Jean-Louis Gasset: "Football is cruel"

How are you dealing with this defeat?

The sport was cruel to us tonight. We lacked the necessary mastery of our technique in order to give Monaco a run for their money during the second half like we did during the first but, when it comes to Football, being efficient demands constant work. We should have better handled the opportunities we had for counter attacks because, when you don’t score and then you fall behind, you’re not sheltered from conceding a penalty kick. What hurts is that that happened at the last minute.

Do you regret not having managed to play with more intensity?

Monaco’s goalie made two or three exceptional blocks, just like Stéphane Ruffier. Our strategy was to play on the counter attack, we would have only needed one goal to make Monaco doubt themselves.

Are you disappointed to see ASSE fall in the rankings after the result of this second to last match of the championship?

Our adversaries have won but we wouldn’t have advanced much even if we had managed to take one point against Monaco. What I want to remember is the courage of my players. They played their hearts out, even if their performance was awkward at times, but as far as their level of commitment goes, I have nothing to reproach them for. We’ve finished our away games with a defeat in Monaco. It hurts because we had openings to score, but that’s the way it is.

Does the fact that you can now only finish as high as 6th place change the situation?

We just suffered two defeats in a row, now we’ll play our last game to win and to celebrate with our fans. We’ll try to take the 3 points in order to finish as high in the rankings as possible.

Do you have anything to say to ASSE’s supporters?

Yes, they need to know that the players, the staff and the club are proud of them. They made the trip here to support us, the authorities prevented them from entering the stadium and they returned home without any trouble. We must emphasize their exemplary behaviour. I congratulate them personally.