Sébastien Pocognoli

Sébastien Pocognoli - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Sébastien Pocognoli

Sébastien Jean Pocognoli (born 1 August 1987) is a Belgian football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Monaco.

This profile of Sébastien Pocognoli covers Personal Life, Genk, AZ, Standard Liège and Hannover 96.

A left-back, Pocognoli played for Standard Liège, Genk, AZ, Hannover 96, West Bromwich Albion, Brighton & Hove Albion and Union SG.

A Belgian youth international from under-16 to under-23 levels, he earned 13 caps for the Belgium senior national team.

Personal Life of Sébastien Pocognoli

Pocognoli revealed that his father worked next to the stadium. Growing up, he revealed that he initially hated football, but thanks to his stubborn father, he grew to like football as a sport.

Genk of Sébastien Pocognoli

Pocognoli began his career with the youth team of Standard Liège, but left at the age of 15 to join Genk, where the club offered him a professional contract and felt Standard Liège would not give him first-team opportunities if he had stayed.

Pocognoli made his Genk debut, where he came on as a substitute for Marco Ingrao in the second half, in a 1–0 win over Gent on 9 April 2004, which was his sole appearance that season. But the new manager René Vandereycken sent him to the reserve team the following season. In 2006, he made a first-team breakthrough at the club, and played his first game for the previous two years on 22 January 2006, where he made his first start and played 69 minutes before being substituted in a 2–1 loss against Charleroi. In the next game against Westerlo on 28 January 2006, Pocognoli scored his first Genk goal (and his first professional goal), in a 2–0 win. He finished the 2005–06 season with fifteen appearances and one goal.

Despite interest from clubs like Eredivisie side Ajax and Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, Pocognoli ended up staying at the club and did well when he set up a goal for Ivan Bošnjak, in a 1–1 draw against Standard Liège on 19 August 2006. Three days later, Pocognoli signed a new contract with Genk, keeping him until 2008 and two months later, he signed another contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2011 Despite being sent–off for a second bookable offence against Sint-Truidense on 29 October 2006, Pocognoli became a regular for the club during the 2006–07 season, making thirty–four appearances in all competition. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Pocognoli was nominated for the Young Player Footballer of the Year award, but lost out to Lucas Biglia.

AZ

On 20 June 2007, Pocognoli left Genk to join Eredivisie side AZ, signing a five–year contract with them. The fee was worth about €2.75 million. Upon joining the club, Pocognoli revealed that he had an offer to join Bayer Leverkusen, but opted for AZ instead.

Pocognoli made his AZ debut when he came on as a substitute in the second half in a 4–0 win over VVV-Venlo in the opening game of the season. Pocognoli then scored his first goal for the club, in the UEFA Cup match, in a 1–0 win over Paços de Ferreira on 20 September 2007. Pocognoli scored his first league goal for the club on 9 December 2007, in a 2–1 win over Utrecht and his second later came on 22 January 2008, in a 2–1 loss against NAC Breda. Despite being absent several times, Pocognoli went on to make thirty–three appearances and scoring three times in all competition, under the management of Louis van Gaal.

In the 2008–09 season, Pocognoli continued to be in the first team regular at the club and then scored his first goal of the season, just coming on as a substitute, in a 3–3 draw against Heerenveen on 1 November 2008. His second goal for the club later came on 21 January 2009, in a 3–0 win over Achilles '29 and three days later on 24 January 2009, he scored again in a 2–0 win over De Graafschap. As the 2008–09 season, Pocognoli suffered an injury, which kept him out for six weeks. Despite this, he helped the club win the league for the first time since 1981 after title contender Ajax lost 6–2 to PSV on 18 April 2009. Pocognoli went on to make twenty–seven appearances and scoring three times in all competition in the 2008–09 season.

Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Pocognoli surprisingly attracted interest from La Liga side Barcelona. He ended the transfer speculation when he signed a contract with the club on 14 June 2009, keeping him until 2014. Pocognoli helped the club win the Johan Cruyff Shield, where he set up one of the goals, in a 5–1 win over Heereveen. But his first team opportunities was limited under the new management of Ronald Koeman, due to injury and spent most of the first half of the season on the substitute bench. Despite this, Pocognoli set up one of the goals in the Group Stage match of the UEFA Champions League, in a 1–1 draw against Standard Liège on 9 December 2009 and then scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–0 win over ADO Den Haag a week later on 19 December 2009.

During his time at AZ, Pocognoli later credit Van Gaal for his role of helping his formation as a footballer.

Standard Liège

On 23 January 2010, Pocognoli was in a negotiation with a move to Belgian Pro League, signing for his former club Standard Liège. The move was confirmed the next day, where he signed a three–year contract, keeping him until 2014. Upon joining the club, Pocognoli was given number thirty–five shirt for the new season.

Pocognoli made his Standard Liege debut, where he made his first start and played the whole game, in a 1–0 loss against his former club, Genk on 7 February 2010, followed up by scoring his first goal, in a 1–0 win over Westerlo in the next game. Despite suffering from an injury, Pocognoli returned to the first team from injury, where he set up one of the goals, in a 1–1 draw against Zulte Waregem on 14 March 2010. Pocognoli went on to make sixteen appearances and score once in all competition in the second half of the season.

In the 2010–11 season, Pocognoli started well, scoring his first goal in a 4–0 win over Lierse on 6 August 2010. But in a match against Sint-Truidense on 20 August 2010, Pocognoli was sent off after a second bookable offence, in a 1–0 loss. Pocognoli was sent off for the second time this season after a second bookable, in a 1–0 win over Germinal Beerschot on 13 November 2010. Despite suffering from an injury in the last game of the season, Pocognoli finished the 2010–11 season, making forty appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Pocognoli), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.