Monaco mark their centenary in style as young talents point to bright future | Monaco

There was just cause for Adi Hütter to feel a little intimidated on Saturday evening. Not because of the calibre of opponent that awaited his Monaco side, but on account of the onlookers in the stands. Between the club president, Dmitry Rybolovlev, and Prince Albert II in the VIP box and Hütter on the touchline sat a cast of managerial club legends, including Arsène Wenger, Gérard Banide, Claude Puel and Leonardo Jardim – the latter being the last to win the Ligue 1 title with Les Monégasques.

Wenger and co were invited to Saturday’s home fixture against struggling Montpellier as part of the Principality club’s centenary celebrations. They spent much of the afternoon reminiscing with former teammates and colleagues at the club’s La Turbie performance centre, perched on the French hills that surround the microstate. Old memories (and old scores) from bygone eras were rekindled in an overdose of nostalgia.

“What annoys me is that people don’t ask why I’m only the third top-scorer [in Monaco’s history],” Lucien Cossou tells us. “It’s because I took and scored just one penalty. All of those at the top [of the goalscorer charts] have 10 or 15 from the penalty spot,” added the 88-year-old, who sits between Wissam Ben Yedder and Radamel Falcao, some way behind Delio Onnis’ seemingly unbreakable record of 246 goals.

Cossou still has his place in history, just like everyone else soaking up the early-autumn sun on the rooftop of Monaco’s training ground, including Euro 1984 winner Bruno Bellone. “In Gérard Banide, we had a manager who trained us like never before. You’ll never find a guy like that in a club nowadays,” Bellone tells me, with Banide himself just a matter of feet away.

Like the rest of Monaco’s former legends, Bellone is transfixed by the drastic change at the performance centre, at the facilities now at this generation’s disposal. But there are shreds of continuity, and Bellone is a symbol of that. He recounts how he arrived at Monaco, having taken the train from down the coast in Cannes with just a small Adidas bag. Bellone, like many before and after him, came through the club’s prestigious La Diagonale academy before establishing himself in the first team and winning a French title. Kylian Mbappé is the latest to have taken a similar trajectory; the likes of Maghnes Akliouche and Eliesse Ben Seghir could yet follow him.

It is Monaco’s young players, whether developed at the academy or signed from elsewhere, who are the protagonists in the club’s current on-pitch success. Akliouche netted the opener against Barcelona in the Champions League victory earlier this month, and it was 18-year-old George Ilenikhena, a summer signing from Royal Antwerp, who got the winner.

Monaco’s CEO, Thiago Scuro, tells us that his summer recruitment plan aimed to continue the club’s tradition of bringing through young talents. “We signed four players, three of them (Ilenikhena, Lamine Camara, and Christian Mawissa) around 20 years old,” Scuro says. “Sometimes this goes against fans’ expectations but we believe in this way.

“We truly believe in the potential of this group,” adds the Brazilian, who replaced Paul Mitchell at the start of last season. “There are a lot of young players, a lot of talented players. That’s the way we have the opportunity to see an 18-year-old striker scoring against Barcelona at the Stade Louis II. This is the history of the club.”

And after that 2-1 win against Barcelona, this is a young, talented squad with extra belief. “It [showed] our players, some of whom had their first Champions League level match, that we can play at this level and we can build as a team,” Scuro adds.

Prior to that win in the Champions League, Hütter spoke about the competition being “a good stage to present” Monaco’s young talents. Like Wenger, Banide and Jardim before him, Hütter is playing his part in ensuring that the potential is realised, both in the league and in Europe. In order to remain competitive on multiple fronts, squad rotation has been key.

In their last four Ligue 1 games, either six or seven changes have been made to their starting XI each time – but crucially, Hütter has kept his side competitive. “Our playing style is connected to our physicality so having the obligation to play a 9pm match on Thursday, and then to be on the pitch at 3pm on Sunday, if you don’t rotate, it is basically impossible to give energy and physicality, which are our principles,” says Scuro.

The difficulty isn’t only ensuring that rotation doesn’t affect results on the pitch, but also preventing any unrest in the dressing room. Hütter has revealed that, rather than explaining each and every decision week-in, week-out, he informed the squad of the planned rotation policy in a meeting at the beginning of the campaign.

Takumi Minamino, a key player for Monaco last season and at the beginning of the current campaign, wasn’t even part of the squad that beat Montpellier 2-1, but no feathers have been ruffled so far. “There is good communication, and that is why there is a good understanding in the team and with the technical staff,” said the vice-captain, former West Ham defender Thilo Kehrer, when questioned about the situation.

Hütter made six changes to the side that beat Le Havre 3-1 the previous weekend against Montpellier. Despite falling behind early on, Monaco earned victory with the final kick of the game thanks to 20-year-old summer signing Camara, ensuring the centenary could be celebrated in style with Monaco second to PSG on goal difference alone.

It also means that Monaco have made their best start to a league season since the 1960-61 campaign, at the end of which the club were crowned champions, whilst Hütter now has the best win percentage of any Monaco manager in the 21st century. As Scuro rightly states, it is “too early” to talk about a title challenge but, in front of the greats, the historic formula continues to have modern-day success.

Talking points

• Following last weekend’s miraculous victory over Lyon, Roberto De Zerbi has downplayed title challenge talk for Marseille. “It wouldn’t be serious of me to talk about that. We’ve only just begun our journey; we only started building in July,” said the Marseille manager. It showed against Strasbourg, who are also building from the ground up after Liam Rosenior’s appointment this summer. With work continuing apace on their iconic Meinau stadium, a cauldron in which they registered their 1,000th win on Sunday, Rosenior has quickly constructed a team in his image. In their deserved 1-0 win over Marseille, Strasbourg were organised and dogged in their pressing, creating a swathe of first-half chances. Diego Moreira, signed from partner club Chelsea, took one of them, netting the first goal of his professional career. He, like fellow loanees Andrey Santos and Djordje Petrovic, were instrumental for Les Alsaciens, who are now unbeaten in their last three.

• Without the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Vitinha and Désiré Doué, PSG nonetheless swept Rennes aside on Friday night, winning 3-1 before their Champions League encounter with Arsenal. Bradley Barcola, whose every performance brings comparisons (both positive and negative) to his fabled predecessor, Kylian Mbappé, scored twice. Luis Enrique came to the defence of his winger, whose level was called into question after two goalless displays. “Give me the name of a player that plays well all the time. There isn’t one. It would be boring if that happened. Today he is God, and tomorrow he’s the devil,” said the PSG manager. With Ousmane Dembélé, so consistent this season on the opposite flank, absent against Arsenal, an even greater expectation may be placed on Barcola’s young shoulders on Tuesday.