EXCLUSIVE: QPR boss bids to repeat shock win over Thomas Tuchel's PSG in West Ham FA Cup tie
Julien Stephan won the 2019 French Cup for Stade Rennais against a team starring Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. Now he wants a rare FA win for the West London club at West Ham
QPR boss Julien Stephan will keep the memory of beating Thomas Tuchel’s Paris-Saint Germain to win the French Cup in his head and heart forever.
But now the Frenchman is on a “new adventure”: trying to win a FA Cup tie for the jinxed West London club at West Ham.
Stephan’s Stade Rennais came from two goals down in the 2019 final to beat a PSG team containing Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel di Maria on penalties. His Rennes team starred Ismaila Sarr and Hatem Ben Arfa.
“It is a long, long time ago,” smiled the Rangers boss, 45. “I was probably fresher and younger than now! I will have the memory of that win in my head all my life.
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“For me it is a great memory - something that I keep in my heart but it is not something that will help me in the future. I keep that for me and now it is a new adventure.”
Stephan’s proud cup history - his father Guy is assistant to the France team who helped win the 2018 World Cup - is in stark contrast to the West London club he joined last summer.
The 1982 FA Cup finalists won only two games in the competition for 17 years at the start of the century, including 10 consecutive defeats. This horror run started with a 4-0 thrashing at Swansea in 2002 when the Welsh club were bankrupt and bottom of League Two followed by losing to Vauxhall Motors of the Northern League on penalties. And the Rs have lost in the third round in the last three years.
Asked if he knew about QPR ’s record before his first FA Cup tie, Stephan said: “I know a couple of things! I love football and I have watched FA Cup games in the past. I know it is something special for the fans that is why for me it is very important that we give everything on the pitch
“I will tell the players: Just enjoy the moment. When you play away in a big, big stadium against a big Premier League team, first you have to enjoy the moment. Don’t play with pressure - be light in your head and light in your legs. It is not every year that you have the chance to play against this kind of team.
"And be focussed on the details because if you don’t manage the details, it is impossible to create something crazy at the end of the game.”
Rangers, who sit 11th in the Championship only three points off a playoff spot, have lost top scorer Rumarn Burrell until March.
“We will put our best team,” Stephan said. “We know there is a big, big difference between the Premier League and the Championship - this will be the best team we face this season - so we need to be very humble. But you never know what can happen in football.”
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Source: Mirror
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