Moribund and lacking in confidence, Montpellier receives Toulouse on Saturday January 2, with the desire to get out of the bottom of the table. Montpellier manager Xavier Garbajosa delivers his truth …
“Frankly, I’m not sleeping well.” Fixed gaze, disheveled hair and weary tone, Xavier Garbajosa delivered his truth on Wednesday, December 30 during the last press conference of the year, which was trying for the manager of the MHR, a club drowned in 12th place in the standings from Top 14.
The demons at the bottom of the table
No room for lightness, at the conclusion of a devastating Covidian year for mankind. Yet… What if, to beat Toulouse this Saturday, the Montpellier residents needed a good weekend in a chalet, putting on beers and putting their guts on the table?
This triviality tore a smirk from Xavier Garbajosa, who slipped away on the spot, not without knowing that a number of teams have resuscitated thanks to the nocturnal vapors loosening the tongues and mixing the feelings. The year 2020 is coming to an end and, with it, the European illusions of a group plagued by demons at the bottom of the table are extinguished.
Dear supporters! while waiting to meet you at GGL Stadium, the entire @MHR_officiel wish you a happy new year 2021! ??#TeamMHR ?⚪️ pic.twitter.com/QM7VWnlwIu
– Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) January 1, 2021
Nietzschean advocacy
Cracking the armor, Garba asserts it with all his passion: he will not disarm. Nietzschean plea for 2021: “I am used to being as resilient as possible. You have to hunker down, take pies and use them to become better. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, even if the period is complicated, delicate.
Maybe we have to go through this to build a soul, an identity, a culture. The period of shit we are going through, it has to make us stronger. Namely that tomorrow, we no longer want to accept and live this. Me the first. We all have to question ourselves quickly, every day, to know what we no longer want and where we want to go. “
As night fell on the GGL Stadium, the desolation born of the fiasco in La Rochelle (22-9 defeat) still did not seem to be digested. More than a stop, this non-match at Marcel-Deflandre is experienced as a step backwards by the staff. “It’s simple, we lied to each other. How to send the given image through the window for four weeks by proposing a disgust like this … So yes, it was raining, it was windy. We’re not used to it anymore. to look for excuses rather than reasons to progress. In the attitude, it was very disappointing. “
We are close but we do not win
Shortly before him, internationals Guilhem Guirado and Anthony Bouthier had also made an act of contrition. “When you claim to want to be the best and play the match we did (in La Rochelle), we are necessarily affected in our self-esteem”, asserts the Catalan hooker, when the back of the Blues calls soberly to find the alchemy: “We are trying to regain this confidence to achieve big matches and go on.”
Press point with @guilhem_guirado ?
“Against Toulouse we owe it to ourselves to raise our level of play! “#TeamMHR ?⚪️ #STMHR pic.twitter.com/shDNysz5g3
– Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) December 30, 2020
Anthony Bouthier is at the press briefing for the first time since his return from injury.#TeamMHR ?⚪️ #STMHR pic.twitter.com/0WRujFBS7x
– Montpellier Rugby (@MHR_officiel) December 30, 2020
Rediscovering daring Elusive and irregular since the start of the season, Montpellier, which has undeniable potential, should he dare more, just to tear the psychological shackles escorting his poor performances? The manager of the Hérault sums up the problem, like a snake biting its tail: “Dare is a matter of confidence. And it is won by winning matches. But some defeats have damaged our confidence. Against Pau (23-26) , Bordeaux (22-23), in Toulon (25-21) where we finish twice in the in-goal without scoring… We are close but we do not win. “
Aesthetics, we’ll see later
Overwhelmed by the discomfort of the standings, “Garba” wants to be above all lucid: “Today, we are three games late but this is no excuse to wait until the last moment. It will be too late afterwards. we have to be able to put a flashing light in the locker room and say: be careful, we are in danger. The most important thing is the chart of accounts. The aesthetics, we’ll see later. “
At least things are clear, without denial or false modesty: the MHR is preparing to play the maintenance at the dawn of a terrifying winter, starting with this series of three matches in one week (Toulouse, Lyon, Brive ). From time to time The meetings go by, but will the MHR and his manager have time to shape the team in their image?
Hold on to your convictions
The answer is: “All managers are running out of time. A project always takes a long time to set up. You first have to analyze the forces involved, the points to be improved. Everything cannot be transposed. The quality of Racing. , they’ve been working in this direction for six years. Toulouse is an institution, with a certain education. There is a Montpellier identity with a culture, you just have to develop it, consolidate it. Indeed, it takes more than time than we had planned. You have to hold on to your convictions and follow through. “
And to conclude, by way of hope: “We play a team sport where the holy of holies is to get laid and to fight. If everyone wins their duel, maybe we will have a chance to beat Toulouse. ” Great opportunity to toast to the New Year.
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