ChristopheVAFC

GOALLLLLLL !!!!

Good evening, friends. The match between Dijon and Valenciennes has just ended... A heavy defeat against the second-placed team in the league, with a score of 4-1... The season is proving more difficult than expected, even though the recruitment has been fairly consistent... Players who know the league and performed well last season... I can't understand it, but I think the end-of-year holidays will do us good and I think the club will be active in the transfer market next January... Have a great evening everyone and come on Valenciennes!

"Get your phones out," Google Translate, sign language… How Valenciennes communicates with Japanese player Rento Takaoka The first Japanese player in history to play for Valenciennes, the young (18 years old) and short (1.65m) striker Rento Takaoka arrived in Hainaut with only a rudimentary grasp of English. The staff and his teammates are adapting to best communicate with the Japanese player, who returns to the squad for a big match in Dijon (2nd) this Friday. Since coming under Danish ownership with the takeover by Sport Republic (SR) in the summer of 2023, Valenciennes FC has become more international than ever in its long history. English almost became the primary language in the locker room, and players from all over the world arrived in the first season. However, this approach yielded very limited sporting results, and the trend has reversed, although Valenciennes, closely linked with Southampton, SR's main club, continues to broaden its horizons. The English club notably loaned them the 18-year-old Japanese striker, Rento Takaoka. The young Japanese player initially joined the reserve team but quickly won everyone over, even scoring a stunning brace in the first home match against Le Puy in August. Having moved from Japan to England in June before being loaned almost immediately to Valenciennes, Takaoka also played in the U20 World Cup in Chile this autumn and experienced, in just a few months, a whirlwind of emotions that could have left him reeling from both his Latin and his rudimentary English. This is the unique thing about this player: as dynamic and refreshing as he is, communication with him is far from easy, as no one at Valenciennes speaks Japanese. "We pull out our phones and use Google Translate. He speaks in Japanese, then we get the translation in French, and vice versa to reply to him," says François Launay, Head of Communications at Valenciennes FC. "It's not simple," confirms Stéphane Moulin. He doesn't speak English very well, and sometimes we get the feeling that he understands us, but also that he's saying yes just to please us. It's a situation I wasn't familiar with; it's an additional experience, even if it's not easy because I work a lot on the meaning of words to make sure things are understood clearly. In their daily lives, during training and in their group activities, the Valenciennes players have found ways to communicate with the Japanese player. "We take out our phones and use Google Translate. He speaks in Japanese, then we get the translation in French, and vice versa, to reply to him," explains François Launay, the club's communications manager. Still in high school in Japan last year This is how he communicates with his teammates, although we suspect that deep conversations over the phone aren't commonplace. "On the field, we use a little English and also sign language, but it's not ideal because during matches we still need to communicate a lot." “And there are many situations that require talking things through in the moment,” Moulin reminds us. There remains the universal language of football, “and fortunately, he has that,” his coach appreciates, noting that he didn’t need to speak Japanese to perceive his player’s physical and mental slump three weeks ago. This is understandable: Rento Takaoka’s life has accelerated dramatically since leaving Japan last season when he was still playing for his high school team, Nissho Gakuen. “He has a very atypical career path, and a lot of things have happened to him, some good things, but he had to process them,” says Stéphane Moulin. Always generous in his effort and dynamic in attack, Takaoka doesn’t hold back in the National league, where his height of 1.65 meters is in stark contrast to the often robust physiques of opposing defenses. Having been rested recently, this short break has done him good. The Japanese player regained his form in training this week and boarded the bus to Dijon. He traveled there full of confidence after scoring a hat trick with the reserve team last weekend. A true "Toripuru," as they say in Japanese. DIJON (2nd) – VAFC (12th), Friday 7:30 pm. Unavailable: Coeff, Thomas (injured)

“I’ve opened the door wide enough…”: Bold choices and a number of messages, Stéphane Moulin wants to shake up Valenciennes The VAFC coach deliberately limited himself to five changes for Friday’s friendly against Boulogne. The time for showing off is over, and Stéphane Moulin will work with a smaller squad to finally get Valenciennes off the ground. You didn’t rotate the squad by making only five changes, as you did in competitive matches against Boulogne. What was the idea behind that? “The idea is to give playing time to the players who need it, but also those who deserve to play. I’ve given everyone a chance since the beginning, during the preseason matches, during the friendlies we had because of our elimination from the Coupe de France. Now I want a team to emerge. Too often we’re forced to make changes. Sometimes due to injuries, which is normal, but also to try and involve everyone.” I'm letting the competition do the talking, and I want to get closer to a slightly smaller group. "We expect performances, and when they're not there..." Is this a way to shake things up for your team? "It's so that those who want to take the spots take them, but once they have them, they have to keep going to keep them. I've opened the door wide enough, but we've reached a point where we expect performances, and when they're not there, too bad, we play others. We can't give everyone a chance all the time because there's a points system that needs to be running, and it's not running fast enough. So we try something else." Three and a half months ago, Remy Boissier was at rock bottom, and he managed to turn things around. It wasn't me, it was him! I saw things, and he gave me answers. So those who didn't play need to give me some feedback - Stéphane Moulin So there are real messages conveyed and real lessons to be learned from your choices during this match against Boulogne? "I want those who played to have more playing time because, initially, they're the ones I'm counting on. Those who didn't play, for some, they had their chance. There are lessons to be learned, yes, even if in football nothing is ever set in stone. Remy Boissier, three and a half months ago, was completely out of favor and he managed to turn things around. It wasn't me, it was him! I saw things, he gave me answers. So those who didn't play need to give me some feedback, in training and in matches, whether it's for ten, fifteen, forty-five minutes or even just an hour of play."

