Jean-Louis Gasset : “Be conquerors”

Did the international break allow you to recover the players who were unavailable during the last match in Caen?

Mathieu Debuchy, suspended in Caen, and Loïs Dioney are back. For Loïc Perrin, it’s still a bit early. We prefer to be patient so that we’re not without him until the end of the season. Yannis Salibur is looking after his adductor muscles. Finally, Wahbi Khazri has taken the necessary care in order to recuperate, but he remains suspended for the match against Nîmes. The first week of the international break was light in terms of work, everyone needed time to relax. Since Tuesday, the rhythm has been more intense and tactical implementation more successful despite the absence of the international players.

How are you tackling this last home stretch?

It’s a sprint, a sprint that we start from far off but a sprint all the same. We need at least 5 victories in order to meet the 60-point bar that should allow us to obtain a coveted place in the rankings. Monday, we’re going to face a team that give its all. Nîmes never gives up, even when they’re down two goals. We’ve played this adversary twice, in Ligue 1 Conforama and in the Coupe de la Ligue BKT, we didn’t manage to beat them.

What attitude are you expecting from your players?

We have to have the mindset of conquerors, the same that we showed in Caen. It’s a victory that we can’t minimize. We had a perfect start to that match which made our adversary doubt themselves. That’s the mindset that we’ll have to have until the end of the season. In Caen, we played without our main players. This victory was also a success for the project of the club. Some youths were integrated and knew how to seize their chance before the break. They gained confidence as part of the away team, that’s very good. With Kévin Monnet-Paquet’s and Gabriel Silva’s injuries, others must take the reins and assert themselves. In Caen, I saw a great Romain Hamouma who let us win the match.

The progression of the youths can be seen also in the Coupe Gambardella. How do you judge the journey of the U19 players?

If you follow the changes and the composition of the teams that I call, you can conclude that I want AS Saint-Étienne to win the Coupe Gambardella. I think that this generation is good. I’m going to try to help them to go the distance. Razik Nedder, the trainer of the youths, is someone who’s passionate about his job. I try to bring him my experience.