Coach Luka Elsner and Reims goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf were at a press conference this Thursday to discuss the upcoming match against ASSE. Here are the coach's words as the match approaches.
The injured on the Reims side: “We have recorded the returns of Abdoul Koné. We are going to Tatillon. In any case, he has retrained. Joseph Okumu as well. This is very good news. As for the long-term difficulties, we know them with Mohamed Daramy and Reda Khadra. On those available this weekend? I want to say Okumu more than Abdoul Kone because he has a longer recovery period, a longer rehabilitation period as well, so he has a little bit of time. And so? No, not at all, he's not even running for the moment. .”
Reims in the dark
“His view on the change of coach? There will be uncertainty over what they will be able to change over 6 or 7 days of training. Our objective is to concentrate. On what we we are able to do and have to take with us this ability to adapt to what the adversary will put in place. We must be ready for almost everything and all scenarios, such as more passive scenarios. or on the contrary extremely active scenarios which will put a strong pressure on the carrier We try to provide answers to all of this and that the players can be ready to respond to them in the match. This resumption with the Ligue 1 competition does not give a start. the team that is most ready to compete will have an advantage and we want to be that team. When there are a lot of changes, as they experienced, the first idea is often to tighten up. .
“The new coach has this charisma and this desire to want to make his mark” (Luka Elsner before ASSE-Reims)”
A team that defends harder is a team that takes on the struggles. It's possible. Afterwards, the identity of the coach, the principles he applied in the last years of his career go a little against that. But so, I think he has this charisma and this desire to want to make his mark. So that's why asking too many questions about it seems, for me, to put myself in a bit of a fog. And that's why we try to focus on what we can do. And we have a team that is. Capable of responding to several scenarios and we just need to be able to quickly activate our ability to adapt. The environment and the fact that there are two empty stands. It’s a stadium that’s buzzing and vibrating. I think that allowed them to perform relatively well at home. It's certainly a very small disadvantage for them, but it's still a stadium that will set the mood and the energy will be there. It's up to us to respond by focusing on the actions that are happening on the pitch and also being stimulated by a match in Saint-Etienne which remains a reference in the history of football.”
