Habib Beye : « It’s a wonderful feeling, the score, the atmosphere, this third victory. »

XXL Victory

“It was a truly beautiful evening. I’m thinking about the supporters because the atmosphere was incredible from the moment the bus arrived, with the feeling that we could keep building on our momentum. It’s a wonderful emotion — the score, the celebration, this third straight win.”

Adapting

“We were a bit worried about what they might propose tactically. We anticipated they would play with two players underneath the striker and Ilenikhena centrally to attack the depth. On their transitions, they caused us problems, but we defended well and then scored a beautiful goal thanks to Abdelhamid’s individuality. We wanted to stay focused and show more collective personality on the ball. The players responded — we had control with Valentin Rongier as our outlet. We also started the second half very well with a new protocol we’ve implemented after halftime for the past four matches.”

Breel Embolo

“For Breel, it wasn’t easy to have that status over the last few games, being seen as an impact player. I thought he was exceptional in who he is and in how he supports Kader, Estéban, Ludo, and all the players in those attacking roles. I loved his celebration in Toulouse after Mousa’s goal, and his conversations with Kader during the specific striker drills. Breel knows the opponent, he wanted to shine, and he put in a lot of defensive work. His goal rewards his efforts.”

Zakaria’s fault on Estéban Lepaul

“Estéban took a very heavy stamp. Breel came to tell me it was broken, but in the end he got back up. His shin is badly marked — it deserves a red card. We had no choice but to take him off, and we’ll assess the situation.”

Abdelhamid’s form

“I told you that a coach also discovers a player’s qualities through what he shows in training, and we’ve discovered his ability to drive forward with the ball during sessions. We don’t want to deprive ourselves of that. We always have players in secure positions when he steps out — Jérémy and Lilian can shift, Mousa can float. Abdelhamid is a boy with a lot of freedom and quality. I don’t know how far he can go — he’s calm, strong in duels. He’s a young player, he will still make mistakes and we’ll have to accept that. Right now, he’s in a very good moment. It shows his quality, and we have to let him grow so he can keep progressing. These two young players — along with Jérémy — are operating at a very high level. And I’m not forgetting Lilian or Brice; what they did in the build-up phases was tremendous.”

Switching focus to the trip to Metz

“We scored four goals against both Strasbourg and Monaco, which shows the quality we have. Metz will be difficult, but we need to finish this year with as many wins as possible.”


 

Regarder

To play this video, you must accept Youtube cookies

I accept