Hello friends, how are you today? News from Valenciennes, who are back in league action tonight with an away game at Dijon. Our team did not play last week because it was the French Cup, but a friendly match against Boulogne sur Mer (League 2) was still organised, ending in a 2-2 draw. Tonight's match is the penultimate game before the winter break. It will be a tough away game against the second-placed team in the league (VA is 12th out of 17). I'm predicting a draw tonight, but I expect it to be a difficult match on the pitch of an opponent who is having a good season. As usual, I'm sharing the YouTube link to tonight's match below: Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m. French time. I'm also sharing two press articles (one from last week and one from today). Allez VA !

Once again, congratulations, my friends, on tonight's victory. You've taken another step toward the top of the league table. A commanding first half with three goals, a more controlled second half, and a clean sheet for Gavin tonight. Keep up the good work, friends! COYS !

Forward-thinking tactics, positive aggression—your coach seems to have found the key. I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes the season on the Saints' bench.

I get the impression that Will Still wasn't popular with the players, and that your players seem more relaxed since WS left.

Incredible first half from your players! Very happy for you!

Let's go guy's ! 😌❤️🤍

King Gavin 😳

Come on you Saint's ! 🤝💪

My sincere congratulations on your victory today, and in style, my friends! The current coach seems well on his way to keeping his job!

If I may say so, it is not the majority of supporters who are calling for Sport Républic de Valenciennes to leave. Most of them know that it will take time for SR to succeed in their project to get the club back into the top divisions. So, yes, there is impatience, and that's normal. There is also frustration that things are not going as we would like, and I, for one, would love to see the club do much better in sporting terms, but overall, the supporters accept the club's current situation, even if it is inevitably taking a long time for some...

National : « Une leçon de Grinta ! », Valenciennes s’est loupé et bascule du côté obscur - La Voix du Nord

Hello friends, I hope you are all well? Reaction the day after the match, as you saw, a 0-2 defeat against FC Fleury, an unfortunately predictable result... Fleury played well and we weren't able to play our game, which is a shame because a win would have moved us up a few places in the table... We were on a good run and I was hopeful that we would play well, but yesterday was very difficult... Our players are still talented, most of them are familiar with the French league, and many supporters are asking questions... I'm sharing a press article from today below. I wish you a good match, friends in Southampton. Allez VA!

Hello friends, I hope you are all well at the start of winter. News from Valenciennes: after the draw against Versailles two weeks ago, our team played a friendly match last Friday against the Belgian team RAAL La Louvière (two 60-minute halves, final score 2-2). The match was played behind closed doors at the Stade du Hainaut. Today, it's back to league action with a home game, again at the Stade du Hainaut, against Parisian club FC Fleury 91. Our opponents tonight played in National 2 last year and have just been promoted to the same league as us. We hope the momentum will continue with a victory tonight. Kick-off is at 7.30pm French time and the match will be broadcast on the YouTube link below: Have a great day and allez VAFC!

Revieuw press for Valenciennes team: VAFC : trois matchs pour espérer ou se désespérer - La Voix du Nord

look this press revieuw of Valenciennes B team after the game yesterday: « Si ça continue, il n’y a rien à faire », Valenciennes s’offre aussi l’invincibilité de Maubeuge - La Voix du Nord

Speaking of Dierrick ABU, despite what some people may think, I have some news! He is currently playing for our reserve team and yesterday he played the entire match. Our reserve team is leading the 6th division (regional 1) championship. The team was relegated from the 5th division last year and the goal is to bounce back immediately.

Press revieuw after the match: VAFC : quand El Hadary va tout va, malheureusement il n’a pu jouer qu’une mi-temps… - La Voix du Nord

To be honest, I don't have much news about Dierrick, but I'll try to find out more soon.

Our biggest flaw at the moment is that we're not clinical enough; we need to be much more effective in front of goal. In the first half especially, we had the chance to score two or three goals, but we only scored one... I think signing another effective striker in January would be a good idea... It's a real shame because this lack of efficiency in front of goal allows our opponents to believe they can win, and that's what happened again last night... In the second half, there was a difficult period and we had two players taken off with potential injuries (Ylan El Hadary and Streddair Oyuzu Appua)... We conceded a few more chances and Versailles wanted to get back into the game, which they unfortunately managed to do... There's no league match next week, but the coach has announced a friendly match against a Belgian Division 1 team.

The match has just ended at the Versailles stadium. Despite a good performance overall, VA conceded a draw (1-1). There was clearly an opportunity to take all 3 points tonight... Have a good evening and allez VA! ❤️🤍

Half-time in Versailles! Valenciennes are ahead thanks to Ylan El Hadary's goal in the 4th minute. (0-1). Valenciennes are putting up a fight in this first half. Let's hope for more of the same in the second half. Allez VA! ❤️🤍