Benjamin Lecomte: 'Footwork is one of my strong points' | OneFootball

Back at Montpellier for a year now, Benjamin Lecomte sat down for a chat: his late conversion to the position of goalkeeper; what he learned on his Spanish sojourn with Atlético and Espanyol; and what it's like being back with Montpellier in Ligue 1 Uber Eats... Part one of a two-part interview.

Have you always played goalkeeper?

"No, I started out as a midfielder or central defender. I started playing football even before I was old enough to join a team, with my father, who was a coach, at Arcueil, but it wasn't until I was 14 that I became a goalkeeper. Before that, I liked to play in goal for fun, in small tournaments for example. My father started talking to me about becoming a permanent goalkeeper and, when I was around 12-13, I went to [the national youth training centre] Clairefontaine for some trials. A goalkeeper got injured and I found myself in goal. Things went rather well for me, as I managed to get through all the rounds right up to the last training camp, but in the end I wasn't taken on at Clairefontaine. That discouraged me a little and I went back out into the field, but six months later, I had finally settled in goals and I found a club that played in the national U14s, Antony. Then, a year later, I joined the youth academy at Chamois Niortais."

You mentioned your father's influence. Isn't it complicated to have your dad as a coach?

"It's certainly a bit special because the relationship is different from the father-son one. As well as training with the club, I had the right to extra training sessions because I asked for them and my father never said no, even if it annoyed him sometimes [laughs]. But we made the most of those moments because we were - and still are - two passionate people. My father is a huge football fan. Even today, he devotes an enormous amount of time to it, whether it's during the week or at the weekend with his children."

'Montpellier have made progress as a club'

To take a step back in time, you returned to Montpellier last January after a year and a half in Spain where, after a season as No.2 goalkeeper at Atlético, you spent six months with Espanyol in Barcelona...

"Yes, I had some playing time during the first half of the season, but I felt that things were going to get complicated after that. I'm very emotional and trusting, and given the discussions I had at Espanyol, I felt it was time for a change of scenery. A career is a short thing, and I wanted to be sure of playing. When President Nicollin offered me this great opportunity to come back to MHSC, it didn't take me long to make up my mind."

When you returned to Montpellier, did you notice any changes compared to your first spell at the club (2017-2019)?

"Not really. But the club has made progress in a lot of small areas that allow us to push even further in terms of performance. But otherwise, when I came back, I found more or less the same people, whether it was Michel Der Zakarian's staff or the medical staff. That meant I felt at ease straight away and didn't need time to adapt."

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS - MONTPELLIER HÉRAULT SC (1-4) / Highlights (OL - MHSC) 2023/2024

'I approach games totally differently since my time in Spain'

What do you remember about your Spanish adventure?

"It was an exceptional experience. Atlético is one of the best clubs in the world, both in terms of its structure and the values it conveys. You only have to be in contact with the club's staff and supporters to understand that. And having Diego Simeone as my coach is huge, honestly. I've learnt an enormous amount, both personally and in football terms, of course. It was really enriching."

As a goalkeeper, how have you progressed through contact with a different culture?

"I think I've gained quite a bit of perspective. I now approach matches in a completely different way. Whether that's more to do with my age or the games I played in Spain remains to be seen. There's no doubt that the encounters and discussions help you change your view of the job and the position of goalkeeper. At both Atlético and Espanyol, I did a lot of work, with competent people, and I often did a lot more. Maybe people thought I wasn't doing anything because I wasn't playing at Atlético, but it was this work that no-one saw that enabled me to be in good form straight away when I came back to Montpellier."

You said that your approach to matches had changed. How so?

"I'm calmer and more serene now. It wasn't a question of stress at all, but I feel things differently now. It may sound strange because I don't necessarily have the words to explain it, but I feel different."

'Fortunately, I'm not thin skinned'

What are the main differences you've noticed in training methods from one country to another?

"In France, we work much more in terms of volume. In Spain, the workload is less but they're more into detail. After that, you mustn't be sensitive, because when you look at the details, you're bound to be asked to change things that are sometimes difficult to understand. Like everyone else, I have qualities and faults, but fortunately I'm not sensitive. On the contrary, I've drawn on all that because we know that the little details can sometimes make all the difference. And now that I'm back in Montpellier, I'm feeling the benefits of the work I did in Spain."

Can you give us some examples of the little details?

"It could be the way you pick up the ball, the direction of your feet when you dive, the orientation of your body for long passes... There are lots of little things like that that can make you gain one or two centimetres on a throw. And that centimetre might mean that a ball you otherwise wouldn't be able to get a finger to will now deflect off the post. All these little details allow you to try and improve, but you have to want to progress and that's something that's unique to each player."

In La Liga, have you been asked to play differently from what you learnt in France?

"Not really. You just have to be able to adapt to a slightly different style of play. In France, it's a bit more direct, more athletic, whereas in Spain, it's a bit more technically refined and perhaps they play the ball more. As a result, we work a lot on footwork, doing certain exercises with the outfield players for example. But I don't know if we work more on footwork than in France. What is certain, however, is that here and over there, we do a lot more exercises to get the ball out of play than we did at the start of my career."

In terms of footwork, do you feel you have an advantage over other goalkeepers because of your background as an outfield player?

"Yes, my footwork is one of my strong points and it matches my vision of the position. The statistics show that goalkeepers make 90% of their touches with their feet, so it's better to know how to use them! After that, of course, goalkeepers take enormous risks. When a striker loses the ball, he's still got the whole team behind him, whereas if we lose the ball, there's only the goal behind us! You have to weigh up the risks involved, but if you play cleanly out of defence with your feet, it generally pays dividends for the team's play."

MONTPELLIER HÉRAULT SC - TOULOUSE FC (3-0) / Highlights (MHSC - TFC) 2023/2024

'Jan Oblak made me take a step back'

At Atlético, you were Jan Oblak's understudy. What was it like working with him on a day-to-day basis?

"He's a great goalkeeper, and he made me take a step back in terms of how I approach games and how I train during the week. Before, I was absolutely determined to have a good week's training, and I'd give everything I had to the session the day before the match, because if I didn't, I told myself I wasn't going to be any good at the weekend. But in fact, it was all bullshit. One day out of 365 in the year isn't going to change anything. We have our qualities and it's up to us to organise our week so that we arrive with the confidence we need to perform well at the weekend. In that respect, Jan Oblak has found a balance in his work with [Atlético's goalkeeping coach] Pablo Vercellone and that's also what makes him one of the best goalkeepers in the world today. But it's perhaps mentally that he's most impressive."

What do you mean by that?

"I've seen him go through pre-match warm-ups at the last minute, and then come out with some crazy performances. The first time, I went to ask him at the end: 'But doesn't it have a negative impact on your match when you warm up like that?'. And he replied that that had nothing to do with it, that he was just there to warm up his body, that the most important thing was to stop the shots once the match had started. In fact, Jan doesn't use the warm-up to build up his confidence, he just warms up so that he doesn't injure himself. After that, the match is the match. And it's true that I had a tendency to get sore during the week, during the pre-match warm-ups... there, I worked differently and I felt just as good in the end. Just because I do a 'bad' warm-up doesn't mean I'm going to be bad."

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