan… No, I have never had a career plan, I don't go where the wind takes me, but I go where I think the challenge excites me and that I am carried by it. I had spent three wonderful years here, but I felt that I needed something other than the challenge, it was my first three years as assistant, I wanted to take over the team.

And I was told, wait until Patrice Canayer stops. But I didn't know how long it would take, it's a bit like houses on life annuity, so I still preferred to take the detour. Alain Carmand had told me that I would come back here, he had said it when I left, but I didn't have that plan, honestly. I felt very good in Chambéry, I signed until 2027, I had no problem projecting myself there. So I don't have those plans. So I don't give myself any time, I'm a really bad loser, so I want to win right away.

When Montpellier called…

How did you react when Montpellier contacted you ?

I said “fuck off” ! No but it's true, it's not ironic ! I said “fuck off” because I had just re-signed in Chambéry. Of course there were already rumors, but the decision was in Patrice's hands, and I don't think he played on that, but he didn't know how to position himself yet, I really think so.

And my former president, who is far from being the last one, since I think that he and Patrice are the two oldest in French handball, he had sensed the blow. At the last match in December 2023, we had a meal with the employees, and I was leaving for the French team. He asked me to come, and he had a contract proposal for the next four years, which was far from being crazy, which was a very good position, and he told me: “You have two days to respond”.

The offer was nice, but two, once again I repeat, I felt good in Chambéry. So why would I send them a bad signal by saying, in fact you are the second choice, it's Montpellier first if I can. He gave me two days, and I said yes in 24 hours. So that's why it was annoying, for me it was impossible to come to Montpellier, I had three years left on my contract.

I think I must be the first coach to be bought out on a three-year contract. Already buying out a coach in France I don't think so, maybe abroad… So I told myself that it was dead, I think that Julien (Deljarry) did too, since his first choice wasn't me, so my first thought was really: “sucks”.

If we base ourselves on the alternation from one season to the next, next year Montpellier will finish second and Nantes will be third, that's the idea ?

If that's not the case, I'll be told straight away that I'm not as good as what was done before. (laughs). But it's true that it's hard when you're in the Champions League to take on both. We can see it clearly from season to season that there's this alternation. Maybe a season will come when the third-placed team will no longer be Nantes or Montpellier, but it might be Paris. They're not unbeatable, we can see that from season to season. In what order ? I have a little opinion on the order, but in what order will the first and second be ? It might be Montpellier and Nantes in the not-so-distant future.

Montpellier, Paris, Nantes, there's another team that could come and disrupt all that ?

In the long term, I don't think so. Occasionally, yes. Chambéry has already finished third. The year Montpellier finished fourth, Aix had stepped in. I think Aix was one of the obvious candidates to join that dance. They're a bit worn out at the moment. Afterwards, occasionally, I think there are teams that can get there. In the long term, today, I don't see. I think the gap is becoming significant.

The level of the Starligue has improved all the same?

I think so, yes. It has improved, maybe not at the top, more at the bottom, I think. We can't say that the teams at the top are clearly stronger than before. But we can say that all those at the back… That is to say that apart from the first 3-4, everyone from 4 to 10, it often becomes clear in the last days.

The Montpellier squad

If your president opens the checkbook, who would you recruit first, in what position do you need for next season ?

A pivot, that's undeniable. With the departure of Veron Nacinovic, it's a very important point. After, a player to replace Karl Konan, but would it be a specific defender or someone capable of doing both ? My absolute dream is to be able to attack and defend without changes. Defending and moving the ball without changes is still better. We can still save a little time on that.

Afterwards, it will depend on Cikusa's future. Will he be good? ? Will we want to extend this loan or buy him? ? If not, we will need a right-back, that's for sure. Of course, these are the key positions, but these are the targeted positions. But, we have to be on alert all the time now, because contracts don't mean much anymore. So, we have to be ready all the time. There, if you know that money is needed for a right back and a pivot, but all of a sudden, you are in demand because they are going to get you such and such a player, you may have to rethink the balance of the team, but also the financial balance.

Montpellier has always relied on its training center, on its youngsters. Are you going to continue to seek out youngsters, to work with the center??

Obviously, I have always had that fiber. I am taking a shortcut by saying that I was an assistant, but I did not arrive to be an assistant. I arrived to be responsible for the center at the base. It is because Fabrice Grasset was ill that I became an assistant. I was a pole coach for ten years. I have that fiber and it really matters to me. I think that, on the other hand, the model has changed a little.

