Damien Plessis

Damien Jérôme Jean Richard Plessis (born 5 March 1988) is a French professional footballer who last played for Örebro SK in the Swedish Allsvenskan. He is also the younger brother of professional footballer Guillaume Plessis.

Damien Plessis
Personal information
Full name Damien Jérôme Jean Richard Plessis[1]
Date of birth (1988-03-05) 5 March 1988[2]
Place of birth Neuville-aux-Bois, France
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1994–2001 Deportivo Espagnol Orléans
2001–2002 Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle
2002–2004 Orléans
2004–2007 Lyon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Liverpool 3 (0)
2010–2012 Panathinaikos 9 (0)
2012 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 0 (0)
2012–2014 Arles-Avignon 40 (0)
2014 Lausanne-Sport 13 (0)
2014–2016 Châteauroux 32 (1)
2016 Marítimo 9 (1)
2017 Örebro SK 5 (0)
2018 AS Capricorne
National team
2004–2005 France U17 6 (1)
2005–2006 France U18 2 (2)
2006–2007 France U19 9 (0)
2008 France U20 4 (1)
2008 France U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:00, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Lyon

Born in Neuville-aux-Bois of Réunionnais origin,[3] Plessis started his career at Olympique Lyonnais.[4] Plessis signed for Lyon at the age of 15, and was considered to be one of the team's most promising youngsters, following in the footsteps of Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa.[5]

Liverpool

Plessis signed a three-year contract for Liverpool on the last day of the transfer window in August 2007.[6] He initially played for the reserve team, with which he won the reserves league in 2008.[7] Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez said of Plessis after having signed him, "He is a good player, big and strong, and we're sure he'll do well for us. He's only a young boy with plenty of time to work on his game but it depends on his progress how quickly he can force his way into the first team".[6]

Plessis made his debut for Liverpool on 5 April 2008 in the 1–1 away draw against Arsenal.[8] Rafa Benítez described his performance by saying "Today was the debut for Damien Plessis. We knew when we signed him that he was a quality player. He's played really well for the reserves, and to play as well as he did today in this stadium, it shows we are going in the right direction and in time he will be fighting with the likes of Gerrard and Spearing for a first team place."[9]

For the start of the 2008–2009 season Plessis was given the number 28 shirt.[10] He made his debut in the UEFA Champions League during a game against Standard Liège.[11] He also started the first match of the season against Sunderland but only played 45 minutes because of a knock, and fellow midfielder Xabi Alonso came on to replace him.[12]

On 23 September 2008, Plessis played in the League Cup game against Crewe Alexandra.[13] He scored his first senior goal for the club in a League Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur on 12 November 2008 when he headed down a corner from Ryan Babel.[14]

Plessis signed a two-and-a-half-year extension to his Liverpool contract, in October 2009, that would have kept him at Anfield until 2012.[15]

On 12 August 2010, Plessis' shirt number, 28, was taken by new signing Christian Poulsen.[16]

Panathinaikos

On 31 August 2010, Panathinaikos bought the player from Liverpool on an undisclosed fee.[17] He signed with the club as a promising player, but his performances were below par and never satisfied his manager Jesualdo Ferreira.[18] This way he did not manage to get much playing time, finishing the season with just 9 appearances for the club.[19] At the end of the season he was expected to leave the club since he was not part of the manager's plans for the following season.[20]

In July 2011, Plessis went on trial with Leicester City. However, Sven Goran Eriksson confirmed that the trial was not very successful and quite a short one.[20] He was later rumoured to be in talks with 2. Bundesliga sides Ingolstadt 04 and 1860 Munich.[21][22] Eventually he didn't reach an agreement with any team and stayed at Panathinaikos.

Loan to Doncaster Rovers

On 23 December 2011, Doncaster Rovers signed Plessis on loan until the end of the season.[23] He hoped to use the switch as a springboard to winning a move back to the Premier League.[24] However, he never made a first team appearance for the club and was subsequently released in May 2012.[25] On 4 July 2012, Panathinaikos also terminated his contract after two years of sub-par performances for the club.[26]

Arles-Avignon

In July 2012, Plessis joined French Ligue 2 side AC Arles-Avignon on a two-year contract. There he managed to resurrect his foundering career and he became a first team regular.

