Ligue 1 Meets: Laurent Abergel

For two years, you have been the captain of FC Lorient after previously sharing the armband with Fabien Lemoine. How important is this role to you?
Today, it’s a source of pride to wear it with this club. When you have the armband, you have to be exemplary with the objective of helping others, of ensuring that everyone is focused on their goals. I try to put my best face forward so that everyone follows my example. Here, in Lorient, there are several of us who can be captains. I’m the one who wears the armband, but there are several leaders in this team.

Is this a status that you had already had before in your career?
The role of team warrior is often associated with that of captain, so I have often played this role during my career, and especially in my youtg. But it was different, there was less pressure and important goals at that time.

 

 

🙌 Laurent Abergel, notre capitaine ©️, a atteint la barre des 3⃣0⃣0⃣ matches professionnels lors du derby face à Rennes !

Félicitations Lolo 👏 ! pic.twitter.com/Ktx6YwNTWx

— FC LORIENT 🐟 (@FCLorient) October 26, 2023

 

“You discover yourself by wearing the armband”

On an individual level, what does this status mean to you?
 You discover yourself by wearing the armband. This particularly helped me develop in the locker room because, on the pitch, I was always used to speaking out and motivating others. I’m not the captain who’s going to yell all over the place, but sometimes it’s good to speak up to get things going.

And on the pitch?
Being a captain can help me focus myself. I happened to come out of my match focus, like last season in Lille (3-1, April 2023). I lost my head and that earned me a red card which cost us a result. These are things you can’t afford to do when you’re captain.

What memory do you have of your first match with the armband, with Nancy, in January 2019?
I have a brief memory of it. It was at a time when the results were challenging. There are several types of captains: there are those in the locker room and those on the pitch. At the time, I was more of a player who performed and tried to set an example on the pitch. That’s when Alain Perrin gave me the armband.

Since that time, in what areas have you progressed as captain?
I have become a captain who will talk more  with everyone off the field. Because I think that’s how things are best understood by players, by getting directly into their heads. I have a personalized way of approaching everyone: there are those who want to be approached and those who prefer to be put at ease. In this way, I think I am more effective than with long speeches in front of everyone.

During your career, you had Steve Mandanda as captain at OM, Johan Cavalli at AC Ajaccio, Youssouf Hadji at Nancy… Which ones inspired you?
Yes, these are players who have or have had a great career. Steve Mandanda has a lot of charisma in this role. He is someone who carries the group at a very high level. But it’s a while ago and at that time, at 19-20 years old, I didn’t yet have the idea of becoming a professional. Between him and Cavalli, I have phrases that often come back to me to help me play this role as best as possible.

Being captain also means having responsibility for the integration of new recruits…
I’m often in a teasing mood in a locker room so even without being captain, I like to welcome new players. It’s important to me that everyone gets along well. We must all be able to help each other, because when things are going a little less well, close-knit groups are less affected. Without being captain, I already had this role of bringing the guys together.