Punctually, at 8:10 am, Fabrice Gautier (Paris, 49 years old) receives this newspaper, one day after his last session with Aurélien Tchouameni, who has once again taken advantage of Real Madrid’s stay in Los Angeles, as he did last summer, to get ready with his trusted osteopath. Less than a 10-minute walk from The Maybourne, Real Madrid’s base of operations on its first American stop, on South Beverly Drive, the clinic of this Parisian who fell in love with LA at the age of 18 has traces of a personal museum. At the entrance, three signed, framed jerseys greet visitors: Rudy Gobert, Carmelo Anthony and Boris Diaw. “Over here, there is my office.” On the left, several more elastics. Autographed, of course. Nico Batum, Joakim Noah, Ronny Turiaf, Tony Parker… All basketball stars, until Jules Koundé and Aurélien Tchouameni appear. It is the client portfolio of the ‘body mechanic’, fan of the Lakers and Magic Johnson, of the NBA and osteopath, in addition to all those mentioned here, of the French national basketball team. But what leads us to knock on his door are the stars of Madrid and Barça.

How did his relationship with Tchouameni and Koundé come about?

About four or five years ago, Jonathan Kebe, the agent of Jules, Aurélien and Mike (Maignan), whom he knew from basketball, came up with the idea of bringing the boys over to him. Aurélien would have been 17 years old at that time. They were still in Bordeaux. He said: “They like American culture, they like the NBA. Why don’t they come to Los Angeles and work with you in the morning with your team and enjoy the city in the afternoon?” Because it’s not just me, we have a group of people who are very used to working with professional athletes. At that time, Aurélien had broken her ankle and when they came, at first we solved the problem for them, but we also tried to humbly teach her how to be professional, how to build a routine, to hire a professional chef… That kind of thing to try to be as professional as possible with her body. We always say here in the United States that ‘the best quality of an athlete is to be available’. Before thinking about dreams and goals, you have to be healthy.

-It is to puff out your chest when you see his evolution.

Is incredible. I met them very young, although I’m not surprised either. They have an amazing mindset. This generation has a lot of content within reach that they can learn. They look at stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Lindsey Vonn. They are like sponges and have a good base. His work ethic was already very good at 17 years old. If the replay wasn’t good, they wanted to do it again. I always say that what we do is like adding gasoline to a Formula 1 car. Of course we help. Of course we have all the right people, but they have special talents.

“Their work ethic was already very good at 17, if a repeat was not good, they wanted to do it again” – Fabrice Gautier, on Tchouameni and Koundé

-Your job is not just to give massages, right?

It is a part, it is the basis of the process. Barrence Baytos, who is my partner, and I started at the beginning. He was with Kobe Bryant for 20 years, working behind the scenes. He does deep tissue work between the two of us we try to remove all the dysfunction, all the restriction of mobility, all the squamous tissue from surgeries, from injuries, from hamstring tears… And once you have the foundation created, then we start to rebuild. We started teaching athletes how to reprogram their brains and how to move with their newly acquired range of motion. It is very important to rebuild to a level where they can go to a full season, because they are playing more and more games.

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-How did you see Tchouameni in his last session?

We only did a few exercises, mainly osteopathy. Not much because he is preparing for the season. We did mostly recovery. We work on trying to reprogram the brain, trying to be stable in an unstable environment with balance exercises. The idea is to build greater stability and mobility.

-Were the exercises similar to last summer when he signed for Madrid?

More or less. At the time we had a kid who had to build the base, so we did a little weight lifting, squats, deadlifts… And then once you have it all, you build fitness.

“Tchouameni is a mix between a sprinter and a marathon runner. This year (at Madrid) he has become an adult ”-Fabrice Gautier

-How does he describe you physically from a professional point of view?

It’s like he’s always had that upright posture, that strength, explosiveness, body fat ratio, good muscle ratio. Sometimes I say that he is a mixture between a sprinter and a marathon runner, which does not make sense because they are not the same muscle fibers. But watch him play. He’s still tough, but he’s also capable of being gritty, aggressive and very explosive. And he is only 23 years old. In this last year he has become a true adult. And Jules the same. I’ve caught myself thinking, ‘Oh shit, (Tchouameni) is not a kid anymore’ (laughs).

