Jean-Louis Gasset: "We need everyone"

You’re going to play again three days after your victory against Caen. Is that a problem at this stage of the season?

It’s easier when you’ve just won. It’s true that the delay between Caen and Toulouse, then the one between Toulouse and Monaco, are a bit short. The fatigue and the injuries are what we have to fear the most when the calendar is accelerated. I saw the players yesterday morning (Sunday), tired but satisfied. We’ll see this evening (Monday), the day before the match, how we’ll be.

Could the victory against Caen be the much-anticipated turning-point for you?

I told you this before the match. That was a turning-point in January. The match was a bit similar. That may be a good sign. I dont’t forget that last season, after the victory against Caen, we had won in Amiens and we had delivered a very good match. We’ll see if we can do the same thing in Toulouse. 

Given the pace of the calendar, should we expect changes in your starting lineup this Tuesday?

I’ll look into the state of those who played the entire match Saturday. It’s possible that there’s a bit of fresh blood to pump up the team. We need everyone so changes can take place in all aspects of the game. We have two matches to take care of in three days with three possible changes each time. In this job, the result determines the coaching. I look at the state of each player, I ask myself if the youth is ready. I need to see the professional players who played during the training session today (Monday) in order to remove the questions that I have. It’s more logical than a categorical choice. It’s two days after that we’ll feel the most tired. After Caen, we used everything in order to rest : meals, cold baths, we met up again at 11am Sunday and won’t leave until tomorrow morning (Tuesday morning) so that the players have two good nights of rest. Only the adrenal expenditure of our players can’t be quantified. There was however an emotional driving force because we played well after the disappointment in Paris.

Do you feel that you’re the favourite team to win at these types of matches?
We’re our own worst enemy. If we play good halves, as is the case, that means that we still have good skills. In Paris, we weren’t far from a successful conclusion. There, we decided to play our game and our adversary dreams of countering us. We have to perfect certain strategies. Being good technically so that we don’t lose the ball and in so doing avoid having our opponent counter us: we have to carry out these two things well. If we play our Football, we have a much better chance of winning. It’s like an exam. The problem is that there’s an exam every 48 hours. We have to hold onto this rhythm.

Before the match against Caen, you had asked your players to put themselves into "warrior" mode. Did you appreciate their state of mind?

Taking three points, winning a match, it’s difficult. It’s close, it plays out in the details, extraordinary goals or mistakes. I really liked the state of mind of my players during the second half. In Paris, we delivered a good first-half and we fell behind, in my opinion, against the flow of the game. It was the same thing for Caen. You can’t panic, take the bull by the horns, push, play, relax. That’s what we did. There was a bit of craziness, we could have scored many goals. And, Football, it’s exactly like that: a bit of craziness. We often have the impression of being a bit too relaxed when we play during the first half but our adversaries are there for something. Everyone has the same plan: put yourself 25 metres from the net with 9 players in front of you. In light of how we finish matches, we also have to wear them out physically. That’s what Paris did to us. When a team plays better technically, they wear out their adversary.

It was particularly useful to the team when Loïs Diony and Arnaud Nordin were called onto the field.

I liked both. I called them onto the field so that they could be useful to the team. When Wahbi (Khazri) plays as a striker with Rémy (Cabella) behind him, we need wingers who dribble and race to the middle of the field. Caen was tired and we needed fresh blood. They brought exactly what I wanted them to bring to the game.

How do you feel about the beginning of TFC’s season?

They conceded a 4-0 loss for their first match and, since then, they’ve had an undefeated streak that consists of 3 victories and 3 tie games. They’re undefeated on their home turf. They’re a solid team. They recruited well, with the return of Alain Casanova who knows their stadium well. Like all the teams that he’s managed, they’ll certainly be difficult to handle.