Loïc Perrin : "Eager to begin"

Are you eager to begin the new season?

We’re always eager to begin. The pre-season training is a necessary step, but every player is eager for the championship to start.

Do you think that the team has maintained the same momentum that you ended last season with?

Yes, I think so because we have the advantage of not having changed our team too much. The presence of the coach and the framework of the team are still there and I think that it’s due to that that the pre-season training went well.

We felt that you had a real must-win mentality last season.

A pro player always wants to win. The coach instils in us this mentality even more so. You have to hate defeat. We savour a victory even more after going through a difficult period like we did at the beginning of last season. You have to make use of that also. Victories call for victories, which is where the importance to win the friendly matches comes from.

What will the ambitions of the team be?

Important players have stayed, like Mathieu Debuchy or Yann M’Vila. With the arrival of Wahbi (Khazri), he’s a high-quality player that’s joining us, that shows all the ambition of the club. With the quality of our team, if we don’t hit any huge snags, I hope that we’ll fight for a great ranking in the championship, a ranking that will earn us a qualification for UEFA competitions. We’re able to count on experienced players, International players. The youths have also shown their worth, the coach’s desire is to integrate them. We’ll have a great team. 

What have you learned from the pre-season training?

We didn’t score a lot, like we did during the second half of this past season. The team is working a lot so that we do. That has to be the basis of our work. Then you have to efficient, precise in the end zone. That’s what’s most difficult in Football. We have to be solid, difficult to beat.

Loïs Diony, who scored 5 goals, was very successful during the friendly matches.

That’s very good for him because a striker always needs to score. He worked hard in order to do just that. I hope that he’ll validate the good work he put in during training in official matches but his statistics do not surprise me. I’ve always liked this player. By having played against him, I think that he has the qualities to be an ASSE striker. On the field, he has the values that people here appreciate. With a team that functions well and some confidence, I’m confident that we’ll have a great season.

What do you think of the young players that participated in the pre-season training?

They have talent. They’ve showed themselves to be attentive and respectful. It’s difficult to think of one particular name but they looked to be at their best, like Mahdi (Camara) or Mickaël (Panos) against Nice. They answered the call and that’s a good thing. I think that some of them will have their chance this season.