Are you fully satisfied with what you saw this evening?
Fully satisfied, I’ll tell you no. I also pay close attention to the content of our matches. But, in any case, given our situation, we are satisfied. We are satisfied to have returned to victory, which had eluded us for far too long. Even if, in the game, we know that we can do better and that it is far from our best match, we won this one, we lost the others. So you have to know how to be pragmatic too. We know that, in a negative spiral of five defeats in a row, the most important thing is to break it. This is what we managed to do. For the rest, we will wait a little bit before being able to rejoice in both the result and the manner.
How can a success like this move OM forward?
Already, he will ask to be confirmed, because we will need a positive series. But I think we saw, at times in particular, that we were quite stressed, quite timid in our game. We had possession, but we didn’t advance much, we took very few risks. I think that this kind of victory can give us confidence again. It was a very important match for the start of the season. We negotiated it well. It is also a positive point to be able to respond when we are expected. So, I think it can help us a lot mentally.
You decided to start Kelyann Bezahaf and Nouhoum Kamissoko at kick-off. Did their services meet your expectations?
Yes, they both had a great match. Perhaps even they were the two players who took the most initiatives in the first half, perhaps with the carelessness of youth. But, in any case, for a first match as starters, they were very good. So, I am satisfied and happy to see that we can count on them, because we need them. It will also require confirmation, a bit like tonight’s result, but they had a very good match.
Can you tell us a word about the exit of Paixao, who avoided you by leaving the field?
Concerning Igor, for me, it’s nothing. It can happen. I think he was frustrated, maybe frustrated to go out, maybe frustrated with his match. But there you go, I can understand it. He knows that he can count on me, he knows that he has the trust of the group, he knows that we have done a lot of things to keep him here. Now, it wasn’t a very easy match for our attackers this evening, because we managed to create a lot of gaps and imbalances. It’s nothing serious.
To what extent does this victory, which brings you the three points and moves you forward in the standings, also relieve you mentally?
I didn’t pay too much attention to the ranking. With my staff, during these three weeks, we focused on working to progress again and again what we could improve, with the players we had at our disposal, because there were quite a few in the selection. We still made matches with content that was, at least for the most part, interesting. There were discussions, but also a certain sincerity about the situation, because I believe that the worst thing, in these moments, is to be in denial. So, there was lucidity and also frankness about what we had to do best to get out of this negative spiral. We are also happy for our supporters, because since the start of the season – and I put myself in their shoes – supporting a team, and even more so in Marseille, which is in the situation we are in, is difficult. Since the start of the season, they have been behind us. This evening, they were behind us again, despite a match that was not very pleasant to watch. They also have an importance in tonight’s result. We talked a lot about that with the players: the need to be united in these moments.