-Aurélien and Jules, Madrid and Barça…

Obviously I have a love-hate relationship with Spain because they have beaten us many times in basketball (laughs)… Yes, but I have a lot of respect for Spanish sport. Especially in basketball, they are always there. Going back to Madrid or Barcelona… Four years ago I met Karim Benzema and we worked together a couple of times. He was in Beverly Hills. We got along well and it’s not that I’m a Madrid fan, but I started to like watching Karim play. I was at the Stade de France when Madrid won the Champions League and seeing Karim win the Ballon d’Or makes me happy. I like people to be successful. I would say that he may have a little more feeling for Real Madrid.

-Before I talked about the fact that now the players play many games. Tchoaumeni experienced a slump in the second leg of last season. Why does he think he could have been him?

There are so many factors… The World Cup in the middle of the season is one of them, without a doubt. There are athletic factors, recovery, emotional… I don’t know, it’s just what I think personally. You change teams in the summer and everything goes well, you reach the World Cup final and you lose dramatically. You have to recover from that. It takes time. It’s hard for me to figure out exactly if there’s just one factor or if it’s a combination of all of them. Many times people underestimate the emotional impact of losing a final. I feel that hardly any French player had a great season.

-Griezmann?

Maybe yes, he played amazing. But apart from him… Defeat in a final like the World Cup is underestimated. You can’t be such a machine that it doesn’t impact you along the way. What I can say is that I am looking forward to seeing how Aurélien does this season. I’m pretty sure he’s going to break it.

-Is there something they should improve on?

We are talking about one of the best teams in the world. Real Madrid is year after year. And he plays for the French national team. Tchouameni is one of the best soccer players in his position in the world. I’m sure he’s in the top four or five. He is part of that 1%. They have qualities that make them stand out. I think they should be consistent. There are many technical aspects of football that I don’t know, but I think they should focus on recovery. This is very important. Recovery can be passive and active. There are many types: 40-minute sessions lifting weights, ice baths… You have to be aware of how important it is.

“Tchouameni is one of the best in the world in his position, he is part of that 1%” – Fabrice Gautier

– Is it Aurelien who proposes the exercises or is it you?

It’s me mainly and then we adapt. In the last session we only did five or ten minutes in the gym because he has to go back to the team and train, they are going to have games soon… We have to reduce the load. You have to use common sense. It’s not about destroying the guy and trying to make him vomit every practice. It is adapt. And if you do it consistently, you keep building.

Do you ask for advice during the season?

Yes, we talk. If you need it, contact me. Although the funny thing is that when we talk, we do it about basketball. Aurélien is a Philadelphia fan and Jules is a Cleveland fan.

-They are inspired by NBA players as I understand it.

The mentality of Michael Jordan, of Kobe Bryant, of LeBron James are to learn from them. That generation of YouTube, of Instagram, has bad things, but also good. They are sponges and should keep the best of each one. And that’s another thing that caught my attention. They were masters of their own destiny at a young age. They knew what they had to do. That is why I say that I am not surprised by its success. Since they were young they already had that approach.

-What Tchouameni will we see this year?

I think he is going to have a kind of personal claim, he is going to have that mentality that makes him show everyone that great things are coming. What people need to understand is that these athletes are demanding more of themselves than any fan could. And their goals are so high that every day they work to achieve them. It is difficult for me to tell you what is going to happen, many factors influence it, but personally I always think that it is going to be incredible because he has worked hard.

-How are Aurélien and Jules personally? It seems that they are not very extroverted.

They are extroverts here (in the clinic). They talk. They may seem a little shy, a little reserved or have their personal space, but every time they are here at the table they are comfortable with the trust built over the years. We talk about everything, even wine, even if they don’t drink. Last year we went to an Italian restaurant with Rudy Gobert and we were having a glass of wine and they didn’t have any. They are like Formula One. They’re funny, good guys.

-Lastly, where does the expression ‘body mechanic’ come from?

I’m the guy who puts the gas (laughs). It comes from a basketball article. I think it comes from the fact that I have two jobs, a physiotherapist and an osteopath. Here in the States there are a lot of chiropractors and people don’t fully understand what I do. I think I came up with the idea of body mechanic, because it makes sense. I realign, make sure everything’s okay, and then you go and perform. And the way we work is preventive. So if someone comes from time to time, we make sure that the suspensions are good, the brakes too, the wheels are in place… That’s where they come from (laughs).