Jean-Louis Gasset: "The tie makes sense"

What do you think about sharing points with Rennes?

I would have preferred to win, especially on our home turf, but today we played against a team that performed better than us technically in the middle of field. In my opinion, the turning point of the match was the extraordinary block of Wahbi Khazri’s shot made by the opposing goalie. Overall, we weren’t effective, like they were elsewhere. The tie makes sense.

What were your players lacking in order to have earned a better outcome?

We lacked the technique in the middle of the field needed to destabilise them, but we played against great high-quality players. Despite our intentions Ben Arfa, André and Grenier dominated us. During the second half, we were better organized and we had more control but we have to be quicker in regards of ball transmission. We’ll work on this so that we can take points as an away team next week.

What is your judgement of Wahbi Khazri’s performance?

When he’s close to the net, he can pass, score and obtain free-kicks. He’s always involved and does good things for Saint-Étienne. The initial idea was to build the team around him. With him on point, we felt better during the second period. We’re harder to counter in this system. 

What do you think of ASSE’s ranking, 6th this Sunday evening?

Like this evening’s match, every match is hard and the championship is very tight. Apart from a team that will be champion come Christmas, every other ranking is free for the taking. Every time we have a streak, we go up the ladder. This evening, we’re 6th, that’s where we have to be.