Bursts of laughter escape from the “toros” and lively tennis-ball games. Thursday is a rather light training day for the players of Paris FC. Tuesday, they were entitled to a double session. Five days after the sinking at home against Auxerre (0-3), the atmosphere remains good for the leader who is fighting a shock this Saturday (3 pm) in Grenoble, his runner-up (4 points).
“The best way to sweep it all aside is to play,” assures René Girard. And what could be better than facing the second? This match is timely. We know what awaits us and that should make us react quickly after Auxerre. “
Since the start of the season, Sunday was a day of rest for players. But the day after the Auxerre match, Girard had decided to convene his group at ten o’clock. “Hot, after such a poor performance, it is often better to keep quiet and say nothing,” explains the Paris FC coach. That’s why, I thought it was important that we meet together on Sunday morning to have a good chat. It avoids scattering. “
The accident thesis
If he wanted to remind his players of certain obligations, the coach of France’s L1 champion in 2012 with Montpellier prefers to retain the thesis of the accident. But the physical aspect certainly weighed on Ousmane Kanté (Guinea) and Mustapha Name (Senegal), returning from long trips with their selection. Lalaina Nomenjanahary was the victim of a knee sprain with Madagascar and will be absent until the truce. We can also wonder if the change of status and increased media coverage have not altered the level of recklessness that animated this group until then.
“There is a bit of all that, admits Girard. We are not going to look for red herrings. We weren’t there at all. It was a match without, but that’s a lot for one night… We took the match upside down. We had already been warned about certain starts of matches where we had not been present. But even with warning, the lesson was not learned. It’s a warning. We had already had a small one against Nancy. We saw that during a match, things could go very quickly, in one direction or the other. We must therefore stay focused and quickly recover. “
However, René Girard refuses to dramatize this second defeat of the season more than that. Because whatever happens in Grenoble, his team will remain leader at the end of this 12th day before starting a December marathon which will serve as a revealing (Sochaux, Troyes, Rodez, Clermont, Guingamp).
“There is no danger in the remainder,” concludes Girard. What has been done before has been done well. We knew very well that our series was going to end one day. We had lost the habit of losing and we are not happy. The day there is a quack, it looks like it buries everything else. But we must not forget that we have 25 points and that we went to look for them in the field. I believe that you should not question everything for a failed game. You have to be aware of this and react quickly. “
For this shock between undefeated Grenoble at home and an unbeaten Paris FC away, the Parisians recover Ali Abdi, Gaeta Belaud, Saïd Arab and Gaëtan Laura.
GRENOBLE – PARIS FC, Saturday (3 p.m.).
Referee: M. Buquet
Paris FC: Demarconnay – Belaud (or Abdi), Bamba, Kanté, Hanin – Mandouki (cap.), Name, Pitroipa – Gakpa, Caddy, Lopez. Repl. : Maisonnial, Abdi (or Belaud), Ndiaye, Kikonda, Martin, Guilavogui, Laura, Arab. Entr. : Girard.
Absent. Campanini, Nomenjanahary (wounded), Diaby Fadiga (rehabilitation), Koffi, Camara, Hadjam, Diakité (choice).
