Punished by Fofana but “admired” by Dupraz, will the Greens recover from this “cruel” defeat?

At the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,

“There are two configurations: either you put the 2-0 and you kill them, or you suffer and what happened happens. Ryad Boudebouz knows that the 72nd minute of the ASSE-RC Lens match (1-2) on Saturday is perhaps the action that best sums up the dark season experienced by the Greens (20th) so far. Scorer in the first period (1-0, 38th) and in all good shots, the Algerian midfielder, exceptionally positioned in false 9, delivered a sublime break point to Lucas Gourna-Douath.

But the recovery of the young Stéphanois spun over the goal of Jean-Louis Leca, before a stunning end to the match initiated by a header from Florian Sotoca on a corner kick from Jonathan Clauss (1-1, 77th). “On this corner, we could have been a little more concentrated, regrets Ryad Boudebouz. If we want to score points against teams fighting for Europe, we have to progress at this level. »

“We got into trouble on the first part of the season”

Almost no one imagined all the same this private ASSE of 13 players, between CAN, Covid-19 and injuries, to stand up to this point against the Blood and Gold returning to European places (here they are again provisionally 4th). “We talked a lot during these two weeks without an official match, confides Mahdi Camara, transfigured in the heart of the game, where he has long limited the influence of Seko Fofana. We got into deep trouble during the first part of the season and we all have to get out of it together. »

“The team has given a lot. From the start, we haven’t had any cheaters. We have to take the positives.”

Not stingy with effort when#ASSERCL, ???????????????? ????????????????????????????????????, touched, reacts after this bitter-tasting defeat (1-2). pic.twitter.com/oW8l6CmXzb

– AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) January 15, 2022

This group from Saint-Etienne even showed an unexpected panache by trying until the end to snatch victory, in a money time unbridled and exciting as possible. Again Lucas Gourna-Douath (88th) then Ryad Boudebouz (90th +3) in turn had a great opportunity to revive their club. But wouldn’t it have been better to close the shop to end this series of five defeats in Ligue 1 (six now therefore), rather than assume imbalances leading to Seko Fofana’s “stroke of genius” ( according to Mahdi Camara), after additional time (1-2, 90th + 5)?

“You need to have a little more reflection, a little more maturity”

This is where several currents of thought oppose each other. On one side, we find Ryad Boudebouz and Mahdi Camara. “I like to play. It’s 1-1, I want to take the three points and I want to keep pushing. It was the risk and we have not yet been rewarded this evening, ”said the former Montpellier player. For the captain of the era Claude Puel, “it’s like that, we want points, and we wanted to go for the victory in the last moments”.

On the other hand, we are dealing with a very marked Timothée Kolodziejczak: “I would have gladly taken this point because we suffered a lot in the second period. When you are less well, you have to have a little more reflection, a little more maturity. But it’s complicated, we have a young team, which wanted to get a result and which is being punished”. But by the way, what does Pascal Dupraz, who has been given a reputation as a licensed concrete worker, say about all this?

“We are losing the thread of the match because we have run out of gas”

The former Toulouse coach did not publicly reproach his players for anything: “We are losing the thread of the match because we have run out of gas and also because we are missing a lot of people. The players are certainly dejected after this match but I admired them tonight.. A quasi-declaration of love which constitutes one of the rare reasons for hope for the maintenance in the elite of the Saint-Etienne group (2 successes in 20 Ligue 1 matches, and perhaps 7 points behind the barrage this Sunday evening ). Ryad Boudebouz summarizes the contribution of Pascal Dupraz, beyond the accounting aspect.

He gave back the confidence to many players. We saw tonight that we were stronger. We work on our tactical cohesion every day. We put our ass on the ground and I hope it will pay off because no player cheats. It is with performances like this that we will win games. We are all making a lot of effort and we deserve a positive series to start against Lyon. »

“We are going to have a shitty weekend”

Because as if the pressure of a red lantern spot about to be dropped by its direct competitors was not enough, ASSE will be struggling with a derby at Parc OL next Friday (9 p.m.). This “cruel” defeat (dixit Mahdi Camara) will it be digested by then? “It hurts, that one, recognizes Timothée Kolodziejczak. We went through all the states and it reflects our season a little. We’re going to have a shitty weekend, but on Monday, we’ll have to start right back to prepare for this derby. I hope it will turn out in our favour. “It is time, already for a chilling stat to remind us that no club with only 12 points in L1 after 20 days has escaped at the end of the season. Can the record holder of titles in the elite become the exception?

“Of course we still have to believe in it, insists Mahdi Camara. We know that the green people believe in it and we will do everything to save this magnificent club. “Even on the Lensois side, we have the impression that some were almost embarrassed to have pushed this monument of French football a little further. “We saw that they fought to the end, and today they deserved to win,” admitted Seko Fofana, as fair-play as clutch Saturday. It will not be a question of merit on Friday at Parc OL, only of points to be snatched to avoid a resounding failure at the end of the season, on one side or the other.