AS Saint-Etienne : Claude Puel (Saint-Étienne): “Overall, it was not bad” against Clermont | ASSE News

“What do you remember from this match against Clermont (2-3) and in particular from the first hour?
It was a very rich game, there was a lot going on. I found it to be a good opposition. We see a team (Clermont) who has playing habits, who is well established, who makes good matches. She’s ready already. I think we had a very good start, twenty, twenty-five interesting minutes, with a lot of intensity. We collected a lot of balloons. Unfortunately, we messed up. We had a lot of striking situations with which we had to make a difference. It’s a shame, we haven’t been able to capitalize.

Overall it was not bad. We had a black hole in the second period with these 2 consecutive goals (62nd, 64th) that hurt. Then, a lot of approximations, even if we have balls to equalize. I do not have the same reading of certain situations as the referee, penalties or faults, in particular the second goal. It was an interesting game to play, against a team already well established which showed good things. We suffered the last ten minutes of the first period, but it was interesting to see the intensity. There is still a lot to do physically and defensively, with some players who are still young.

“We have solutions, but we don’t have them all at the same time”

Claude Puel, Saint-Étienne trainer.

This black hole in the second half, after many changes, does it highlight your team’s lack of bench depth?
No. We still miss him (Miguel) Trauco, who arrives, (Saïdou) Sow, who just had the Covid. There is Romain (Hamouma) that comes back, (Maxence) Rivera which resumes tomorrow, (Aïmen) Moueffek must come back. We have solutions, but we don’t have them all at the same time. It is not a pleasure to lose but it is like that. I thought there were some interesting things. Of course, you have to increase in intensity, you have thirty, thirty-five minutes in terms of intensity. Little by little, against Marseille (Wednesday), against Frankfurt (next Saturday), we will have to stretch more time and be able to meet what will be the requirement from the start of the Championship.

Are you expecting a few recruits?
I focus on my group. I spoke about it. If a player should join us, it’s because he represents added value to the squad, otherwise it’s not worth it. If we have an opportunity or two, we will seize them, if we do not have them, we will not recruit and we will do with our workforce. This workforce finished in the middle of the standings (11th). We do not yet have the full team, it allows to have playing time for some young players, to see them as well. I feel like I’m experiencing a bit of what we’ve been through all season (last) with contingencies, at any time, you have to adapt. Last season, we responded. And this group will have one more year of living in difficulty. We had finished well, making strong matches. We must find cohesion. “