Arnaud Nordin : "The coach is demanding"

How would you describe Coach Puel’s method?

He relies heavily on tactical details. We work so much on that on the field during training sessions. We have more markers, we’re more solid as a team. Technically, our team is a quality team and we’re becoming stronger physically. For the rest, we improve little by little. The coach is demanding. He’s a stickler for group life, punctuality, pre-warm-ups in the weight room; all the little things that make us professionals in the domain of Football.

What has he brought since his arrival?

We knew that he had the habit of making the youths play. He isn’t afraid of playing less experienced players. Wesley (Fofana), Charles (Abi), Zaydou (Youssouf) were starting players. He gives them confidence by calling on them. That makes us want to fight for him. His experience in the Coupe d’Europe? I think that he’s keeping that for Thursday’s talk. As we go along, we’ll discover it and learn to work together.

How are you tackling the match against Oleksandria?

We all want to win this match. This group is still open, there are many more matches. The objective since the beginning, is to qualify. There are three matches after this one. It will not be played tomorrow (Thursday) even if a victory would do us good.

What is your judgement of the Ukrainian team?

We know what is waiting for us. We worked to prepare for our adversary. It’s up to us not to take it lightly, not to believe in the trap. No European match is easy. They lost in Kiev last weekend, (1-0) but it was against one of the leaders of the Ukrainian championship. They will not give up. We’ll have to be aggressive in the good sense of the term and show them that it will be hard to take points against us.