EXCLUSIVE | Gilles Grimandi on Monaco manager Filipe Luís: ‘I’m very impressed.’

EXCLUSIVE | Gilles Grimandi on Monaco manager Filipe Luís: ‘I’m very impressed.’ Get French Football News sat down with former Arsenal FC and AS Monaco star Gilles Grimandi to talk about the Principality club’s start to the season, and the relative strength of his great Monaco and Arsenal teams. What do you make of Monaco’s start to the season? Do you think Monaco, or perhaps another team, can really dethrone Paris Saint-Germain?  No, I don’t think so. I think Paris are too far ahead at the moment. They are managing the competition over the course of the whole season. A lot of players have played in the World Cup, so we’re in the post-World Cup period. It’s difficult for clubs to manage the physical side of things because not everyone is at the same level. I think Paris have planned to reach their peak in the spring, and by then they’ll have too much of a lead in France.  For a French club other than Paris, a successful season now means reaching the Champions League. Winning the title has become very, very difficult. It would take a catastrophe, and even PSG’s second team could probably qualify for the Champions League. The gap has widened. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. Paris are managing their matches well, but Monaco have made a good start.  I’m very impressed by their coach, Filipe Luís. I think he’s brought something to the team. His message is very positive; he gets his team playing and he wasn’t afraid to go to Paris. They’ve put in some genuinely good performances. I think he’s a coach with a future, and there are some good young players coming through. Unfortunately, though, I think success for them will mean qualifying for the Champions League. Perhaps doing well in the Conference League, or going a long way in a European competition, could be interesting. But I can’t see any team other than Paris winning the French league at the moment.  On the Conference League, Monaco are one of the favourites, as are Brighton… I’ll tell you something: I think Brighton could challenge Arsenal this season. I’ve been watching their matches, and what they’re doing is very coherent. It makes a great deal of sense, and there’s real depth and collective quality in their play. Their performance against Arsenal was remarkable, and they were impressive again last night [against Crystal Palace]. If they can maintain their current level, I think they can cause problems and be a surprise package. I don’t think there’s a team like that in France. The key will be maintaining this consistency. Based on their current performances, it’s really interesting. You won the league in consecutive years in France and England, with some incredible players. Could you talk a little about the best players you played with at both clubs?  It’s true that in those two years – the final Monaco team and the Arsenal team – I was lucky enough to come across exceptional players. At Monaco, there was George Weah, who was a fantastic player. There was Lilian Thuram, and there were players such as Ali Benarbia too, who were wonderful footballers. The years before 2000 were important in Monaco’s history. They reached a Champions League semi-final against Milan, then another Champions League semi-final against Juventus a little later. In 1998, they eliminated Manchester United in the preceding round, I think. There was also a UEFA Cup semi-final against Inter Milan. They achieved some very good European results. For me, it was a top-level team.  When I left Monaco for Arsenal, the 1997–98 side was close to being one of the five or six best teams in Europe.  Arsenal were a little below that level at the time, in my opinion, but they quickly closed the gap through very astute domestic recruitment – not of me, but of others. There was Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and others. The gap then widened, but at that time Monaco were a very high-level team and Arsenal were moving into that group. I remember Arsenal being knocked out by Mönchengladbach in 1997–98, I think. Monaco played them in the next round and eliminated them quite comfortably [Ed: it was 1996-97].  Monaco were performing very well, and then the Premier League did its work and the gap grew. At Arsenal, I encountered fantastic players: Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry, Patrick, Marc Overmars and so many others. The list is so long that I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. I was fortunate to be around such high-level players. I wasn’t a particularly talented player myself, so, looking back, I realise how privileged I was.  Gilles Grimandi was speaking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of BetVictor Online Casino GFFN | Jeremy Smith