Name: Didier Christophe



Country: France
Club: AS Monaco FC
Position: ★DMF
Side: RF/BS
Age: 23-26 years (08/12/1956)

Height: 184 cm
Weight: 84 kg

Attack: 68
Defence: 75
Balance: 85
Stamina: 86
Top Speed: 76
Acceleration: 73
Response: 80
Agility: 73
Dribble Accuracy: 74
Dribble Speed: 72
Short Pass Accuracy: 78
Short Pass Speed: 76
Long Pass Accuracy: 73
Long Pass Speed: 76
Shot Accuracy: 66
Shot Power: 87
Shot Technique: 63
Free Kick Accuracy: 74
Curling: 70
Header: 84
Jump: 80
Technique: 77
Aggression: 72
Mentality: 83
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 81

Injury Tolerance: A
Condition: 7
Weak Foot Accuracy: 5
Weak Foot Frequency: 5
Consistency: 6
Growth Type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:
P02 - Anchor Man
S09 - Covering

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Centre - Covering

Attack/Defence Awareness: Balanced


INFO:
A rock at the foot of the famous Monaco rock. A British silhouette and game. Extremely powerful, rough, excellent in the air game. A defensive type of DMF, Christophe sweeps the field like a kind of unbreakable ice shield. Strong in duels, solid tackler because of his long legs. He had fine short passing, long not so much (more through and low weighted passes), very strong shot, he liked to take long shots often but his technique was pretty poor. Sometimes, he would take free kicks, but he wasn't too skilled in it. He was also not very agile, slow in 1on1 defending, often running like a fly from one to another player.

Didier Christophe had an atypical career. Member of a family of high-level basketball players, it is only very late that he discovers the football, taking his first football license from a small local club at the age of 17! At this time has just been found in Vichy what would later be one of the bastions of training at the French: the INF Vichy. Admitted, Christophe began training under the direction of a certain Gérard Banide. Banide, being later called upon to develop and managing the ASM training centre, this is how the young defensive midfielder is a trainee at the ASM. Christophe is an extremely strong athlete. With 1.84 Meters for 84 Kg of muscle "shoulders of piano deliverers" and "legs cut out of oak", Christophe is a real physical presence on the ground, at the race a little heavy but unstoppable and with a violent ball strike. No wonder for a man whose sports culture is firmly anchored: land work, regime food, lifestyle. His conditioning and physical preparation are flawless. A guarantee of invaluable solidity for this Monaco team of the early 1980s that often goes ahead without too much to worry about his back. Because it was when Banide became coach of the A's in 1980 that Christophe definitely integrates the pros. Three full seasons, some national selections, a French Cup and a Champion title but above all a constant defensive effort to suffocate, often alone, the adversary. Christophe was of this breed of shadow player essential to the hard crossing of 38 days of championship.

His performances were noticed by Michel Hidalgo who called him up to the French national team on 17 November 1979, when he had only 12 professional matches. Christophe did not play in the match against Czechoslovakia, and made his debut for the ''blues'' the following game, against Greece, on 17 February 1980. The match ended in a 5–1 victory: Didier Christophe scored a 63rd-minute header from Michel Platini's free kick. He played his last international game on 14 October 1981 in a 3–2 away defeat to the Irish, but then he is no longer called: Michel Hidalgo prefers to summon Jean Tigana as a defensive midfielder.

Didier Christophe left Monaco in 1982 after the title and signed for LOSC Lille. The year ends with Lille thirteenth in the league and eliminated in the semifinals in the Coupe de France. The following season Lille finished ninth in the league and Christophe moved to Toulouse and reached the cup semi-finals again. Toulouse lost on penalties in the second leg against PSG. After one year he signed for Rennes. The club, coming from a promotion to the first division, finishes thirteenth in the 1986 championship and reaches the semi-finals of the French Cup, where it is beaten 2-1 by Olympique Marseille. The second season ended with the club's relegation,
Christophe then moved to the Stade de Reims in Division 2: he reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France in 1988 for the fifth time with five different teams. After a year with Reims he signed with Grenoble, where he ended his professional career in 1990.