When he was the doctor of the Lyon football club, Emmanuel Orhant made cooking courses available and even sent chefs to the homes of young players "who would eat anything, kebabs or hamburgers."
This doctor, now the director of the Clairefontaine Medical Center, the 'headquarters' of the French national team, is one of the specialists in supervising the two main dangers that threaten football talents in their daily lives: poor nutrition and nights of insomnia due to social media or television series.
All of this while insisting that good nutrition and proper sleep are essential for injury prevention.
Too much meat
The diet of young French talent Ousmane Dembélé (20 years old) made headlines at FC Barcelona when he was recovering from a left thigh injury.
"Dembélé and many other players rely on trusted individuals, nutritionists who help them," explained his coach, Ernesto Valverde, while the player's entourage, when asked by France Football magazine, denied any bad habits from the former Borussia Dortmund player.
In Lyon, where he worked from 2008 to 2017, Emmanuel Orhant admits to having several cases of young players who frequently resorted to fast food.
"They were weighed daily and their body fat percentage was regularly measured. I remember the case of a player who later moved to Lille. He would do anything. To make him understand things, he was removed from training for a week, he only ran with a fitness coach, without playing football," he said.
In French football, dietary issues are not as developed as in other countries, according to specialist Michel Martino, who has been working for Toulouse since 2016.
"In England, Italy, and Spain, they are far ahead. There are nutritionists in all clubs, sometimes two per club. In most Ligue 1 clubs, it is the physiotherapist, doctor, or fitness coach who takes care of the matter," he emphasized.
This dietitian-nutritionist creates meal plans for Toulouse players: one for training days, another for the day before a game, and a third for match day.
"The main fuel for any athlete is carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes). Then come fruits and vegetables, which are often neglected," he said. "In general, society consumes too much protein (meat, fish, eggs...) and we sometimes find footballers who mistakenly consume the same amounts as bodybuilders," he added.
To avoid problems with nutrition, more and more clubs organize at least two meals of the day at the club (breakfast and lunch), without aiming for total and strict control.
"They are allowed one indulgent meal per week. It's good for the mind, it allows relaxation. It is generally after games and it's not an orgy either," explained Michel Martino.
Insufficient sleep hours
The other recurrent problem is lack of sleep. Emmanuel Orhant, the director of the Clairefontaine Medical Center, speaks of "addiction to television series," with athletes who "watch four or five 50-minute episodes at night. And then there are tweets and social media on their mobile phones," which inevitably cuts into their rest time.
AS Monaco even hired a sleep specialist, Professor François Duforez.
In youth teams, they are very aware of the danger, which, like the problem of poor nutrition, extends beyond football and affects a large sector of society.
"They must be watched because there are indeed new lifestyles being imposed," said Ludovic Batelli, former coach of the French Under-20 team.
To recover from nights with little rest, there are often "long afternoon naps, lasting three to four hours." And that is why "it is difficult to fall asleep at night, it's a vicious circle."
In the Under-20 World Cup last year in South Korea, the French coach required his players to "go to their rooms no later than between 11:00 PM and 11:30 PM."
"But then you can't ask the coaching staff to watch them all night. I am a coach, not a police officer. It is up to each boy to decide what he wants to do in his career or during the tournament." (D)