“I liked the reaction of my players”

Happy with his team's stunning success against Strasbourg at the Stade de la Meinau (1-3), the Monegasque technician appeared at a post-match press conference to deliver his first impressions.

A crazy new scenario for AS Monaco this season! With this success against Strasbourg (1-3), the Rouge et Blanc returned to victory in Ligue 1 and gained confidence before heading to the national team for the international break in November. Before that, Adi Hütter congratulated them for their reaction in the post-match press conference. Excerpts ????️

Good evening coach. What do you remember from the match?

It wasn't a good first half, we could have done better, that's for sure. It's a big victory and three very important ones for us, after two defeats in a row in the league. I also want to salute Strasbourg for its performance.

But when we took the field in the second half, I was really impressed with my team with what we showed. Both teams have a lot of young talent in their squads that are fun to watch play, but ultimately we deserved this win today.

Tell us about the two changes at the break…

Personally I think it was necessary to do them, and the two players who came on after the locker room, George Ilenikhena and Christian Mawissa, really helped us. You know, we win and we lose together.

Sometimes we have to accept criticism, like when we played Angers with football that was not ours. I remain very happy and proud of my team for what they did this evening, especially in the second half.

Can you tell us a word about Eliesse Ben Seghir’s performance?

At half time I decided to put Eliesse Ben Seghir in at number 10, under George Ilenikhena, making him a mobile striker and he did a fantastic job in that role! Maybe he was the trigger for the rest of the team.

What did you say to the players at halftime?

They were a little demoralized, dissatisfied with their performances. I said that there were 45 minutes left to change this result and that I did not agree with the mentality adopted in the first half, that we had to respect our opponent. I trust my players, I knew we could do better and that's what happened in the end.

How did you find the reaction of your team?

We are continuing our process. This summer, there were departures of experienced players like Ben Yedder, Fofana, Maripán or Camara and the arrival of young talents like George Ilenikhena, who turned 18 a few months ago, Christian Mawissa, who comes to be 19 years old and Lamine Camara who is only 20 years old.

This is the direction we want to go, we want to develop our young players. It's November, sometimes we struggle because we can't win every game, even if that's our primary desire. After two defeats, I liked this reaction today and it makes me very happy.

What more do you expect from your team now?

I think sometimes you need to lose to grow. This young team has only lost three times in 27 games! I defend my project because we can be happy with what we are doing at the moment and we do not know exactly what will happen at the end of the season.

I like to see Eliesse Ben Seghir, it's his first full season, he is in good shape and spared from injuries. When you see Maghnes Akliouche, how he has been playing since last season, it’s beautiful for the eyes (smile)! And then seeing how we defended in the second half, where Strasbourg had no chances, defending tirelessly for 45 minutes away, that's also our qualities.

Un mot sur Soungoutou High…

He came out at the end of the game because his nose was bleeding and it wouldn't stop, so we decided to replace him with Jordan Teze. I would like to congratulate Soungou' for his way of playing. Against Bologna (0-1), he had an incredible match and again today he was really good, he is a young player, he is only 21 years old.

Finally, is Maghnes Akliouche a candidate for the French team, in your opinion?

For me he is simply incredible, few players have the talent to play the football he plays. He is developing very well at AS Monaco since the youth categories, everyone at the Club is happy with him.