Gallice plotting more French success

Coach Jean Gallice has had four years to plot a repeat of France's last success at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and is hoping to bring those plans to fruition in Ukraine, although he acknowledges the 2005 generation were an exceptional crop.

Belfast triumph
France defeated England in the Belfast final to claim their last major youth honour and now, after "various missions" within the French Football Federation, Gallice has returned to coaching by replacing Erick Mombaerts, who has stepped up to the U21s, in charge of the U19 team. Gallice, seen in France as an expert in physical preparation, thinks Les Petit Bleus can go all the way again after recovering from defeat by Norway in their opening Elite round contest to qualify for the finals.

uefa.com: Can you draw comparisons between this year's team and the 2005 side, which contained players such as Yoann Gourcuff, Younès Kaboul and Yoan Gouffran who are now well-established?

Jean Gallice: First of all, I must say that I have not trained the current squad for three years, as I did last time. This year, I came after François Blaquart and Erick Mombaerts to a squad which has been reworked. I feel they are more united than in 2005 but less brilliant technically.

uefa.com: Have you noticed changes in the game at U19 level over those four years?

Gallice: The game has not evolved. The rules are the same and so are the players. Actually, it has not significantly changed from 30 years ago. Football is an aerobic sport and the aim has always been to develop the aerobic potential and power of a player. Training has changed, it's now of a greater quality, but this is not something you can feel in four years.

uefa.com: What is your target in these finals?

Gallice: We would like to get to the semi-finals. Even though we lost the first game we managed to advance from the Elite round because we did not lose energy and focus when we analysed our failure. What I want is for the players to carry on producing attractive play, integrate and think forward to the next game in order to win it.

uefa.com: Which team in your section are you the most afraid of: Serbia, Turkey or Spain?

Gallice: All of them. We know them all well and we know their qualities. We beat Turkey in a friendly in Denmark this season in a hard-fought game and it will be three games like that in the group. Serbia, Turkey and Spain are teams with high technical skills and character. Spain play an offensive game but I don't think we'll play with the brakes on.

uefa.com: Will you have some players missing?

Gallice: Not so far. We will even have more than expected. Throughout the season we never managed to gather all the best 19-year-old players in Ligue 1 but it will be done for this tournament as we'll take Mamadou Sakho from Paris Saint-Germain, Emmanuel Rivière from St. Étienne and Sochaux's Ryad Boudebouz.