Like his team on the field, the Canet staff is united around its coach, Christian Mattiello. Aligned on the locker room bench, Mathieu Puig (assistant), Cédric Niflore (video manager and staff-player relations) and Sabri Alamo (goalkeeper coach) prepare the reception at Versailles, Saturday (6 p.m.) in the 7th round.
How do you explain that Canet has the “Coupe de France specialist” stamp?
Christian Mattiello: Some of these kids who are going to play tomorrow have experienced the different epics as spectators. And somewhere, maybe a seed was planted. And this is also true for previous generations.
Mathieu Puig: Often these adventures are experienced with the same group of players. Look at Barbier, Posteraro, Ferry, Vié, Ouadoudi… during past epics.
This season, your flawless performance is logical, right?
M.P. : It's true that the draws were not unfavorable to us since we met teams from lower divisions. Versailles will be our first opportunity to perform.
C.M.: Until then, we have had a very serious journey. By rotating intelligently. By always maintaining enough executives on the ground. The Cup has two objectives in our eyes: of course to advance in the competition, but also to continue the development of the players. Some started from further away, from R1 or even R3, like Hugo Baudin, and our mission is to help them improve their skills. And the Cup is a fantastic tool for that. This is also why Mathieu is so demanding in training with short but ultra-intensive sessions. This is also why we count on everyone. The 23 players in the group have started at least once since the start of the season.
Exactly, doesn’t Hugo Baudin symbolize the progress of all these young people?
C.M.: Perhaps also because he is the one who played the most, taking advantage of the injuries or suspensions of JérémyPostéraro or Edwing Malpon. And he knew how to seize his chance like his last match against Blagnac where he produced a really interesting performance.
M.P.: Like Hugo, all the young people are involved and there is a good understanding with the elders who are in the transmission. And since the young people are respectful, it works. Maxime Pelican is impeccable in his role. Everyone looks at him with big eyes and he shares, advises, encourages… He understands everything and is a real added value for the group.
Your good start to the season is also the result of a very tight defense with five clean sheets in eight matches and only five goals conceded…
C.M.: It's the work of the whole team. Even the attackers sacrifice themselves. Maxime (Pelican) sprints 20 meters to close a door. Zibra (Mboup) sometimes comes back to defend even in our own area. Afterwards, for sure, we have a very good goalkeeper. It helps. But look at last year, when we took over the team, the first four matches, we didn't concede a goal either while battling against the first two in the standings. However, I assure you, defense is not our obsession. We never talk to them about 0-0.
Since the start of the season, we feel that the ball is always rolling in the right direction and that even when you are dominated, you get through it…
C.M.: After what the club has experienced in recent months, we are not going to refuse to have luck smile on us a little, right? That a ball hits the post rather than going in. In Onet, for example, we had the equalizing ball at the last second and there, we didn't have one (smile).
M.P.: Let's also say that we have player profiles that encourage us to play against because Benjamin Kingué or Zibra (Mboup), they go quickly in front. And yet, make no mistake, but most matches we have more possession than our opponent. Against the Girondins, it was 60%, Blagnac 54%… What is certain is that we do not want to throw the balls around
And yet, we have the impression that you are missing an organizer in the middle…
C.M.: We use Maxime (Pelican) in this role. A bit like Griezmann. It creates a link between defense and attack. He sacrifices his efficiency for the benefit of the collective. He plays for others. Hat. We all know he's a real football player, right?
During your journey in the Coupe de France, did you scare yourself?
M.P.: Against Toulouse Métropole (R1) at home. We are down 1-0 at the start of the second period without having been very good in the first. Luckily, we equalized very quickly, then we scored two goals afterwards. Fortunately, there was this reaction, otherwise I don't know if we would be here today. We came close to corrections. Last year, you see, we might have dived and conceded a goal. There, no!
