Jean-Louis Gasset: «Let's roll up our sleeves»

In what state of mind will you tackle the match against Caen this Saturday?

We had an okay start this season in regards of points as few teams apart from Paris were well ahead of us. We’re not far from fourth and fifth place but we’re aware that we’re still trying to reach our peak level of performance. This week, we wanted to focus our training sessions on physical fitness because we had a period when we were off our game in Paris. Moreover, the second goal affected us mentally. We tried to remedy that.

What is your analysis of the defeat in Paris?

We reassessed ourselves after losing 4-0, and even if it was Paris we were facing and that’s a normal score for them. We’re always hopeful that we’ll thwart them. We weren’t far from doing so, I think. We would have just needed to have seen our offensive strategies through to the end and to open the score in order to make them doubt themselves even more. Unfortunately, we didn’t score.

Saturday’s match will be marked by the return to the normal configuration of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium with the return of the two kops.

For us, it’s not a 12th man, they’re two lungs. So, Saturday, we’ll be getting our breath back. We have every intention of making this match a turning point for us. At the end of January that was the case. I hope that it’ll happen again. Do I have a message for the fans? We need you. (Wahbi) Khazri’s goal against Guingamp, for example, deserves to make a stadium full of people scream and shout. The cheering was mediocre. We need to have a crowd that jumps to their feet, a celebration because it’s an exceptional goal. I don’t know if there’s a link, but our first half against Amiens was disastrous, while we were much more committed during the second half. For us, a stadium has to be full. I hope that we start a new streak like that. I want to see the full stands that move us.

How many points behind do you think you are on your board?

Two points behind. It’s very tight in the rankings. Of course, we dreamed of a masterstroke in Paris, like everyone. We won’t dwell on it. Montpellier, Angers, Strasbourg: we won matches that we didn’t deserve to win last season. Football is like life: there are cycles. We have to find the trick in order to succeed, score a goal using a dead-ball situation, because we have good shooters. It will moreover be our focus for tomorrow’s training session. When you’re lacking some points, you go back to the fundamentals.

Are you especially concerned about the calendar that has you playing three matches in six days?

The match that interests me is Saturday’s. Many things could come about due to this match. Playing Saturday-Tuesday-Friday is very rare, I think that it’ll be the first time in my career. I don’t like when we call everything into question. Two months ago we had the same defense and the same environment. We created a streak using ingredients that we don’t have today. These players are capable of giving it another go. I’m convinced of that. We were a bit too relaxed when we were playing but that’s not who we are. Let’s roll up our sleeves and put ourselves in warrior mode again.

Will you adapt your discourse at the onset of such an intense streak?

All my work consists of working on weak points but every player has to do a bit more and make the effort for one another. I don’t have the pleasure of seeing my team play like they did last season. Despite everything, we’ve played five matches and have only lost once. We’re not alarmists but aware that we’re still far from what we have to do.