A chill ran through the stadium when Ntamack came off in the 56th minute after lying down clutching his knee. Less than a month from the start of the World Cup, all the little pains are worrying. A priori more fear than harm for the French opener who was walking normally after the match and will have an MRI on Monday to have a more precise diagnosis.
“At the end of the match, you suffered a big air pocket: is it boring or was it predictable?
It remains a preparation match, with a different team from last weekend, who played together again for the first time since the end of March. We did physical work that was not intended to make us perform today. The Scots have a month and a half of preparation ahead of us because they finished their Championship in mid-May. Our goal is to continue preparing for a month and, even during the qualifying phase, there will be work to ramp up.
What lessons did you learn from this meeting?
We have seen what we are capable of doing but also our offensive and defensive inabilities. We found ourselves in difficulty with and without the ball but we had some highlights which allowed us to score to win the match. There are interesting sequences, like the one where Charles Ollivon, who had a big game, defends a touch well and comes to win a ball which allows us to win this game.
We were sometimes overtaken by these Scots but we were helped a lot by the public of Saint-Étienne. Young people, Geoffroy-Guichard, that doesn’t speak to them but me, at 15, I had the Manufrance jersey with the number 7 (that of Dominique Rocheteau). It is a temple of French football, Saint-Étienne was loved by all of France.
“We adapt with the injured. 42 players not too many to prepare for a World Cup and even after the announcement of the 33, we will keep players on stand-by. »
Some frames came out very early…
We had to coach differently because of the injuries. Thomas Ramos went to the opening, Paul Boudehent in the middle, that’s good, we saw how we reacted. We had to coach our third line, we adapted well. We felt that we had to strengthen the center of the field where we were dominated. It put us in difficulty at times but it’s perfect to have been able to work and we reacted well.
Two players were hit during the game, Cyril Baille in the 49th then Romain Ntamack in the 56th. What are the news ?
Romain underwent a small hyper extension of the knee. We preferred to take it out so that it remains without consequence. He was seen by the doctor, the physiotherapists and we will decide tomorrow (Sunday) depending on the evolution if there is a need for additional examinations. Cyril Baille did not pass any exams either, but he would have a big contusion of the calf. We adapt with the injured. 42 players not too many to prepare for a World Cup and even after the announcement of the 33, we will keep players on stand-by.
How to explain the many errors at the end of the meeting?
This can be explained by a mixture of fatigue and a lack of collective benchmarks. But we were also taken aback at the start of the match. The second half gave a glimpse of a successful match but we thwarted, made technical errors. »