the essential
Despite the elimination in the quarter-finals of the championship, Julien Winkelmuller, the Toulouse sharpshooter, gives a positive assessment of the past season and justifies his choice to extend with the Spacer’s.
We’ll come back to your assessment of this season a little later, but let’s start with your one-year extension: a choice you made quite early, why?
The transfer window in France works like this, you have to decide fairly early (February-March, Editor’s note). My choice was quite simple because it’s rare to feel so good in a group. I knew that the team was not going to move much (a passer and a central player will join the hard core, Editor’s note) and I really wanted to see what one more season could bring.
Yet you must have been asked?
I had the beginnings of a sideline but the managers played it well by quickly coming to tell me that they would like me to stay (he laughs). I told them at the start of the season that if I felt good here, I would have no problem extending it (one year, Editor’s note). This allowed them not to look for a new specialist and to concentrate on other positions.
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Spacer’s Volley: end clap for Toulouse which will not see the semi-finals
Has this elimination against Tourcoing at the end of the fifth decisive match (1-3) been digested today?
Game five leaves us with a little taste of frustration. At the time we said to ourselves that there was probably a little better to do. And then with a little hindsight we can still see that we had a great season.
Does this make you want to go even higher next season?
Of course it makes you hungry! From the start of the season in the locker room we had targeted the goal of making the play-offs: that hadn’t happened for a long time here (2017, Editor’s note) and it’s already a first step. The club has gained visibility, that’s undeniable.
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Spacer’s volleyball: “Our state of mind pleases people”, believes Patrick Duflos, the Toulouse coach
In your opinion, will the way other teams view Spacers change?
We’re going to be waited a bit, yes. In recent years perhaps the teams facing Toulouse said to themselves that it was not essential to be 100% to win. Now everyone knows that they will have to bring out their best volleyball against us. This is what we wanted to show to the other teams. This season I heard a lot “before we would have lost this match” and this change in mentality is very important for the future. We have also created an audience which is reflected in the values we convey. We won a lot of matches mentally and people like that. There is no reason for this to change next season.
