Sylvinho reflects on Lyon spell: “It wasn’t because of the club”

Sylvinho’s spell came to an end on 7 October 2019, the day after a 1-0 derby defeat to AS Saint-Étienne at Geoffroy-Guichard. He had started the league campaign with two emphatic wins, against Monaco (3-0) and Angers (0-6). His tenure ended after nine Ligue 1 rounds.

Looking back on his time in charge of OL, the Brazilian coach does not blame the club and says he has no regrets about a spell that lasted only 11 matches. “It wasn’t because of the club,” he said. He nevertheless acknowledges that Lyon was not “the best experience of my life.”

Before taking charge of the Lyon team, Sylvinho was OL’s sporting director. Following Bruno Génésio’s departure in summer 2019, his task was to appoint a new coach. He chose a young manager with new ideas, who had never previously led a first team: Sylvinho.

In retrospect, he says he learned from that difficult period. “Time passes, and time is a beautiful thing. Often, we don’t like the period we’re going through, but today, as a coach, I understand that difficult moments also teach us something,” he told Flashscore in an interview. Asked whether he regretted the choice, he replied: “I’m going to answer yes and no.”

He also defended the way the Lyon club was run, describing it as excellent and praising the people who worked there. In his view, everything has to function from the top of the organisation down to the last player, while finding the right environment is not always easy for a coach. He said he had nevertheless been happy to have the experience, despite its difficulties.

Recently removed from the Albania national team after guiding it to the Euro finals in 2024, for the second time in the team’s history following 2016 in France, Sylvinho says he took lessons from his brief spell in Lyon.