Teddy Teuma: 'Will Still needed a bit of a ball-breaker on the pitch' | OneFootball

Newly arrived Stade de Reims midfielder Teddy Teuma is one fire in 2023-24! The 29-year-old Maltese international sat down for a chat and discussed his decision to join Reims, his background as a delivery driver, his temperament, his time in Belgium, his style of play and his set-piece abilities. Pt II of a two-part interview.

>> READ: Pt I: Teddy Teuma: 'It still hasn't sunk in that I'm a professional!'

As well as being captain at Union, you also have the role of dressing room entertainer...

"Once again, that's the way I am. I like to talk and have a laugh with everyone, whether it's my players, the stewards or the cooks. I'm an open person. I didn't want to be too strict a captain. I wanted to be the captain I'd always dreamed of being. I was simply me. I could come into the dressing room with music playing and joking around, but I wasn't there to give orders. I liked my dressing room to be lively, with a good atmosphere at the table and everyone having a laugh together. On match days, I wasn't going to say that I didn't want noise and concentration, I just let the players have a laugh and chat."

Were you able to offer activities outside training?

"Absolutely. When we did the summer preparations and we had to organise the integration evening, I took care of everything. I made sure everything was just right, I booked taxis and VIP areas so that it was just us, because, as I've learnt over the course of my career, the most important thing is that the group creates bonds, real bonds. As we spend more time together than we do with our own families, it's very important to create cohesion. The key to a good season is learning to love each other and to live together."

Listening to you, you seem very attached to the role of captain. Is it a medium-term objective to inherit the armband at Stade de Reims?

"I don't see why not! It's not something I absolutely want, I'm not going to do everything I can to get it, because if it's going to happen, it will happen naturally. I arrived here as an important player and a leader, but we have a very good captain in Yunis Abdelhamid, and I have no problem with that. After that, when he stops, maybe it'll be my turn. If I can do what he did, i.e. play until I'm 37, still be at Stade de Reims and be the respected captain that he is, I'll sign straight away."

You've spoken on several occasions about your ability to be a leader. But what are Will Still's expectations in that regard?

"As I said at the start, he expects me to bring my vice and my experience! In fact, Will Still usually tells the team why he's recruited this player. When it was my turn, he showed off my technical qualities and my contribution at set-pieces, and then he highlighted my other side... There was a video where, to put it politely, you could see me grumbling [smiles]. You could see my vicious, surly side, where I'd put the right stamp on things and go and have a word with the referee. He explained that this was what he needed to add to the group. He wants me to bring that energy to this team, which is very young and needs to learn. So Will also took me on because he needed a bit of a ball-breaker on the pitch [laughs]."

'I ended up discovering that I had a good left foot'.

Coming back to the pitch, you can play in a number of different roles in midfield, but which one do you feel most at home in?

"I'd have to say box-to-box midfielder, number eight. During my last season at Union, we played with a six and two eights. I really liked it. I was like a free electron when we had the ball. I like to touch the ball a lot and if I find myself in a fixed zone, without touching it too much, I'm going to have a tendency to go in search of the ball. When I'm a free electron, especially offensively, I can create shifts and imbalances by moving out of position. I wouldn't categorise myself as an attacking midfielder, I think I'm more of a 'complete' midfielder, capable of attacking and defending. I can do a bit of everything but I'm not great at everything [laughs]. I'm not slow but I'm not fast, I'm not the most technical but I have a good base, I'm not the best defender but I know how to defend, I also know how to press and I'm capable of making an impact... That's why I say I can play in every position in midfield. I can play as a No.10 and create play, play and defend, but my best version is when I'm a box-to-box midfielder."

After your time in Belgium and beyond your leadership qualities, can we say today that you are a player who thinks the game through for others?

"Yes, yes, yes! I think! Honestly, if my childhood friends came to play with me, they wouldn't recognise the Teddy I am today. I used to be a really aggressive player, a pure-bred holding midfielder. I'd run for miles and miles, I'd pick up a lot of possessions, but out of the ten I'd pick up, unfortunately I'd lose nine. But over the course of my pro seasons, I ended up discovering that I had a good left foot. And I started to enjoy the ball a lot more than running without it. In the end, while I tried to keep my aggressive, retrieving side, I broadened my range by adding technique. That's why, today, I'm categorised more as a technical player, a playmaker, than a true scrapper."

When did this transformation start?

"It all started with Red Star. I was a good National League player at Boulogne-sur-Mer and then I really exploded at Red Star. At the end of the season, I finished as one of the best players in the league and was named in the team of the season. That was the year I gained confidence in myself and realised that if I was more attacking, I'd be more in the limelight. It was also thanks to Régis Brouard. When I signed there, he came up to me and said, 'Are you a left-footer?'. When I said yes, he went on, 'OK, from now on you're going to take all the set-pieces'. Before Red Star, I sometimes took shots, but I wasn't a specialist."

'It was time to show what Teddy Teuma has become'

Is that something you've worked on a lot?

