Eirik Horneland: ‘There's even more to see!'

Margin for improvement

The result is positive, and I'm happy about that. Our performance, however, was rather uneven. We had some very interesting periods, and others with a lot of missing elements. We sometimes struggled to find the right rhythm. There is always room for improvement. This is a new team and we need to learn to manage our possession better and show more composure at times. Without the ball, we need to give much more, even if some things are interesting when we have the ball. Tonight we saw the potential of this team, but we can see even more. I want the team to be more aggressive, to recover the ball faster.

Positive aspects

Our fourth goal is the style of football we want to implement. We saw players enjoying playing together and happy to pass the ball to each other. That's a good thing, and I want us to continue doing that, more consistently. Offensively, we have a lot of good players. We are looking to give everyone match minutes, especially Lucas Stassin, who got back in the squad. We would have liked him to play a little more tonight, but we also had to be careful with Aïmen Moueffek and João Ferreira. But indeed, offensively, everyone is flexible and knows how to adapt to what is expected from them.

Clean sheet

Keeping a clean sheet is always important for the goalkeeper, the defenders and the whole team because we've conceded a lot of goals in the last months. So protecting our goal and scoring four in the other end is really good for confidence. The two centre-backs were often isolated against the opposition attackers and they did a very good job.

Amazing atmosphere in Le Chaudron 

The older players know what this club represents, while the newcomers are discovering it every day. They visited the museum as soon as they arrived. Playing for Saint-Étienne is a huge responsibility. After this game, the newcomers realise even more what that means. The atmosphere was amazing with the stadium almost full and the fans singing non-stop even if we are a Ligue 2 club. It's fantastic to have them.

Joshua Duffus

Joshua Duffus, who had only played a few minutes of matches with us, showed that he is a very good striker. He created several chances and scored that first goal quickly. That's a good thing. He, like other players, needs to see his playing time increase so that he can fully integrate into our game plan. Given his playing time in recent weeks, he needed to be rested, which explains why he was substituted at half-time. It's going to be a long season and we need to take care of him.