Beaten 3-1 at Bollaert by OM and now 9th in Ligue 1, RC Lens will try to bounce back in Reims on Friday (13th day of Ligue 1, 8:45 p.m., to follow live on Lensois.com and broadcast in full on DAZN ). A city that Will Still knows well and where his team will perhaps bring the first impact of certain changes mentioned.
Lensois.com: Will Still, what is the state of mind of your team after the defeat against OM and before going to Reims? Is there not a risk of losing confidence or fueling frustration?
There is a lot of frustration. It is everywhere, in the staff or among the players. I think we put things a little in context. We arrived 5 months ago after something had been in place for 5 years, which we respected, admired from afar before being in the club. But inevitably, times change, people and football too and it is up to us to adapt to this change. A large part of the club, including the staff, has changed and certain things are no longer necessarily the same. But beyond that, we had interesting content too. We lost 3 matches, but against Paris, Lille and Marseille. There is a reality of classification and budget which for me is not negligible. Lille, everyone remembers what happened in the 95', the first half against OM was more than honorable and Paris remains a special case. There isn't a fire alarm to pull. We are aware of things to improve, things that need to change. Because it's all well and good to say that things are going well, that there is intensity, but people only remember the results and the ranking too. It's up to us to focus more on the reality of things. It's good to have decent content but let's be more realistic. These are goals that we must score, points that we must take and there are comfort zones to break. We're working on it. We knew that everything wasn't going to fall into place overnight. There is a process underway. Not everything has to be thrown away but it will take as long as it takes for everything to work down the line.
Is the team in its place today?
There is a certain reality of things. You deserve the points and if we don't have them, it's because we didn't deserve them. We had a lot of bad luck, I'm not being a crybaby, but that's not going to define what we do. We have clear principles which must be implemented more precisely. But there aren't 4000 things to change either, not drastic things, but small details to transform this 45-minute content into a longer duration and gain points.
What can you play on to get things done?
I was asked a lot if we were going to change the system but I think the club was built on this system with principles and a squad forged to play like that. There are not hundreds of things that we can change, but it is moments of training or concentration, of involvement that are more important than others. There is a need to be aware of this. You directly feel the difference when you are more direct in front of the players, you feel that the comfort zone becomes slightly more uncomfortable. This is where the changes will happen. Little by little, things will change, it's part of the life of a club and a staff. It's good, it's important sometimes.
“Everyone is pulling in the same direction”
On the defensive side, you have just conceded 5 goals in 2 matches even though that was your strength… Do you already have an explanation?
For me it's about concentration and focus. We know that if we don't score first, we make life difficult for ourselves. But it must not become acceptable to concede goals. Even if we have proven that we can reverse a situation, it must not become recurring. We must maintain rigor, focus, and unfailing vigilance. It's part of this spiral where you don't score, so you question yourself, you wonder if you're going to score and you lose a little focus on defensive elements. These are really basic things. Against OM, there was a long game in which we did not win the second ball and we did not follow the infiltration, then a transition on a set piece for us. It's just a respect for positions that was not done correctly. But there is nothing alarming either. It's just annoying.
You're returning to Reims this weekend… Isn't there more pressure in Lens?
No, because no one can put more pressure on me than I put on myself. In Reims too, I wanted to play in Europe. It’s not the outside world that’s going to put more pressure on me, I’m convinced of that. Afterwards it is certain that the size and scope of the club have changed, as have the expectations, but we must keep the church in the middle of the village, a certain logic in what we do and a certain calm. There is no fire. Yes, we are aware of what we must do, me first and foremost, and we are going to do it, experience it together. Communication with Pierre (Dreossi), Diego (Lopez), the president and Jean-Louis (Leca) is daily and perfect. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. It's more frustration because you feel like you're doing things well but you're not always rewarded. We continue, we remain united and united.
Don't you feel a form of impatience around you? Compared to Reims where the team was in difficulty, you arrive at a club which has often shone for 5 years…
A new sports management arrived, there was an awareness of the economic state of the club and its sporting state. We knew that everything wasn't going to be perfect, that it was going to take a little time, but that together we were going to be patient, support each other and push in the right direction. It's the complete opposite compared to when I arrived in Reims but I think I can't be better surrounded than I am in Lens. Whether it is the staff, the players, the members of management or even the members of the communications unit. I learn every day. I want to do it and I know we will succeed. But in football it doesn't happen in the blink of an eye. The best teams in the world lose matches. Bringing back the basics and shaking things up takes time, but it's really exciting work. And we're going to get there.
Is patience easy for you to tame?
It's hot but that's part of the thing! You have to arm yourself with it and a lot of people around me teach me that. This is where the little red-haired English child who had a very grumpy temperament comes out, but we learn and we move forward!
Comments collected by Eloïse De Mester
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