Pros Jeudi 04 Oct. 2018 à 15h03

Jean-Louis Gasset: “The route is still long”

The Stéphanois tactician wants to postpone any attempt to relax before the trip to Lille, this Saturday (5pm). A match that will be marked by the reunion with Christophe Galtier, his counterpart at LOSC, a coach and a man that Jean-Louis Gasset appreciates.

LOSC will begin Saturday’s match with 2nd place in the rankings. Do you think that will last?

Of course. They’re complete. They have players that are assets offensively, one of the best defensive lines in the championship and a good goalie that I know well. It’s a good team. They’re among the 6 or 7 teams who will fight for the top rankings. On their home turf, they won four times and have scored many goals. They already have two players who have scored 5 goals. It’s a dangerous trip.


Are you particularly afraid of their offensive line?

They have four offensive players. It’s a team that runs and dribbles well and attacks a lot on the wings. The key will be our ability to keep the ball in the middle. If we play a good precise game, we’ll be able to situate ourselves closer to their net. If they have the ball, we’ll have to adopt a low-pressure defense and wait.


Is this a real test after having only played 8 matches?

We’ve already played against Paris. We’ve been tested. We also just played against Monaco. They were maybe going through a bad period but, yesterday, they played in the UEFA Champions League, which is not a trivial thing. When we went to Montpellier, this team was in the top 5. Every match is a story. How is that going to go, will we finish the match with eleven players? No one is psychic. That’s what we love about this job. Even with 30 years of experience on the bench, we don’t know the outcome of a match. 


During this match we will see Jonathan Bamba, your former player, play against the club that trained him.

This summer, I was in constant communication with him. I spoke to him only of his career and the club’s sportive project. I thought I could make him understand that he should stay here another year. Unfortunately, there is one factor that I don’t control, money. But, when I see him, I see someone with a great future.



Against AS Monaco (2-0), and more generally during the three last matches, Ole Selnaes’ and Yann M’Vila’s relationship bore fruit.

Teams often function well with dynamic duos: two central defenders, a defender and a winger, etc. I knew Ole somewhat, but I saw him playing alone in front of the defense. I knew that he needed someone by his side, at least someone as precise as him, and who could act as a strong inverted winger. This pair works very well because Yann is developing his physical condition and just finished three good matches. Ole is gaining more and more confidence, he makes decisive passes. Like the team, he can progress by scoring goals, taking shots on net from far off. But, there has to be a player next to him who is 100% precise and who understands the game, which is the case. They don’t speak to each other often but when they give each other the ball, it’s in the best conditions possible so that the other can shoot forward quickly. That makes all the difference.


Your counterpart, Christophe Galtier, spent nine years on ASSE’s bench. What is your opinion of his personal journey?

Christophe is someone who I appreciate very much. In a small way we’ve been on the same journey since we were propelled to a number one position after having been number two. Here, he took charge of a difficult situation as his first challenge. He caught up right away and led the team to the UEFA Europa League several times. As icing on the cake, he led the team to victory in the Coupe de la Ligue after the club had spent a long period without earning any titles. He made history. He’s a person who works very hard and who I like a lot. When I look at the players he’s recruited, I see he’s very clever. This season, there’s less pressure on him and his team is in the process of finding their stride.


After three consecutive victories, what pitfall must your team avoid?

I dread relaxation. We can’t show off because we won three matches in a row. That’s the danger that we have to be on the lookout for. We haven’t even finished the first quarter of the championship and we still have much work to do. Against Monaco, we had a great first half, certainly, but we missed shots and (Stéphane) Ruffier saved us. We have to be aware of this. They hurt us and, when you consider what happened, they should have reduced the gap between our two teams. I’m trying to put my team on high alert. We have to find the balance between confidence and relaxation. The closer we get to the match, the more serious we’ll get. My job is to make them realize that the road is still long. We didn’t panic after Paris, I don’t want us to relax after our great performances last week. Every match is a test and we have to pass Lille’s test.

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