The Stade Brestois coach expects a complicated trip to Austria this Tuesday (6:45 p.m.) with his team.
RB Salzburg, the second Austrian opponent in a row that Brest faces in the league phase of the Champions League, is “the same thing, but better” that Sturm Graz, beaten (2-1) on the first day, declared Monday the coach of the Breton cub, Eric Roy.
“Salzburg is the same thing, but better”he replied when asked at a press conference how the two Austrian teams differed.
He notably considered that Salzburg’s counter-pressing was “even more intense” than that exercised by Graz, about which he had alerted his players.
With its 3 points while Salzburg was beaten (3-0) in Prague at the same time, Brest will nevertheless have the objective “to chain”he continued.
“We know that we are now going to confront an ogre of this (Austrian) championship in terms of organization, infrastructure, team too. It’s another world for us, but we will have the will, like in the first match, to try to exist”he detailed.
The task will not be easy in the face of “a team that plays total football” under the leadership of Pepijn Lijnders, former assistant to Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool, a coach that Roy particularly appreciates.
“It’s true that, in my mind, I would be more Klopp than Guardiola”he slipped. “I always liked what Klopp did, to have intense teams, not necessarily completely focused on possession, but in any case dynamic and capable of putting on a show (by being) quickly in transition, dangerous, numerous in the surface… In any case, that’s what I like”he detailed.
“Now, these are also the qualities of this Salzburg team, so as always it will be an interesting balance of power to follow and I hope that we will be up to it”he added.
In any case, Roy does not think that the correction in the championship on Friday at Auxerre (3-0) will weigh on people’s minds. “It’s an episode of our season. An unfortunate episode, but not everything will be called into question in relation to a non-match either.he assured.
“After this meeting, I think there is no need to digest, we are professionals”added right back Kenny Lala. “Afterwards, what’s good about this competition is that you quickly move on to something else.”
