Is the word “revenge” part of your vocabulary and the preparation for this match?
We try to be as focused as possible on what we need to do to reproduce the level of play we had against Paris (in the quarter-finals, editor’s note), the quality, the state of mind that we had. This recipe, between a lot of concentration, a huge desire to play and be very aggressive at times. The smile, the joy of being there, too, and of being able to play these moments. We know that we are moving upmarket in terms of level of play and experience of the play-off finals. We have a fierce desire to go to the final. Now, don’t pollute yourself with useless stuff. On the other hand, there are two games, even three games to play. The road loop is simple. We have to win game 2 here and we have to try to win once at Chaumont to go through. We have a mission and we are focused on it. And just that! On the quality of what we must produce, the orientations we must respect, the adaptations we must have. There, it will be big matches and it is often played on very small details. We shit for hours, and we must not forget the small detail that can tilt the concentration. So there you go, there’s a lot, a lot of focus and, I think, a lot of desire to go into battle.
Last season, Montpellier was the favorite, because first in the regular phase. Are you an outsider this season, when Chaumont finished second and MHSC third?
Each season has its story and this year, we had a slightly more boring second half of the regular season with injuries, absences, the Covid, the flu. All these little things made us lose a few points to be in the top 2. And the formula is not the same this year. So it doesn’t compare. Beyond that, last year, we didn’t fail in the semi-finals because we had favorite status, we failed because we couldn’t finish the job at 20-16 in the fourth set, in match 3, when we had the game in hand. We had built it. We lost Mendez very quickly, but we couldn’t finish the job. So we have to learn from all that and that this year, if we have that in our hands, at some point, we will have to be a killer and know how to finish. That’s why I talk about orientation, I talk about concentration, I talk about not playing fear in your stomach. We have to find our recipes to be effective against a big team from Chaumont.
Is your team stronger, more mature, this season?
We managed to get everyone back on deck a bit. So already, we have even more solutions. Last year, we were in a bit of a thong in the last match, after a few points. At the same time, we have experience, we have youth, we have a second sharp who can also do big sessions. We have a lot of people, so we have to use all these assets. But above all, we have to think about playing well, playing the ball well that we have to play and projecting ourselves immediately on the action that follows. The rest, we leave it for the world that follows us. Revenge, favorite status? We can’t think of all that. We have a huge ambition since we got together to work this season. We want to see if we can achieve this ambition and Chaumont has a big ambition too. So now, it’s concentration. And then, finalize the preparation to be the most efficient in this series. We know that it will be big battles. We had the opportunity to freshen up a bit this week and prepare well. I hope it will pay off.
The two audiences and the two rooms, in terms of atmosphere, what does it look like?
They are not the same. They were built for years with the Jean Masson room, which was really cramped in size, with a very present audience and ultras like you can find in football or basketball, in certain countries. So there is a lot of pressure in relation to that and a lot of animation. Here, it’s an audience of connoisseurs, people passionate about volleyball, so it’s totally different. But we have won here quite a few times against Chaumont. Now, we have to prove to ourselves that we are capable of winning there and especially in an important series.
Marriage with the MHSC: what has it changed for you?
It is an honor that a family like the Nicollins is interested in the work we have produced over the years, in the history of this club and want to invest in it. Me, I took it above all as a very beautiful thing. I think it’s a project headed by intelligent men, be it Jean-Charles Caylar, Olivier Nicollin, and the back office that I don’t know very well yet, but who are working very quietly, intelligently, to build step by step, I hope, an even more ambitious project. We are part of this adventure, for now. We are proud to wear these colors, these new colors. We don’t forget the past either because we’ve done great things. Me, I took that as a mark of recognition of the quality of the work, of the potential that this club now represents at a very high level, with stability and the ambition to try to win titles.