Jean-Louis Gasset: "Being professional"

Is the Coupe de France an objective, something for which you’ve made a wish this new year?

At the moment there are many people who have the cup as an objective. To begin we’re going to try to get through this first round and, then, we’ll desire the cup the closer we get to it. In this type of competition, we are often dependant on draws. For me, that’s the best type of competition because they mix the amateur clubs with the professional clubs. It’s fantastic!

What are you going to say to your players, who are getting back into the competition with a match against the weakest team in the competition?

That it’s still a Football match. For our adversary, reaching the round of 64 is already greatly satisfying because that doesn’t happen everyday. It’s a team that will play the match of its life because facing (Wahbi) Khazri, (Rémy) Cabella or (Yann) M’Vila is a dream come true. They’re going to give it their all. We have to be professional, we have to get back into the competition. The month of January can bring us great things.

How did you research Olympique Strasbourg?

Xavier Collin, the coach of Épinal, their adversary during the previous round, gave us some information. We tried to gather as much information as we could in order to be as professional as possible and to respect our opponent as much as possible. Olympique Strasbourg is a team that has many technical qualities. They have heart, they fight. It’s up to us to adapt and to make it known that we’re a Ligue 1 team. Like for all cup matches, you have to be efficient right from the get-go. In the round of 64, there is always one or two masterstrokes.

Is playing on the fields of la Meinau an advantage for your team?

Maybe because we know the field but I think that the amateur players are always happy to play in a stadium like La Meinau. Playing in a large stadium and playing against professionals is twice as fun. I hope that it will be a good match for our resumption after the break. After, we’ll go to Guingamp, then Marseille and Lyon will come to use in four days. Very quickly we’ll be in the thick of it.