Here is the reaction of Franck Haise, interviewed at a post-match press conference after the defeat conceded by the Aiglons on the pitch at Elfsborg (1-0) in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Coach, you created a lot of chances, especially in the second half, but we have the impression that when it doesn't work, it doesn't work…
In fact in the second half, we should have scored one or more goals, which does not prevent the fact that in the first half, we lacked accuracy. We don't lose qualification tonight (THURSDAY)even if there was room to finally win in the Europa League. We knew that our chances of passing were very low, but what interested me was winning the match. We had the means but ultimately we lost it.
Some players had the opportunity to show themselves. We saw a Youssoufa Moukoko perhaps a little more liberated…
“Mouki” did good things, he was enterprising. We had 22 shots, he had, like others, opportunities to score. Unfortunately for him and for the team, he didn't do it but it's true that he was quite strong.
What lessons can we learn from a match like this?
That Football requires accuracy when you are rather dominant. Elfsborg only gave us problems on counterattacks, transitions and set pieces, we knew that too. In these moments, you need either technical accuracy in the last 25 meters and even more willingness to push the opponent into a mistake, which we had difficulty doing for 60 minutes, or accuracy in the finish to conclude our actions over the last half hour. Here are the evening lessons. Now, it’s time for Marseille and Ligue 1.
You will return to Ligue 1 with the match against OM on Sunday. There were 350 supporters present this evening. For them, this derby will be important to bounce back…
For us too. Generally speaking, we have often reacted well after the Europa League matches which did not live up to our expectations. We have a very big match awaiting us on Sunday, there will also be more freshness since, by choice or by obligation, a certain number of usual starters did not play this evening. It's very good to have a big match ahead of us.
The upcoming derby, is it the kind of big meeting that feels good after a match like this, with frustration?
What is certain is that we will quickly turn the page. We would have ended it anyway with a victory because what counts is always the next match. We will turn the page all the more easily since we lost this evening by playing an insufficient match in terms of technique and finishing. We will prepare well even if the time will be short to perform well on Sunday evening.
Were you surprised by this Elfsborg team?
They had excellent results at home. I saw them, especially against a big team like AS Roma, being able to defend low and still win the match. I knew they were capable of replicating that.
The return to a three-way defense, is this an indication for the future?
I thought that with their system, it was interesting to go back to a three-way defense and to have superiority in the middle. This allowed us to almost never be put under pressure in the midfield and to be able to get the ball up relatively calmly. For this match, it was an option that seemed interesting to me, also to put the starting players in their best position. We will have returns on defense. This evening (THURSDAY), Mohamed (Abdelmonem) was solid again, Youssouf (Ndayishimiye) and Dante were on the bench, Moïse Bombito will, I hope, be with us this weekend. It will be an additional option to have a three-way defense. But in this system, especially in a match like this, our defenders need to give us even more to create the first imbalances. We were a little timid at times at this level, we could have gone further.
Good luck to Elsborg for the rest of the competition.
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