Legends
Shabani Nonda: "The whole team helped me beat Pauleta"
Shabani, can you look back on this 2002/2003 season, which was particularly rich for you with AS Monaco winning the Coupe de la Ligue and finishing just a little behind OL in Ligue 1 McDonald's?
It wasn't fair! In our heads, we were also a bit like champions. It was hard to accept… Especially since we had won the two direct confrontations against Lyon (1-3, 2-0). But the defeat at Guingamp hurt us (3-1 in the 37th round)… It had taken place three days after the final of the Coupe de la Ligue we won against Sochaux (4-1). We had not really celebrated it, but we could not help but savor it…
Did the scenario of this season leave you with regrets regarding OL?
Already, the previous season (in reality in 2000/01), OL had stolen the Coupe de la Ligue from us (2-1, a.p.). Sonny Anderson had put us back in our place, because we could already see ourselves with the Cup. So this season (02/03), we were determined to take the title from them. We had not digested this defeat in the final. I don't know why, but over these seasons I consider that AS Monaco was better than OL. That we had a better squad.
"Never again"
However, AS Monaco had had to fight to stay up during the previous season, finishing in 15th place (2001/02).
We didn’t understand why it wasn’t working. Because we were aware of the quality of our group. On paper, there were some great players! Simone, Gallardo, Marquez, Giuly… Moreover, despite this place in the table, we were there against the big teams (ASM remained unbeaten at home against the top 5 with 3 wins and 2 draws). At other times, we were inconsistent and the others pushed us around. After this season, we said to ourselves: “Never again! Let’s be united!” The mentality then changed completely from one year to the next. We were focused from the first to the last minute.
How could such a change have happened in one off-season?
Didier Deschamps had a lot to do with it. He was starting his second season as a young coach. He knew how to galvanize the team, make us work. He transmitted this high-level mindset. It doesn't surprise me to see all the trophies he has won since then... Everywhere he goes, he has the gift of motivating his players.
"I had the whole team behind me to beat Pauleta"
On an individual level, you also reached a milestone by going from 14 to 26 goals in the season in Ligue 1 McDonald’s...
Didier had understood what my style was and how I could express myself best. In his 4-4-2 system, there were two attackers, which gave me the possibility of dropping back, of providing support without having to stay still up front. The combination play with Dado Prso was also good. He also liked his freedom. With wide players like Giuly and Rothen, I could go deep, it worked very well with a lot of understanding.
And was this title of top scorer obtained with three goals more than Pauleta (Bordeaux, 23 goals) an objective?
It was almost more collective than personal. Because even if we had the hope of winning the league, I had the whole team behind me to help me score and beat Pauleta. This made my task easier in this duel (Nonda scored 9 goals in the last 6 games). We never talked about it, but I felt it on the pitch. Sometimes, I saw that the guys were looking for me instead of shooting directly.
Which shows the atmosphere that must have reigned at the time in this team...
Yes, we got on well together. I was with my friends. We had a good laugh. It must be admitted that during a career you sometimes drag your feet a bit to go to training... But in Monaco over this period of two or three years with Didier Deschamps, it was really enjoyable.
Would you say that it was him who made you progress in front of goal?
I knew that I had the qualities of a goalscorer but if I became a kind of "killer" in front of goal, it is clearly thanks to him. His advice revealed that in me. Thanks to our work together, one or two chances were enough for me to score. Before, I didn't have this quality, this determination to always want to score.
"When I arrived, I was asked to be Trezeguet"
You started at AS Monaco under Claude Puel (2000/01). Can you tell us about your beginnings with the reigning champion, where you had to succeed David Trezeguet who had left for Juventus?
Having this chance to replace a world and European champion when arriving at Monaco, I took it as recognition of my progress since Switzerland. On the other hand, it was also a pressure to arrive in a team that was doing very well. I had to show that I was up to the task. Because Monaco had a lot of internationals. Arriving from Rennes, I quickly saw the level of players like Simone, who had known the great AC Milan, Gallardo and Giuly… And there was also the Champions League project. It was my first time, because until then my best had been the Intertoto with Rennes (99/00). I was still improving my level with a big stake.
How did the succession of David Trezeguet go?
We had totally different profiles. He was perhaps a bit more of a goalscorer than me. When I arrived, I was asked to copy and paste. That is to say, to stay fixed up front to do Trezeguet. It was the first time in my career that I was asked to be a fixed point. Not to move too much. Because until then, I considered myself more of a second striker. I was free to express myself, to drop back, to go to the wings... probably because when I was younger I didn't always play in that position. So they told me: "You don't move, the other players will feed you". Deep down, I didn't want to wait for someone to feed me! It disturbed me. That's certainly why my first season was a bit difficult (12 goals in 2001/02).
At AS Monaco, you were faced with more competition from the moment you arrived with Simone, Bierhoff, Prso, Raducioiu, Eloi, S. Camara… How did you approach it?
Competition is not a bad thing. Instead of scaring me, it motivated me! It made me want to surpass myself. I took it in a positive way. I had confidence in my qualities. But I didn't really discover competition when I arrived at Monaco. I had known it in Switzerland with Yekini. In Africa, he was a reference. And in Zurich, he was a role model for me. Even in Rennes, when I arrived (in 1998), the club had just bought Cédric Bardon and there was also Nicolas Goussé and the young Eli Kroupi. And initially, it was rather Bardon who was supposed to be the starter.
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