Ligue 1. Shock of the leaders, Saturday at the Mosson, between Montpellier and PSG. “We will play this match with desire and ambition”, pleads the boss of the MHSC.
Live a shock at the top against PSG in the third of the season, is it a surprise for you?
We’re not going to ignite. If I had been asked this question at the end of October, which was bad, I would have been surprised. However, I am not surprised by my team: there is a good group, a good coach, a staff and quality. This group has been creating its own story for three years. We’re trying to make him stronger. I am very pragmatic, I know that December can be magnificent or complicated: we have five big matches to play with, in particular, the receptions of PSG and Lille. This is not an easy task.
Since 2017, your team has been gaining momentum. Does she have the maturity to go and find Europe?
It’s the year or never. We can be quiet early enough to be in the top ten, our initial goal. Then, the appetite comes while eating … In the standings, we insert ourselves in the middle of clubs with very big budgets. It’s good, even if everyone considers that the only ones likely to stop PSG are OM, Monaco, Lille …
Is this PSG “takeable”?
PSG can be taken and impregnated. Paris has genius players, like Mbappé, Neymar or others who, in thirty seconds, can change a match. The feat is not to win them, the feat is to be 5th in Ligue 1 with a budget like ours (52 M €). If we take between seven and ten points in December, it will be quite exceptional. We will play this match with desire and ambition. If we win it, so much the better; if we draw, that’s great; if we lose, it doesn’t matter.
Along with Monaco, the MHSC is the only club to have been champion at the expense of the Qatari version of PSG. How do you measure this performance?
We are not going to fall into nostalgia. It was fabulous, extraordinary, but there is no comparison. This is an other story. If we take two points in December and are 8th at the break, we will be as stupid as before. But we are never as good as when we have players with a Pailladin mentality. Without that extra soul that allows us to surpass ourselves, we are a random team.
Is the rebirth of the month of November related to the defeat in the derby against Nîmes?
I had more headaches after the defeat against Reims (0-4). After the derby, we had a discussion in Monaco. Andy (Delort) spoke after Reims. Internally, we tried to solve the problems. You can lose a match but you have to at least fight to the end. With the quality of our group, we should not have any regrets. We can have a wonderful season. It would be a shame to miss something very nice.
After the derby, was there a big rant?
I spoke with the players, I shared my feelings with them. I took my share of the responsibilities. It’s probably also my fault that we didn’t win this derby. I told them things that will stay between us. But I had the balls.
What do you think of the team’s new tactical scheme?
Whether we play eight behind, eight ahead, I don’t care, I want results. If we win all our matches 5-4, we will shit on it, but we will put on a show. We have no spectators, we no longer have the Mediapro money, so I’m happy with the victories. We want to seat the club among the top ten and then, little by little, try to compete with the big guys.
Mediapro and the drop in TV rights, the source of all your worries …
The only one who can find the solution is Vincent Labrune (president of the LNF), who fights body and soul for French football. It is not easy. I am naturally optimistic, but you can be worried when there is no audience and no money. If tomorrow the TV rights are no longer paid, French football will not be far from filing for bankruptcy. We will try to get by as best we can. But if we are at less than 50 million euros, I will not take them out of my pocket. We’ll see what we get back. As long as we don’t have answers, we can’t anticipate next season. It is a brake on the whole economy of football.
Isn’t the latter overvalued?
We will take stock at the end of the war. But the war is not over. We are still in discussion. Mistakes have been made but we will not go back. There is another governance in the League, and fortunately. Hopefully she will deal with the problem.
How to contemplate the future with serenity?
We will see who we keep or not in the workforce depending on what we have. It is the financier who will determine what we can and cannot do, unfortunately. The group lives and functions well, we are not going to make plans on the comet. We are hands and hands linked to Mediapro and Covid. So, if in January we can have more people at the stadium and the TV rights are settled, we will say that we will have a little less headache and that we will have a more precise idea of the workforce. For now, I’m selfishly enjoying the very good results of my group. I hope it will last. There is osmosis, so we don’t bury anyone because we will need everyone. As long as the results are there, let’s enjoy these good times.
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