What is your feeling, halfway through, with this position in the standings (5) and the number of points obtained (19)?
It’s a record that I consider ultimately satisfactory, and I say ultimately because it’s an upward curve for the team. The first important thing was and still is to strive for performance and to be competitive, before even talking about classification. Because we are talking about objectives, and it’s good to have them, but above all we have performance objectives with the group, with the team. This is important to me. And from the moment we put things in place and where we succeed, this idea of classification and good classification at the end of the season can be realized. If I spoke from the first third-place warm-up match, I think it would be a mistake. And the objective of the second part of the season will be a continuation of this first part: to do the best possible, while emphasizing performance. The classification will come later.
Do you feel you have brought this team back to life?
Finding a smile again is an important area of work. That the group be as ambitious, and that it be a focus on a common project. I used this word adventure at the start of the season, to strengthen ties, because it seems essential to me in a team sport. So there was a lot of work at this level. It wasn’t easy, but I think the big victory of these first six months is the state of mind. I think we have a team. In any case, we really look like a team. Afterwards, I expect better in terms of the game, but it takes time. Today, we have found real defensive strength. That is the other positive point, and I hope that in the second part of the season, it will also be a focus of work: a little more possession, a little more control. And then, a little more realism. Because even if we haven’t had a lot of controlled matches, we still have a lot of chances in the matches.
Did things bother you during the first leg?
Our first defeat at Guingamp, it bothered me. I think the group understood at that point that I was pissed off. And then, there is another moment when I was annoyed, it is at half-time against Lyon and after the match against Lyon. Because even if it’s Lyon, even if it’s stronger, it’s the only time with Guingamp, where I haven’t seen a team. And that, for me, is important compared to last season. We worked on the state of mind, we developed it, we are really focused on it. And that’s why I was grieved. I think the players have understood and I have the feeling that from Lyon, we play as a team. And that is good.
Beyond Montpellier, what is your view on the ranking and the performance of the opponents?
Bordeaux still have a very good team, but I really thought they were going to lose some feathers with the Champions League. I even hoped that they would qualify in hens to be even more worn out by these matches. It didn’t, but between the injuries and the energy expended in the first few weeks, they were somewhat handicapped. Finding Paris FC in this place, however, does not surprise me. It’s a team that is in continuity, it’s a group that has been working for a year and a half now, also with quality players. And then Fleury, it’s a club that puts in a lot of resources. It is the only amateur club, for me, which puts in the means. If we find it there, it is not by chance. I’m not surprised either that we’re in this small group, between third and sixth or seventh place.. We are at the same level as all these teams. It will be played on details, I think. Let’s stay focused on our goals.
– VINCENT POYER
Are you going to strengthen your team at the break and is it necessary?
The January transfer window is always a bit special. We can also put a team in difficulty when we recruit and the newcomers do not integrate well. I also consider that it can be good to prepare for the next season. It is not just for immediate effect. Recruiting in January, it’s shown to everyone that we do not stop on the current season. We are already preparing the sequel, so we are paying attention. On the other hand, there will be no excess, and there may not be any changes, but we are attentive and we watch what happens.
In which sector, possibly?
We have more offensive players than defensive players. It is an axis. You should know that in the offseason, there are more players who have left than players who have arrived. After my signature, we looked for possible arrivals. We didn’t want to take in order to take. We did not take, by choosing a slightly smaller group, in any case less numerous than last season, but a balanced group all the same, even if I had the feeling, at the time there, that he needed maybe a defensive midfielder or maybe a central defender. Today, we have put in place a system to counteract areas where we might run out of people. I would say that our left side is a little less supplied, especially behind, than our right side and our offensive part. So we’ll see. Corn knowing that our progress has been in existence for a few weeks now, we also have no obligation to recruit. But even if we don’t recruit, we have to start preparing for the future. And the rest is next season which will soon be here, even if it is not over.
At the start of the season, you wanted operations to attract more people to the stadium. Recently, a special evening was organized with musical entertainment and catering. Is that what you were thinking?
Already, we can always say that there is always better to do. No matter the situation, we can always do better sportingly or extra-sportingly. Afterwards, the club is looking for solutions, indeed. And against Paris FC, there was a particular animation. It’s not simple. There is still the Covid, even if this should not be an excuse. And then, I also believe that it is due to the sporting part. Last season is average. This start to the season is not extraordinary either, especially in our first games. Today, we are showing that we can fight. We must also show things and do more show. And I think it’s going to be a set of things that will bring in more people. The show, therefore the quality of the game, and then the entertainment that will be put in place. I believe that these are both federal and club missions to find solutions to bring people in and make women’s football and D1 more attractive.
Can we draw a parallel between the first part of the season for the queues and the boys’ one in Montpellier: new coach, set-up, rise?
Yes, but I think with great clarity that Olivier Dall’Oglio’s first part of the season with Ligue1 is better than ours, quite simply because there are more teams. If we calculate a little, to do the same thing, we should be one or two places above to do the same thing. I consider that there is a resemblance between the beginning and this position at the truce. But we may be a little below the Ligue 1 performance, so that may be what I’m going to tell the girls at the start of January: the boys had a better first half of the season than us. Now we have to play a better second game than Ligue 1.
– Vincent Poyer
How did you experience the episode, and even the news item, concerning Kheira Hamraoui and Aminata Diallo, two PSG players?
I will not allow myself to comment on what happened. On the other hand, I tell myself that it is not good because we speak, and believe that it was four pages in L’Equipe and especially the one of L’Equipe, in bad of women’s football. That we talk about it a lot, on a particular affair, but that we do not talk enough about the sporting part. And then afterwards, we can also say to each other If it’s making the front page of L’Equipe, it’s because women’s football is starting to count in France. I think the same case, 10 years ago, would not have made the front page of L’Equipe. one from L’Equipe. 4 or 5 years ago either. And I think that ultimately, it is also the media coverage of women’s football that causes this. So, why not tell yourself that women’s football counts on the French sporting chessboard?
This is why beyond this rare fact and which we can judge as very, very annoying, we can also say that women’s football is advancing. Well, not in the right way in terms of communication, and it will have to be erased. But I hope that we will confirm certain things and be a little more publicized even through the results of Lyon and PSG. And then I especially hope for L’Equipe de France. Because for me, the media coverage will go through a good result with the national team. I have the feeling that if France had at least been in the World Cup final in 2019, we would talk more about it. So that is important. But that will also require a real federal will. And then, perhaps also TV rights which are still sufficient enough for this media coverage to be even stronger. And hoping that indeed, it is only sporty and not extra-sporting
You talk about the France team: today, only Marion Torrent is called up among the Hérault players. From what you see, will others soon be able to claim it?
Difficult question. You should know that at the same time, there are less because Paris and Lyon have taken on even more importance. Some have also gone abroad. I think that in the coming years and the coming seasons, we will find players in the France team who play in Montpellier. I am convinced of it, because Montpellier is a strong and important club in French women’s football. You should still know that there are less in the France team, but there are many in the foreign selections: German, Croatian, Austrian, or Australian. I think there are two or three young people who will certainly knock on the door of Les Bleues. I wish them. And then, I also hope that others, and I am thinking of Clarisse, Faustine and Maëlle in particular, will be able to knock on the door of the France team in the coming months.