“What do you expect in Toulouse?
A very different match from Lorient (2-0 victory in Brittany on Saturday) because it is a very vertical team. Since they transformed the way they play, they have had good results. For our part, we will have an approach to prevent them from playing.
Maintaining is getting closer. Does this perspective free your players?
It plays unconsciously but the objective is still not achieved, still not official. But I can see that the team has more and more confidence, that we have built and stabilized things collectively. This bodes well for the end of the season. We create habits through experience and the sequence of matches, these collective habits begin to infuse and the principles of play begin to emerge.
“Managing a football team is always between trust and fear”
Is the victory in Lorient your most accomplished this season?
We prevented them from playing but we also managed to impose what we wanted, and to exploit what we wanted. So it’s the greatest success on a strategic level but it’s only thanks to the players, who joined and succeeded in implementing the plan.
Matic’s contribution was evident in Brittany…
Nemanja, on Saturday, did not lose any balls, I think you saw the statistics… But he is above all capable of gaining higher positions by passing, of unbalancing the opponent… In the locker room, he radiates contagious calm, and when he speaks, everyone listens. He has a natural position of leader in this group, there is nothing imposed and it is very healthy, I am very happy with this situation.
Your group is almost complete, there is competition…
It’s better than a shortage. Managing a football team always lies between confidence and fear. The confidence to play and the fear of losing your place. We try to have ethics, to also function in relation to what happens during the week because training times are very important for the players, especially for those who do not play, because they only have training to show off. »
