Jean-Louis Gasset: "Maintain our talent and roll up our sleeves"

What is your opinion of your team’s reaction after the first goal was scored against Rennes (1-1)?

Scoring first was a new development for us. And, we reacted poorly because we retreated and we wanted to defend. Wahbi (Khazri) said that it was his fault we didn’t win 2-1 but it was actually the opposing goalie who prevented this. By returning to the locker room a goal ahead, I think that the assessment would have been different. Scoring at the 3rd and at the 45th minute. . . Those are good moments, generally.

Against Nîmes, you’re going to benefit from the return of Ole Selnaes, who was suspended last weekend.

When I said at the end of the match that they had performed better technically in the middle of the field, it wasn’t to critique Assane (Diousse), it was to underline the importance of the position taken by Ole. He works well with Yann (M’Vila) since he’s the one who rushes forward. Against Rennes, it seemed that things were going less smoothly than usual. I was expecting a different match, with Rennes adopting a low pressure defense and wanting to counter us. They came after us. They put the pressure on us and troubled us because, technically, they’re better in the middle of the field.

ASSE currently occupies 6th place in the championship with 16 points. Does this ranking satisfy you?

That remains insufficient in many areas. In the investment of the players, we have the impression that we’re still a bit too relaxed while playing. It’s irritating. Everyone has to play hard, especially when we don’t have the ball. We have to continue putting things right, be more aggressive, adopt a high pressure defense, be more united in the 16 meters from our opponent’s net. Against Rennes, we made bad choices, we didn’t play the right way. We tried to correct all that when watching the video of the match. The players saw it, even if they already knew it. We have to make progress on all of that. You’re going to tell me that we took 1 point out of 6. I respond that we took 10 out of 15. I remain an optimist.

How do you manage the defensive absences you’ve had to deal with in recent weeks?

I use Kolo as a lateral player because Gabriel (Silva) was injured. That’s the limit of this 5-defender formation. Unfortunately, Silva and Debuchy were absent at the same time. That’s the place where we’re the most vulnerable and that’s where we have the most absences. We have to lay low. Four months ago, we had one of the best defensive lines in Ligue 1. All of sudden, certain players were slower, older, younger? No. My problem is with the team as a whole. 

Will Friday’s match be special for you as someone from Montpellier?

I’m from Montpellier but I’m Saint-Étienne’s coach and Nîmes vs. Saint-Étienne isn’t a derby. Even if, personally, I would be happy to earn a good result there. The players will have to above all understand in what type of atmosphere they’re going to play. It’s the only team that has rivaled PSG for a long time this season. They defeated OM, which isn’t trivial. It will be tough. In Lyon, despite the defeat, they had at least twenty openings to score. It’s a team that plays and that will be 100% committed. They see things through. That was already the case in the second division. It’s survival of the fittest and this stadium is an arena. It’s been a Football city for a very long time. Like Lens, these are places that send shivers down your spine. There are cities, stadiums, that reek of Football. That’s how it is in Nîmes.

Are you expecting an intense match?

We’ll have difficulty fighting them mentally. We have to continue making progress but they’re machines. We have to maintain our talent and roll up our sleeves. Today, our team can seem to be sufficient and that’s very annoying. The players maybe don’t realize it but, when watching videos, it’s blatant. We do everything in slow motion. I brought it to their attention that was maybe it my fault, by making a too offensive team. Maybe I’ll go back to a more compact formation and one less offensive player.