Hello! We are with a prestigious guest: Jean-Michel Aulas,
president of the football club Olympique Lyonnais
and member of the executive board of the French Football Federation.
Hello Jan-Michel,
thank you for giving us the honor to be with us on the Red Square in Moscow in our gorgeous RT studio.
Why are you in Russia?
As Olympique Lyonnais president?
As a member of the of the French Football Federation?
As an entrepreneur or as a French team supporter? Explain it to us!
It's a bit of all of these.
First of all, as president of the Olympique Lyonnais since it's a recruitment and transfer period.
As a member of the executive committee, I follow the French team.
Earlier, I was in Istra with Mr. Le Graet, the president of the FFF, to be as close as possible [to the players].
Yesterday, I was obviously in Ekaterinburg.
And finally, Cegit, my computing company that I found 30 years ago, which is now led by an American group, has an office here in Moscow
so I take advantage [of being here].
[Football] it's a true passion.
It might be the sixth or seventh World Cup that I have followed entirely;
so I'm really into our team, 'Les Bleus.'
But I'm also crazy about this sport culture
which is also a geopolitical one that gave us this World Cup here in Russia for the first time.
What's your opinion regarding the organization of this World Cup and Russian hospitality?
It's a successful World Cup in terms of organization.
Security is at the highest level.
This imposes constraints, but it's better to have controlled constraints
and a country which is available to every person who comes
with gorgeous stadiums, with full stadiums!
The level [of football] is good, but the organization is on a higher level.
So I've got a lot of joy to be here in Moscow,
in Kazan a few days ago and in Ekaterinburg yesterday night.
You were in Kazan and Ekaterinburg.
The next game for France will be in Moscow on Tuesday.
You follow 'Les Bleus'
How do you describe the beginning of the competition for the French team, which reached the first knock-out round?
It's a good beginning
It's very difficult to make a good start when you are eyeing a final phase of the competition.
There is a physical preparation problem.
We saw that this World Cup got a specificity:
it's a really physical competition, really tactical.
All of the teams, which are described as less strong than the strongest ones,
have a very well organized strategy to be in the best shape as possible at first
and the French team managed to give positive signals by scoring essential goals to get six points.
Yesterday, the French team also managed to resist the Peruvian team, which was amazing.
I was really, really impressed by the team from Peru,
which has a strong penetration force.
Didier [Deschamps] managed to give his team the physical and tactical ability to respond
which helped to resist a second goal during the first half.
It is an excellent start to the competition.
It helps us to prepare for the third match [with Denmark] in better shape.
We know the French team will do better in the upcoming matches.
Victory is essential at this stage of the competition.
Bravo to the French team!
I think they will perform great in the coming games of [the 2018 World Cup].
In your opinion, how far can they go?
It's a bit too early.
We see that all the big teams are struggling.
I saw the first Germany game.
I also saw this afternoon Brazil win during the stoppage-time.
I watched Argentina getting battered with Leo Messi, who is struggling.
How can we explain that?
As I said earlier, the teams that are ready to make it to the finale
prepare themselves to make it until the end and not exactly to be good in the group phase.
So we will see a stronger French team when the eliminating phase will start?
Yes and its opponent won't play to bother us but to score!
With our forward trio, we can even say our attacking quartet – don't forget our Nabil Fékir
I think France will be more at ease in the next games.
But what the team did so far was amazing.
I was very impressed by the physical responsiveness of the French
because, once again, the Peruvian team was very physically and tactically strong.
Which team do you want against France for the next round?
Argentina may still be possible. Or maybe Iceland?
I think it would be Iceland.
And we already watched that game during Euro 2016.
So I truly prefer Iceland.
Not because it is a 'small country,' they showed us great qualities of physical dynamism and solidarity,
but because I keep thinking that at any moment Argentina can wake up.
And if Argentina wakes up at its fourth match, I don't want to be the team that faces it.
You talked earlier about Nabil Fekir, who is on the French team and who plays on your team – Olympique Lyonnais.
Jean-Pierre Bernès on LIC [French channel] said that his transfer to Liverpool could still happen.
Is it true? Can you confirm this? The Daily star wrote that Real Madrid may also be interested in him. Is that possible?
Listen, it was once planned that he would go to Liverpool.
I gave him my agreement.
That didn't happen because it took too much time to succeed.
Nabil is an incredible player.
Regarding efficiency, he is great; we saw that again yesterday.
He knows how to keep the ball and can create small unique spaces.
It's true that the plan with Liverpool didn't work out, and this has created interest in him from others clubs,
and not only from Real Madrid and its new trainer.
So, anything is possible. But we are, in Lyon, crazy about him…
Could he stay at Lyon?
My purpose is to make him stay.
But as always, I listen to the players.
To me, they are like my children, my sons.
So, I hope he will stay, but if he wants to go, we will do our best to find him a bigger club to welcome his efficiency and his talent.
Which player stands out to you during this competition?
I can't say much about that, but the Croatian players yesterday gave us something to talk about.
I have really enjoyed the Mexican team – almost every player, regarding their motivation and their technical skills and desire to play forward.
These two teams display enthusiasm and innovation
I'm sure that Serbia will also bring a lot of new things to football.
I also liked the Russian team, which if you listened to some, should not be having success.
They are one of my favorites because they have incredible strength, which is the strength that playing in your own country gives you, like for France in 1998.
They have very good players.
France-Russia – could that be the quarterfinal?
Emmanuel Macron said to Vladimir Putin during the St. Petersburg forum that he would be back in Russia if France goes to the quarterfinal.
Is it possible? And could it bring France and Russia closer to each other?
Of course! It would be amazing because they are two big countries with two presidents who show fantastic qualities.
When you watch Russia, which I know this past decade has evolved this way – strong on the cultural side,
on the organizational level, on the industrial and economic sides.
And we have President Macron who wants to leaves his mark on the world.
It would be amazing to have France-Russia.
But to me, Russia is crushing the hierarchical order of international football.
It's great for our Russian friends, but we have to be careful – their team has a lot of quality.
Thank you so much, Jean-Michel Aulas, for being our esteemed guest on RT France.
It was a pleasure, especially in such a beautiful place.
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