Ligue 1 – ASSE
The coach of Saint-Étienne, Claude Puel, did not like the renunciation or the defensive largesse of his team against OL (0-5) on Sunday, especially on set pieces.
“What feeling dominates after this large defeat?
What a feeling … It’s hard to take of course. There is anger at ourselves for making it easy for this team by conceding so many goals on set pieces. We were hoping, despite everything that has happened to us over the last fortnight, for a better match, with more quality, suspense and collective aggressiveness. We are very disappointed and angry with ourselves. One day of derby, we do not accept.
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Can the cases of Covid which affected the club explain this sinking?
(He blows). We can explain everything. It’s not a normal preparation, far from it, we got some guys back just for the match, we tried to compose, to put a compact, aggressive team in the first period then to bring in elements that did not have 90 minutes in the legs. A lot of players came back from injury or Covid, we lived a very special week. But even in that kind of situation, we believed in it, we thought we could do something. We must have been disillusioned, because we were too approximate, not dense enough in the laundry. We did not know how to exist against a technically skilled team. Apart from some action early in the game, we were too poor in the recovery, too poor in the defensive aspect. We hoped to compensate for the lack of training, the different states of physical form but the sequence of this match punished us. We suffered, we were weaned from balloons in the first half, we were running in the void, we made a lot of efforts.
“There is no such thing as a savior. If we had essential players, they would be aligned daily ”
Do you fear psychological consequences after this 5-0?
We will get our ideas straight with a normal week in order to prepare for an important match in Nice, then to follow up with direct opponents. We will have to find healthy aggressiveness and quality in the game. And forget about this match because there is not much to remember. Work together to recover, collect everyone little by little and present themselves in battle order for the rest.
Do you regret having fielded such an inexperienced team?
We can redo the match, field another team, but I’m not sure that they agree with them. I made decisions about each other’s state of shape, from what I saw in training. There is no such thing as a savior. If we had essential players, they would be lined up daily. “
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OL outclass Saint-Étienne and take the 122nd derby