The Stade Brestois press room is always full at the end of the season. While the Breton club, 3rd, is still eyeing the Champions League, its coach Éric Roy spoke this Thursday on the arrival of Nantes on Saturday (9 p.m.), the future of Steve Mounié (a Beninese journalist was present), the UNFP trophies and the fervor that is rising in town. Against the Canaries, apart from Julien Le Cardinal suspended, a little uncertainty surrounds the participation of Lilian Brassier and Pierre Lees-Melou, following the match in Rennes last Sunday (5-4).
“Nantes is a tricky match…
All matches are complicated at the end of the season. It is obvious that the people of Nantes are not going to come to Finistère in tap dancing. I know the coach (Antoine Kombouaré), the Kanak warrior will make sure to cause some problems. It’s a team with incredible momentum away from home (4 wins, 2 draws, 1 setback). This is a successful team far from its bases. Mohamed I really like, Abline, in a hybrid role, had a good end to the season. It remains a difficult match. And I’m not going to sell you 5-4 in every match, maybe that will result in an old 0-0 (smile).
Players expressed the need to take a media break this week…
I am not aware. If they expressed it… Everyone has the right. The club has never experienced the media treatment we have had before. Maybe it’s good at some point to refocus. Is it heavy? Maybe for some. But I assume that it’s better that we talk about you than not at all.
“Despite everything, we must try to maintain a certain restraint, cultivate a certain humility, that is how we will achieve our final objectives. »
Several Brestois (Marco Bizot, Pierre Lees-Melou and Eric Roy) are among the preselected for the UNFP trophies. Who deserves to be better player, goalkeeper and coach?
The best player will be the top scorer in the Championship (Kylian Mbappé). I would say Bizot and Lees-Melou! Whether you are a player or a coach, you are elected by your peers, that’s what we like. We live this with serenity, it’s good to have rewarded players. I didn’t vote on my name, we don’t have the right (smile). It’s always a source of pride to be co-opted by one’s colleagues. It’s also a source of pride in my career. If I’m here too, it’s because the players got the results on the pitch. There is a staff, a group.
Steve Mounié reaches the end of his contract in June…
I have a pretty clear opinion, I told Steve a month or two ago that if it was up to me I would like to keep him with us. It is important for me, for the group, it will be his decision. It will be up to him to make the right choice. In his situation, at his age (29), the fact that he is free, the best possible contract is perhaps not necessarily in Brest. Steve is also an important reference for us in the locker room or on the field. He never cheats, what he gives off is always sincere. Long live Benin, long live Steve Mounié!
Do you feel a form of fervor around the club?
It is obvious that when I took the train home after the Rennes match (in Paris, to see his daughter), I met supporters who testified to very impactful things. There is a lot of love, respect. The testimony of the ultras with the tifo, the song, is a bit new. We don’t come away unscathed from this kind of testimony, this mark of recognition, it’s magnificent. Despite everything, we must try to maintain a certain restraint, cultivate a certain humility, that is how we will achieve our final objectives. »
Antoine Kombouaré (Nantes): “Brest is in its place”