"Oh, it's been a lot of work! Let's get back to my character. When Régis gave me the responsibility of taking set-pieces, I knew how to take them but I wasn't thinking about becoming a specialist, except that from then on I had to have good statistics. So I had to work and work and do everything I could to make it a weapon. Today, I'm still far from perfect in this area, but I spent hours and hours working with Régis Brouard. He's helped me a lot with my run-up and the way I strike the ball."

And behind the ball?

"I never let go of set-pieces. When I arrived at Union, I said straight away that I wanted to take them. I'd got so used to it that it was a responsibility I didn't want to let go of. It wasn't that I wanted to show off or go for stats, but I was sure I could make a contribution. We'd just finished as National champions with Red Star and I'd finished with seven or eight assists, almost all from set-pieces..."

MONTPELLIER HÉRAULT SC - STADE DE REIMS (1-3) / Highlights (MHSC - SdR) 2023/2024

Did you imagine you would make such progress in Ligue 1 Uber Eats?

"I don't know what to say... If I say yes, people will tell me I'm a liar because a while ago I said I didn't want to come back to France... The truth is that to leave the comfort I had at Union, where I was captain, where we had good results and where we played for the title every year, I needed a real challenge. And when I asked myself, 'What would make me leave the Union? Who could offer me a better project?', I quickly realised that I was missing out on Ligue 1 Uber Eats. But did I want to come back to France? At the time, no. Honestly, I hadn't planned to come back because I was blossoming in Belgium. But when Reims came calling, all the lights were green: the project, the coach, the club... That's when I said to myself that maybe it was time for me to leave Union, to finally give  Ligue 1 Uber Eats a go and show what Teddy Teuma has become. But I didn't come here just for that, I'm here first and foremost to continue to progress and to go even higher if possible."

'I've never been to Malta before'

You're also a Maltese international...

"I knew this would come up [laughs]. I'll tell you the truth: the federation contacted me to find out if I had Maltese origins and I told them I didn't know. But they assured me otherwise. They had gone back through my family tree and found that my grandfather's grandfather was Maltese. I was interested in becoming an international and I wasn't going to invent a life for myself. I knew I was never going to be called up to the French national team, so why not Malta? It would give me the chance to play some good games and I felt that the Maltese management really wanted me. Most Maltese internationals play in their country, at a level equivalent to National 1 or 2 here, so to get someone like me, who plays at a high level, was wonderful."

How did it all come about?

"It's true that when I first made contact, I was thinking, 'That's all very well, but how do we go about it?'. The Maltese authorities explained to me that you couldn't be more than two generations apart to obtain dual nationality. So my grandfather applied for it and once he had the papers, they took care of getting mine. They did it in a few months and my story with the national team began."

How did your integration go?

"At first I thought I was going to be frowned upon, but in the end they see me as a real legend, so I'm really proud. My integration has been perfect. However, I was apprehensive because I didn't speak English or Maltese and I'd never even been there. I thought everyone would say, 'What does he want? What's he doing here? Does he think he's on holiday?'. But that wasn't the case at all. They quickly realised that I was there to help out, be a leader and win games. I also took English lessons for a year and a half so I could get even more involved."

'Luka Modrić gave me a lesson in humility'

In the end, it must also be a real bonus for your progress to be able to take part in all these international matches...

"It's incredible! Everyone thinks I'm playing there to treat myself to a holiday, but it's made me progress like crazy! I'm not just talking about football, I'm also talking about people. You often hear that football is 70 or 75% in your head, but if you knew the experience I gained with Malta, it's incredible. I've played against England, Italy and even Luka Modrić's Croatia. In fact, I've got an anecdote!"

And that is?

"We were playing Andorra and a player asked me for my shirt. I told him it wasn't that I didn't want it, but that I'd already promised it to a friend who'd come to see me in the stands. The player replied that there was no problem and I gave it to my friend. The following weekend, we played Croatia and I asked Luka Modrić for his shirt. He gave it to me and took mine in return. We lost 3-0 but it was the best day of my life. I was too happy and too proud to have got Modrić's shirt. Then, all of a sudden, my humility returned and I thought about the player I hadn't given my shirt to a week earlier. I said to myself that I would never again refuse to give my shirt to an opponent who asked me for it. It may sound silly, but Luka Modrić had no interest in swapping shirts with me and yet he gave it to me willingly and even asked for mine. So, since that day, I've never said no. Against Andorra, I didn't do anything wrong, but I tell myself that my mate could have waited and that I might never see the other player again. It was a lesson in humility."

Where do you place the moments you experienced with the Maltese national team?

"What I experienced at Union stands out because I really went through some crazy stuff, but I have very good memories with the Maltese national team despite all the defeats (19 in 31 caps). Given that it's a very small country, all the players have been playing together for a very long time and have followed each other since the youth categories, so it's a real group of friends, a real family. It's a great place to live. And it suits me because I'm a bit of a challenge man. I don't know if you can say that, because if you ask me, I'd like to say it's not the case, but when you look at my career in detail, yes, that sums it up pretty well. I'm here to challenge myself. Above all, I'm here to set myself no limits."

>> PLAYER PROFILE: Teddy Teuma