Lausanne-Sport

In January 2014, it was announced Plessis joined Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport on a six-month deal with an option for a further year.[27]

Châteauroux

In August 2014, Plessis agreed a three-year contract with LB Châteauroux in Ligue 2[28]

Örebro SK

In March 2017, Plessis agreed a two-year contract with Örebro SK in Allsvenskan[29] He became a free agent in September 2017.[30]

AS Capricorne

Plessis joined AS Capricorne of the Réunion Premier League in February 2018.[31][32] He left the club in August.[31]

International career

Plessis was a member of the French under-19 team which reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Austria.[33] He is also a former France under-21 international.[34]

Career statistics
As of 13 January 2021.[35][36]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Liverpool 2007–08 Premier League 2000000020
2008–09 1000212051
2009–10 0000100010
Total 3000312081
Panathinaikos 2010–11 Superleague 4020——3090
2011–12 0000——0000
Total 4020——3090
Doncaster Rovers 2011–12 Championship 0000000000
Arles-Avignon 2012–13 Ligue 2 3202040——380
2013–14 801020——110
Total 400306000490
Lausanne-Sport 2013–14 Super League 1300000——130
Châteauroux 2014–15 Ligue 2 3014110——352
2015–16 National 201000——30
Total 321511000382
Marítimo 2015–16 Primeira Liga 910010——101
Örebro SK 2017 Allsvenskan 501010——60
Career total 1062111111501334

References
  1. "Damien Plessis". L'Équipe. Paris. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  3. "Damien Plessis profile and statistics - LFC Player Stats - Anfield Online".
  4. "Damien Plessis". Liverpool F.C. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  5. "Ligue des champions – Damien Plessis, l'infiltré lyonnais (Damien Plessis, the infiltrated Lyon player)" (in French). Goal.com. 20 October 2009.
  6. "Damien Plessis profile". LFChistory.net. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  7. "Damien Plessis". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  8. Bevan, Chris (5 April 2008). "Arsenal 1–1 Liverpool". London: BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  9. "Rafa Praises Debut Boy Damien". Liverpool F.C. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  10. "Trio Handed First-Team Squad Numbers". Liverpool FC. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  11. "Damien Plessis profile". uefa.com. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  12. "Torres gives Reds dramatic opening day win". Liverpool F.C. 16 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. "Liverpool – Crewe Alexandra 2–1, match report". TeamTalk. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.
  14. "Spurs sink sorry Reds". Sky Sports. 12 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009.
  15. "Liverpool youngster signs new deal". Ontheminute.com, 28 October 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  16. Rice, Jimmy (12 August 2010). "Photo special: Our new No.28". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010.
  17. "Plessis a player of Panathinaikos" (in Greek). pao.gr. 31 August 2010.
  18. "English interest for Plessis" (in Greek). Inewsgr.com. 27 July 2011.
  19. Panagiotas, Giotis (9 August 2011). "The "wasted" millions of Panathinaikos". To Vima (in Greek).
  20. "Plessis returns" (in Greek). Inewsgr.com. 31 July 2011.
  21. Theo, Kostas (11 August 2011). "1860 Munich for Plessis". SentraGoal (in Greek).
  22. "Προς Γερμανία ο Πλεσί (Plessis to Germany)" (in Greek). In.gr. 8 August 2011.
  23. "El-Hadji Diouf extends Doncaster Rovers deal". BBC. 23 December 2011.
  24. Payne, Les (23 December 2011). "Plessis link to Rovers". Doncaster Free Press.
  25. O'Rourke, Peter (18 May 2012). "Dozen depart from Rovers". Sky Sports.
  26. "Λύθηκε η συνεργασία με Πλεσί (Plessis released)" (in Greek). Sigma Live. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  27. "Transfert au FC Lausanne-Sport" [Transfer to FC Lausanne-Sport] (in French). FC Lausanne-Sport. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. "Meriterade fransmannen Damien Plessis klar för Örebro SK". ÖSK Fotboll (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  30. "Officiellt: Örebro SK bryter med Damien Plessis" (in Swedish). fotbolltransfers.com. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  31. Robinson, Anthony (10 August 2018). "[Sport] Plessis s'en va déjà" [Plessis is already leaving]. Clicanoo.re (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  32. Payet, Mickaël (6 February 2018). "[Sport] AS Capricorne : La (belle) surprise Plessis" [AS Capricorn: The (beautiful) Plessis surprise]. Clicanoo.re (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  33. "France U21 squad". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007.
  34. "Liverpool career stats for Damien Plessis - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!". www.lfchistory.net. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  35. Damien Plessis at Soccerbase
  36. "Damien Plessis profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.