One of the youngest coaches of a professional team, 28-year-old Frenchman Alexandre Lafitte led the Stade d’Abidjan football club in the Ivory Coast to victory on Sunday.
Stade d’Abidjan ended their 56-year wait to win the domestic league in the Ivory Coast on May 18… and their triumph was masterminded by one of the youngest coaches in world football.
Les Yeyes (The Eyes) had not lifted the Ligue 1 trophy since 1969, but a 3-0 victory over Lys Sassandra saw them finish three points ahead of city rivals ASEC Mimosas for a sixth championship win.
Coach Alexandre Lafitte was just 25 years old when he took over the team in January 2023, when the side were in a perilous position at the foot of the table.
He not only saved them from relegation that season but took the team to second place in the 2023-24 campaign and now to the Ligue 1 title. Having turned 28 last month, Lafitte remains one of the youngest coaches of a professional team.
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He explains the evolution of the team since his arrival two-and-a-half years ago.
“The first thing was to improve the mentality, because it is fair to say we did not have the best players in the league,” Frenchman Lafitte tells FORBES AFRICA. “We were up against teams like ASEC Mimosas, who are very, very strong. But what we could do was build the mentality, and with that we created a good game project.
“Although the team was bad when I arrived, we saw there is the capacity to develop and improve if we work with the players. But most important was to develop a very good mentality.
“We demanded hard work and believed in the players. If you have a good game project and you work together with the players, you will have results. The players should want to come to training and want to play. And that comes from coaching.”
Lafitte says his love for coaching comes from his father, though they do not work in the same sports.
”I began coaching when I was young. I played football where I grew up near Bordeaux, but stopped at 18 years old when I began to study at university,” he says. “I always liked the idea of coaching, because my father coached table tennis.
“I began my career with youth coaching and as an assistant in the fourth and fifth division (in France), and after that with the Paris St-Germain academy.”
It was while he was at French giants PSG that the opportunity to work as a head coach in the Ivory Coast arose. Although considerably younger than some of his players, he says his age is not an issue.
“I don’t think the age really matters. When you come to improve the player, when you come to develop the team (age does not matter),” he says. “There are benefits. I am the same generation as many players, so I understand them and can relate to them. It means we have a good relationship.
“When the players understood they had come to training to work hard, to take pleasure in playing and to win, there was no problem. It is important to understand the personality of the player, who he is as a human being.
“I think my player-management is one of my big strengths. It is about creating the right feeling within the team. That is important to find the energy to win.”
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