Stade Rennes – Saint-Etienne / Ostigard: “The coach is clear in what he wants”
Before the match against Saint-Etienne at Roazhon Park, Leo Ostigard was the player present at the press conference on his 25th birthday.
What is the priority area of work?
It's not just the defense or the offense, it's the whole team. I think we didn't have the right structure, the one we should have had. We have to know exactly what we are going to do, how we are going to defend, how we are going to attack. And we exposed ourselves too much, especially when we had the ball. We have to work on the whole team, the organization in every sense of the word. We are trying to turn the situation around and be a better team because we are not happy with this situation.
What do you think of your start to the season on a personal level?
It was difficult. I'm not happy with the matches we played, the team, me. We have to focus on ourselves, on the club and on how we are going to change that. It's Football. We have to be focused and keep a mindset and believe that things will get better. There have been a lot of changes in the team. Personally, I think it's important to have a team where we maybe change a few players, but lately, before changing the coach, we had a lot of changes. Players play with different teammates every time, it's not that easy to do that. It's in situations like this that it can happen. You change players, but in general you try to keep (a structure). We had a very good start against Lyon and we lost 2 games, then we came back and changed our system. There was a lot of chaos, but that's football, you never know. With all the players I tried to do things well. I understand 100% that the supporters are not satisfied but today we have to focus on ourselves. The supporters must support us, we need it. Football can go fast. The season is not over, we are all not satisfied with the situation.
You evolved in a defense of 3, then of 2, and here it is again with 3 axials. How do you feel there?
I played in this system when I was young. It's not important to play with 4 or 5. You have to understand what we're doing, the style of play, how we're going to defend. This is what we need to understand. We worked on this a lot. In training everyone knows how we are going to do it. This is the most important. The players need help too. Before, we were too exposed, the players didn't know exactly what we were going to do, defensively and offensively. This is football today. The coach is very important in finding a way to make the team play better. I hope we get there and change this situation. We all want it.
As a defender, did you like your match against Lille?
We can always do better. But I think that against Lille it was clearer, what we did. We entered the match more quickly. In the second half, we were better. We must first not concede goals, and then score more goals, play better. This is what we must work on. It's a new coach, it's early. We had 3 training sessions before Lille. I hope that over the next 4 matches things will get better.
How are you experiencing this arrival of Jorge Sampaoli, a real change for the club?
That's a lot of energy. He wants us to improve every day, we have to be focused in training, and do things at the highest level. Being ready and focused is important. He is clear in what he wants. If you do the work, you can play. Otherwise, you will have problems. You have to follow, he is the coach, you have to do what he says. For me, the most important thing right now is energy. We have to put more energy and in the first match against Lille in the locker room we felt more energy from the players, from the coach. This is very important in a situation like this. Don't fall and start crying. We must get up and face reality.
What do you think of French referees?
(Laughs) I don't know what to say. I didn't expect such a difference. I tried sometimes to stay calm and speak calmly and be a gentleman. But that didn't work either. I have to stop talking to them because they really don't want to talk to me. Against Lille, everyone saw it. There were a lot of things against us, he whistled a lot. I don't know how long we played in the first half but it's not normal.
Wasn't it too difficult to adapt to this group with all these international breaks?
Of course, there are a lot of internationals. It's hard for the coach, for the players who are leaving. When you have time to improve things, when you don't have as many matches, as many people in the selection… But we also play to be international so… I like my selection. I just try to do my best. I understand what you mean but it's football, there's not much we can do about it.
