ASSE lost 2-1 against PSG this Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes. Here is the After Foot debriefing on RMC at the end of the meeting.
Daniel Riolo : “We're talking about ASSE, a club which was completely in disarray. But for two weeks, he has been taken over by a coach who has literally transfigured this team. Look at the first quarter of an hour: we saw Saint-Étienne at an excellent level, with more play in the PSG area than the other way around. The problem is that it wasn't even a full quarter of an hour, since in the 14th minute, in the space of ten minutes, PSG folded the match, leading 2-0. At that moment, for PSG to be caught, it would have taken a miracle. »
Florent Gautreau: “And what's more, if we consider that it wasn't Barcola's fault, normally it would have been 3-0, and there, it was over. Goodbye everyone.”
“The 13 minutes of Saint-Étienne. They show to what extent this coach was able to bring something” (Daniel Riolo after PSG-ASSE)
Daniel Riolo : « Oh yes, for me, it is 100% fault. Are you kidding or what? There is fault at the bottom, at the top, there is fault everywhere. MBut what stands out is these 13 minutes from Saint-Étienne. They show to what extent this coach was able to contribute. Is it simply a matter of restoring confidence to the players, of telling them to dare, to play? Maybe. But the activity of the players – who, however, remain quite limited technically, except for a few – and the way in which they managed to annoy PSG in several sequences of play, was really encouraging for Saint-Étienne.
Now, from there to worrying PSG or putting up real resistance to them, we're not there yet. It must also be said that PSG had fielded a sort of hybrid B team. I didn't understand their midfield well. Maybe it's linked to their match against a National 2 team this week? He may have wanted to rotate, give playing time or test associations. »
Florent Gautreau: “What is interesting for ASSE is both the first quarter of an hour, but not only that, actually. And it's also mental. That is to say that we have said a lot since the start of the season that what is important are also the intentions that the coaches manage to convey to their players and there clearly in the intentions, he told them don't be afraid, we're going PSG or not. It's a “bonus” match in the sense that it's not where you think you'll take a point or three points And the players did it.
-“Teams that show intentions like that and gain confidence have a better chance of getting through it than those that do nothing” (Florent Gautreau)
And the last time they were behind, they came back the same. He managed to instill in them the fact that whatever the score, the result, they continued. There, even at 2-0, in fact, their heads were underwater. But behind them, they continued, they tried to play high, they tried to do something. It's obvious that given the scenario at the bottom of the table with Montpellier dropping out, let's say, there is one place left (for the descent to direct L2). In addition, Saint-Etienne like Auxerre, for example, for other reasons, the teams which will show intentions like that and which gain confidence have more chances of coming out of it than those which do nothing. »
Daniel Riolo : “A word which is nevertheless interesting about Horneland which we discover there and indeed offers us very interesting things, and that will connect me with Kushanov, the Lensois who will go to City, is that there, we are totally in presence of one of the essential elements of the new football, these are the data banks. Horneland, we agree that the general public does not know him, even we who are not specialists and not the general public, the fact that he dragged Bran to Norway, except if we go searching, we do not don't really understand. We don't know where it comes from.
Yes, OK, he makes his team play well. Yes, he had a good season with that team. But basically, it's a guy who, in the data banks, comes out with figures. He stands out as a coach who makes his team play, a coach who does this, who does that. And that's how he found himself in Saint-Etienne, from where he could move up the ranks and find another club. »
