Stade Malherbe Caen will start the Coupe de France in Chartres this Saturday with a group that Nicolas Seube qualifies as restricted due in particular to the timetable. At the infirmary level first of all, “the absentees are the same as last week” before the match in Metz, notes the Caen coach. Midfielders Yann M’Vila et Zoumana Bagbemathe defenders Emmanuel Ntim, Lamine Sy and Valentin Henry and the attacker Kalifa Coulibaly are still not available. If Emmanuel Ntim should resume collective sessions next week, Valentin Henry will not be visible before December and will therefore still be unavailable for the Rodez match. Nicolas Seube will also have to do without his internationals, the midfielders Léo Milliner and Tidiam Gomis and the guardian Anthony Mandréa.
“Tomorrow (Saturday), perhaps players who are used to starting will not start,” explains the Caen coach. But since it’s one game per weekend, it’s not a big change either. We also need to work on what comes next. And then the objective is to qualify.” And to add : “When we do the turnover in these matches, it’s because the players have played a lot and they – I think – also need to cut back a little. Now the players play once a week. This is not the case. “It’s not an unsinkable thing either (smile), players. It’s completely normal to play once a week. So on a physical level there are no problems.”
A chance for Mohamed Hafid to seize?
For this 7th round of the Coupe de France, Nicolas Seube once again calls on young people (Robin Verhaeghe, Gabin Tome) and the guard Perfect Mandanda. Mohamed Hafid makes his return to the group and should have a card to play after a start to the season where he only appeared three times in Ligue 2 (28 minutes in total).
“Every moment is an opportunity. It’s up to him to seize it. We always sense in this player an ability to make shifts, imbalances, to have a lot of volume but not yet up to our expectations. His last return to Red Star (2-2) was not convincing, we even almost conceded a goal on a dangerous play Now he is a player in whom I really believe he really has real potential. he’s able to open up, it’s getting better and better. Now, any opportunity is to be seized. If he has to start or come back, he has to score points.
Playing time for Daylam Meddah and Mathias Autret?
The meeting also offers the opportunity to revive players who have played little. This is the case of Daylam Meddah (Four appearances, the last in Grenoble) or even Mathias Autret who has only started twice this season and who was absent for a long time due to a calf injury. “I don’t like this term relaunch, corrects Nicolas Seube. These are boys who are coming back from injury. They rejoin the group. They had a little playing time. We will make choices at the start, there will be returns, that’s a certainty. And from the moment we enter the field, I expect attitudes, behaviors. It’s not me who raises. They are the ones who are relaunching themselves. Almost everyone had the opportunity to exist, to express themselves. It’s up to them to show me that every time they’re on the pitch, they make me ask questions about the next eleven I’m going to field.”
