8-0 against Nice in Nantes, story of a week like no other for the Greens

It’s the next match for AS Saint-Etienne. A trip to Nantes, Sunday (5 p.m.) for the 6th day of Ligue 1, nine days after the 8-0 conceded in Nice. A historic rout for the Greens but in its negative version. A look back at a particular week in Forez.

First, there is the immediate “after”, in the locker rooms at the Allianz Riviera in Nice. While the supporters have deserted the enclosure since the 37th minute, the moment of the 6th of the eight goals of the Azuréens, the players of AS Saint-Etienne, barely gathered in the locker room at the final whistle – none will respond to requests media, on a choice assumed by management – receive a triple wave of speeches. That of the coach, Olivier Dall’Oglio. He talks about his responsibility, which he details eight days later in a press conference: “I was too ambitious in my team composition.” Then Loïc Perrin. The sports director insists with his Stéphanois fiber by emphasizing the shame which runs through him, when Huss Fahmy, vice-president of Kilmer Sports Ventures, new owner of the Greens, evokes his incomprehension in front of the blank copy returned, with the hope that this ” mega” accident, the only one of the season, will tickle their pride as competitors.

Ekwah: “Drowning yourself in work and in the field”

Then there is, “the aftermath” of the next day. If Saturday morning’s cleaning was on the initial program, its duration and content varied during the night. After a few laps of traditional terrain to relieve muscular fatigue through the “athlete”, the staff decides to go through the “video” box. And not for a simple overview, with a leitmotif: after drowning, drown again. But otherwise: “You have to drown yourself in the video, you have to drown yourself in the work also on the pitch, and that’s what we did,” explains Pierre Ekwah, the Saint-Etienne midfielder. While watching the match, everyone can see exactly what went wrong, if not everything. The video will serve us well and has already served us well during this week. It is the shame that hits us directly. With such a score, we cannot leave happy. He who leaves happy is not a competitor, and here, we are all competitors. We know what we represent. so it’s certain that we were ashamed, and the supporters were also ashamed.”

Two meetings with supporters

Very long minutes spent reviewing what went wrong, the choice was in no doubt for Olivier Dall’Oglio, the Greens coach: “It’s difficult, but necessary,” he said. , we have to face things head on, we must not avoid them Of course, by rewatching the match, we cut it up so we see it more than twice, but it really allows us to target the objectives for the players. it’s as clear as possible. It’s not lighthearted, but it’s necessary, and we’re doing it thoroughly.”

There is also, “afterwards”, once, the “events” digested as a family, with an “off” Sunday: it is the afterwards, eye to eye with the supporters, who initially tagged the surrounding walls of the Etrat training center in the night before crossing, peacefully and in two waves, the entrance gate for a dialogue with the actors, in two stages, on Monday evening then on Tuesday noon, in an undisclosed location at the training center. Secret but quite big because all the players faced all the supporters who wanted and could, explains a person close to the group. If everything remains “between them and us” (Pierre Ekwah), we can imagine the content, lively, frank, but correct and respectful, following the echoes of each person.

Dall’Olglio: “Making the most out of this difficult moment”

With this promise, an adaptation of a remark attributed to Confucius, “the greatest glory is not to never fall but to get up each time”: “You must know, when you fall, to get up, launches Olivier Dall’Oglio. If you fall seven times, you get up eight times I think it’s a proverb, so I like that one. We’ve fallen eight times, so we have to get back up. lifts nine times, you have to have this mental strength. We know very well that we will have a difficult season, like other teams, and that we will face difficult times. difficult, you have to get the most out of it. I think it’s not a bad thing.”

Because perhaps the players, on the strength of a first success against Lille with the first goal scored (and the only one in 450 minutes played…) for the return to Ligue 1, saw themselves as too good. Cash question: did this result blind some people? “Maybe, yes,” don’t hesitate to say, as a response, “ODO” just as “cash.” He continues: “This is part of the discussions, in fact. We need a total questioning in each match. Perhaps there, we went back and said to ourselves, more calmly: “we are armed.” Proof that not We must take this into account. They have become aware of it, I hope that we must put in aggression, communication between them, respect for instructions and this desire to win duels. Without that, it will be. complicated. We have to follow the opposing races, even if the guys opposite are more powerful. We have moved to a higher level at all levels. We also have our weapons, mental and to not give up.

“No need to “yell” in all directions”

There is finally, “afterwards”, in the medium and long term, on the basis of trust in the staff: “Yes, the classic question! (laughs)”, cuts Olivier Dall’Oglio who prefers to smile, strong in support of the new leaders, in “face-to-face” at Etrat this week. The calm of the preparation for the season in a season of learning for the new North American leaders, who came alongside the Canadian billionaire, Larry Tanenbaum, cannot be denied: “The external calm does not mean that there is no there is no excitement, it works a lot at all levels, all day, very intensely to provide players with as many solutions as possible. It looks like a hive, but there is no point in bringing down the hive. and “yell” in all directions”, image “ODO”.

A coach who brings everyone back to the essentials of the season, in this case, 15th place, that of the first non-relegation: “Today, the objective is to maintain our position, recalls Olivier Dall’Oglio. We know very well that it is going to be complicated. We can see that today, the teams which have moved up from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 are the ones which are in the most difficulty. As a staff, we need time. I’m given time, so I’m here, I’m present, we work hand in hand with the managers, we see each other every day, so there’s no problem on that side.” And count on him: “We will find solutions. In fact, it is a mission to be carried out until the end, a mission which is difficult at the start. The team must move forward, the team will progress, that is is sure. Anything can happen. I don’t have the answers to everything, but I’m pretty determined to see this mission through to the end.”

A maintenance operation which begins this Sunday afternoon in Nantes (5 p.m.), in a “vintage” poster: “We must play with this fear which must put the knife between our teeth to feed a little stress which will allow us to respond to the critiques”, summarizes as a trailer for a first meeting of the “after” which will also say a lot, about the resources that this group possesses, which must above all show that even renewed and simply promoted, the players have despite the entire level of Ligue 1.