FC Metz will not stay long in D2. A year after the descent, the Lorraines are back in the elite with the hope of staying there this time. In June 2015, David Fanzel arrives at the club with in his roadmap, the goal of moving up as quickly as possible in the elite. Things done at the end of the season. A success that he saw as a "big reward" and a "satisfaction" for both the club and "for girls".

When we mention with David Fanzel the first passage of Metz in D1 (it was not him the coach at the time), he speaks to us of a "rise with the tear" which had been done at the same time the integration of the Algrange club at FC Metz. He also describes a team that was "not so far away." Indeed, in a configuration with two runs like this season, Metz would probably have saved, far ahead of Arras and Issy and close to Albi and Saint-Etienne today well settled in D1.

What has changed in the last two years? When asked the question to Marie Papaix, she speaks of a "more homogeneous group" than during the last climb. Defender Metz is now part of the team, and especially players who knew the D1 with Metz two years ago. She will also form a central hinge experienced with the Brazilian Simone Gomes Jatoba in the midst of a very young workforce.

Trust in young people
This is also the other strong point of this team. David Fanzel has largely opened his group to players from the U19 Messines team. A team that won the "Excellence" Challenge in U19 last season against Grenoble-Claix. A victory in the final that could be a title of D2 champions in seniors (PSG won the U19 Elite Challenge final between the 12 best teams in U19).

Last June, the U19 Messines celebrate their victory in the final of the U19 "Excellence" challenge against Grenoble-Claix

During this season players like Léa Khelifi (17 years old), Ophélie Cordier (17 years old) or Selen Gul Altunkulak (18 years old) achieved remarkable performances that also allowed them to acquire playing time in D2. Among their "elders", Héloise Mansuy, right side, just won the Euro U19 with the France team and is shortlisted for the U20 World Cup with teammate Juliane Gathrat. In total, out of 25 players, there are 11 players under the age of 20, including seven who won the U19 Excellence Challenge last year.

As David Fanzel pointed out, in Metz "youth is not a handicap". On the contrary, they arrive "with a level D1" and participate in the greater homogeneity of the group felt by Marie Papaix at the approach of the new season. It also corresponds to a club policy that wants to "promote its training center" through its first team, a pool that may have missed two years ago.

A map of youth that is also found in recruitment with the arrival of Pauline Dechilly (Vendenheim, U19 European champion) and Christy Gavory (Arras), two players that FC Metz met last season in D2 and who enrich the messin workforce. Beside these two recruits, Mélissa Godart (Soyaux) is also returning to the country. After several seasons in La Roche-sur-Yon then Soyaux, Melissa Godart returns to her native Lorraine, a halo of a recent World Championship title with the French Military team and a valuable experience in D1.

Danielle Rotheram, Canadian recruit for FC Metz. She was considering last spring to play in a professional championship abroad, a call that was heard by FC Metz

Metz will also see the arrival of two new players from North America with Canadian forward Danielle Rotherman, who arrived this week and who has played on the University of Cincinnati team so far. An American defender is also expected in Lorraine, the time to adjust the paperwork.

The maintenance will pass through the quality of the collective
This balance to be found between experienced players and others who discover the D1 is the alchemy that will have to operate David Fanzel. An exciting ambition for the coach who told us he particularly appreciated the performance of Canada during the last J.O, a team that has been able to operate this mix of generations.

In Metz, Marine Morel, midfield player, talks about a group where young people will "make us laugh" and the oldest will have a role to "advise, reframe" in a group where all the players are "thirsty" to learn. A role that Marie Papaix also links to his position in central defense to precisely "help the players to get back" during matches. But for them, group cohesion is already there, thanks to an "internship in the Vosges" which "facilitated the integration" of new players.

Beyond the qualities of the group, this preparation has obviously been a real plus over past years. This resulted in the presence of a physical trainer with specific sessions (1 or 2 per week) and bodybuilding. This athletic work during the summer preparation also went with a work on "collective discipline" which according to David Fanzel was "not always [present] last season".

David Fanzel knows he is expected by the club and his players for his first D1 experience with FC Metz

For all these reasons, David Fanzel chose to program oppositions against Belgian or German teams, "very physical" teams with meetings where the Metz team "got in". Matches that play on the combativeness, a way to develop a little more messin game, based on "aggression", the desire to "fetch the opponent" as high as possible and then "to project quickly to the 'before'.

Conscious of their goals, namely the maintenance, the Messines know that their game plans will depend on "matches and opponents". It is in this spirit that Marie Papaix tells us to approach "without pressure" the first meeting of the season against Montpellier but at the same time with the desire to "play all matches thoroughly" and "regret nothing". For David Fanzel, this means reaching "to quickly adapt to the level D1" without "being obsessed with the result".

It is a little spirit that animates the coach messin when we finish our interview. Wishing him a good season and that he responds with a warm "it's okay, do not worry! "Sign that FC Metz does not" want to go down "and seems to have given itself the means to achieve his goals.