Before, there were two training centers in France, Chambéry and Montpellier. They shared all the French nuggets. Now, you have the 16 clubs that work and offer good conditions. Sometimes, there are players who will want to go to PSG because it is PSG. Paris signs all its players from the training center with pro trainee status from the start. They have extra money. But there are players who choose a quick potential playing time because the youngsters are more and more impatient.

They will perhaps sometimes choose Créteil instead because they know that, almost from their second year at the center, they will be able to play with the pros. The competition is becoming more and more high on that. What I would like to convey as a message and as an orientation is to be very local in color at the center, in our pool and to go and get one or two major young players in France or abroad. I want to give a chance to the local training to emerge.

I think that given the results of the youngsters, we can see that there is still material. They are not regularly French champions, the under-18s, but they are not far behind every time. They were last year in any case.

Do you already have a hierarchy regarding your goalkeepers ?

I don't want to let a goalkeeper X matches without playing, because they both have an interesting and complementary level. For me, it will be important that they have time, but they still have to perform well. In any case, let them have the opportunity to express themselves. As for the status, I asked myself the question to be honest, but I haven't given myself the answer yet.

I don't want to say that I'm giving myself the preparation, because it's really very short, but I think I'll start in spite of everything on the hierarchy as it can be currently, but which is not going to be anchored in stone. And I rather like the complementarity that these two goalkeepers have.

The idea is to give Charles a little more playing time compared to last season. The year before, he had exploded and he remains a young player. We know very well that young people do that. I think the fact that he didn't do the preparation for the Olympics was a slap in the face for Charles. But he prepared very well there. I spoke to him regularly on the phone. I became his club coach, to tell him how he was taking this news and to try to support him on that. And before we started again on July 17, he had already done a pre-season.

And I think this is the first time he's done this. I think he's growing up too. And the way he was managed last year, there's no doubt that it's useful for what he's doing now.

You've already had a Skube under your command (Sebastian) and you'll have Stas this season, how do you see this player ?

They have the same agent. And I had always told this agent that I wanted one of them at all costs, because I love this type of player, I love their game. It's a family that really stinks of handball. And who are really natural leaders, and therefore very good relays for the coach. So I'm delighted to have him.

And there too, I find that we have a very complementary duo with Kyllian (Villeminot), who is not at all the same register of center half. It's a wealth. We're going to have to find room for everyone too. And that's what I tell myself, even just in training, there are a lot of us. Because we mustn't forget Kylian Prat, who is someone who performs well. But he's starting to have people on the position.

Afterwards, there is someone who is capable of playing everywhere, it's Diego. But it's good that there is this richness. I think that for it to work, we will have to try to be able to give roles that suit everyone. Or in any case, that are understood by everyone. To be able to express ourselves in the best possible way.

We saw a Bryan Monte last year who was quite efficient. But sometimes inconsistent despite everything. Sometimes, the number one suit was not easy to wear. Here, we can clearly see that Hesham is also a notch above in what he can bring. I think it will also do Bryan good to arrive more as an impact player like that than to have this responsibility from the start. Besides, I think that one of the best matches that Bryan had was here against Kiel. He does not start the match, it is Diego who starts. He arrived as a second blade. I think that he will surely be a number one later. But there, this role is easier for him to manage.

You are talking about the Kiel match. It is part of the pain of last season. There were other matches where the mental aspect was a little deficient in this team. Is this something that you have targeted??

For the mental aspect to be significant, we need to talk more about the first leg than the second leg. Because the first leg was a sublime match. It had all the ingredients. The fight, the success, the game in motion… It was no coincidence that this match took place. Of course, there was great disappointment in the second leg. We shouldn't have expected to win this match. We should have expected a reaction from the opponent. That's obvious. It lost its footing a bit, that's for sure.

We have to remember that there were players absent. Hesham was missing, Kyllian was missing. They are still missing vital forces. Of course the disappointment is immense. But a few minutes from the end, even if we lost, there was a way to get through. There were missed opportunities compared to that.

Like the Olympics, if these opportunities had been taken, we would never have talked about Montpellier's mental problem. I don't like it when you win a match and you're world champion, when you jump all over the place. And conversely, I don't like it when you lose a match either, the absolute catastrophism. There are defeats that are more catastrophic than others, like the one in Kiel, obviously, since it's not a championship. The consequence is that you can't catch up afterwards.

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