Jean-Louis Gasset: «Putting ourselves in survival»
While he considers himself to be responsible for his team’s latest faux pas, Jean-Louis Gasset would like to put the situation in context. With 18 games to play still, the Verts still have the time they need in order to pick themselves back up.
Why have you taken on the responsibility for the defeat against Metz?
My players are in a fragile state, if I had been hard on them, that wouldn’t have helped them to pick themselves back up. As I said after the match, I wanted to change up the team and, after this turn of events, I would have done the same thing, Beric and Silva aren’t already in their best shape.
How do you explain the performance of your team in Metz after the two victories they earned prior to this match?
Concerning the onset of the match, there was no lack of motivation. Those are errors that we’ve made that have caused problems. We gifted our adversary with goals. After the match, the players were in low spirits. They felt ashamed, and on a certain level it’s a good sign that they felt this way.
How did you respond to the players after the match?
I told the players the initial aim of this team was not to fight against relegation, which is the case of FC Metz. I told them that we can’t allow ourselves to give our opponents gifts like that or to lose our combative spirit. We have to put ourselves in survival mode like the other teams who have known since the beginning of the season that they will be playing in order to maintain their status. Today, we have 23 points, 18 matches remain to be played, we’re not going to shoot ourselves in the foot.
What do you think of the expulsion of one of your players in Metz?
From the beginning, it’s been like that: we’re the most sanctioned team in Ligue 1 even though there isn’t a single mean player on our team and we often say that we let our adversaries walk all over us, which proves that we lack serenity. We’re still recovering, you have to wait for a drop in the tension from time to time.
How can one explain to the players that fighting against relegation demands a certain state of mind?
By words and by acts. When we took on Ntep and M’Vila, we showed that we are conscious of our present circumstances. The goals that we concede show that the problem is psychological but that is technical also. But Bordeaux and Lille were aiming to the top of the League as well. Today, they are changing their mind.
Can AS Saint-Etienne regain momentum in Nice?
I saw them play in Monaco and no, I can confirm for you that they aren’t the best adversary to play against in order for us to pick ourselves back up. But football is played 11 against 11 and it’s the team that wants to win the most that will earn the victory. We have to above all change our state of mind: we will have to be strong right from the onset of the game, to take as many time as possible the ball from our opponent and exploit every opportunity we will manage to create.
What are you expecting from Paul-Georges Ntep?
He’s a player that has always scared me. He’s very dangerous, very quick, he’s the type of player that can set afire all the hearts of those in the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. During this period that we find ourselves in, we need players with his character. Even if he’s still not sure of being able to play a whole match, he wants to play. Right now, it’s up to me to ease him into his new role.
