Arriving this summer from Trabzonspor, Thomas Meunier feels good in Lille near his native Belgium. Tuesday, with Losc, he will return to Anfield Road, where he scored a goal with PSG in September 2018. Interview.
Thomas, explain to us this incredible series of 21 games without defeat (club record) with this latest victory against Nice (2-1). A perfect week with also the Coupe de France qualification in Marseille…
It’s going pretty well when we see the competition from the opposing teams with the quality of their core (workforce), I didn’t expect us to have 21 games without defeat.
What does that mean exactly?
That means that there is regularity, that there is a qualitative group, that there is good staff, a good group of players and all that forms the Lille ensemble, which we currently see as Friday with the match against Nice where in the first period, we lost against a team that has quality. In the second half, we managed to reverse the situation. We have all the qualities of a team that can claim to win something by the end of the season. There is also a lot of passion, regularity, desire and motivation. For the moment we are a good example of a stable team that gives everything in every match.
We feel a mental strength in the team. We saw it against Nice, where you were in difficulty in the first half, or Marseille’s equalizer at the end of the Cup match. HAS Atletico Madrid, you are behind and you win by keeping your cool.
Yes, now we have had the opposite blow sometimes. Lyon for example, in Nice too, in Montpellier. These matches should in principle bring us points. We always have some management problems at the end of a match, this has happened sometimes without having too many consequences since in the end these are not matches that we lose. On the other hand, in the big matches, we were even more present than usual like in Marseille, Nice, Atlético, Real, Juventus. Even against Paris, where it was a defeat (1-3, in September, Editor’s note), we played very well. I think it’s a group that doesn’t doubt its qualities and a staff that manages to highlight them. I’m very happy because I didn’t really know the group when I arrived in Lille, I followed them briefly in the European Cup last year. What I have seen since the beginning, whether at the transfer level or at the younger level, as well as among the experienced players that I had already encountered when I was at Paris Saint-Germain, is very qualitative. and that promises for the future.
Now on to Liverpool and Anfield where you played with Paris Saint-Germain (Liverpool’s 3-2 victory in September 2018). What is the atmosphere like at this stadium, is it something special?
It remains a very nice memory because I was able to score, and with my left foot, I would like to emphasize that! It was very nice, there was a lot of intensity, it’s really English style and I love this football. On the other hand, in terms of atmosphere, I find it very reactionary. There’s “You’ll never walk alone” at the beginning which is a bit of a shock. If the match is not exciting, nothing will happen in the stands. There is also no culture of tifos, ultras in England, it is very rare to see that there. The stadiums are always full and people love football but it’s not crazy either. Now, playing Liverpool is above all also this mythical side of playing in a club which has written the history of European and English football.
It is also a stadium steeped in history and which has evolved with the times?
Yes, correct. Having played at several clubs in England like Manchester, Chelsea, Birmingham, frankly, I like this slightly traditional side. For example, playing Arsenal in the new stadium is not the same as playing at Highbury. It’s the same for Tottenham but at Anfield, I like this modernity. We keep the old side, we update it and we make the opposing teams feel that it’s English football, especially for the European Cup matches because all that doesn’t just represent a club, it’s a football culture. She is still beautiful and very present in the Premier League. It’s this old-fashioned side that makes us remember this kind of moment.
-Are you going to share your experience of Anfield with the youngest? How to approach entering the field with “You’ll never walk alone” against one, if not the best team in the world at the moment?
They are very good at the moment, in fact on Friday during the green, we watched the match during the meal against Nottingham and it is impressive. After that it remains Liverpool, they have always had an excellent team and very good players. I think it’s a privilege to be able to face this kind of team but we shouldn’t go there thinking that we’re going to take seven and that we won’t have a say. It’s a moment to savor, we shouldn’t go into it with fear or stress since no one expects us to win anyway.
What more do we have to lose?
If it’s just to have fun and savor this moment until the end, because with the journey we’re on in the European Cup, why not create something.
Considering your results against Real, Juve and Atlético de Madrid, Lille exudes strength. Does that give you hope?
Yes, that’s it, that’s our strength. The good thing is that we don’t underestimate ourselves. But I don’t think we have an arrogant face either. To the outside world, we always do what we should do. Sometimes we can do more but the Champions League, everyone knows very well that it’s a different atmosphere. It’s another motivation and especially to play in places like that, it’s something. There are players who may never face Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester United. That’s why it’s important to give everything, to not have regrets when you face this kind of team, because it has to be a match for “history”.
We feel fulfilled in Lille, close to your Belgium…
It was also the idea of coming here. After my six months in Türkiye (Trabzonspor), I still had one year of contract and it was great. It wouldn’t have bothered me at all to stay there because I really enjoyed my short experience but I had to give up on the family and the children and that was going to be complicated. I really felt it during the five months I spent there. I had other options and the one in Lille ticked the most boxes. For integration, it’s a French-speaking environment, so it’s easier. It’s on the Belgian border, we’re not far from family. Culture too… Since we were 18, we have lived a little abroad and even while being at Club Bruges, that is to say in Flanders, it’s another language, another culture and so we said to ourselves that maybe we would get a taste of what awaits us later. Here in Lille, I am really satisfied. My family is also happy to see me much more often than usual.
Comments collected by Jean Bommel
