Philippe Clement: "Satisfied with my players' state of mind"
The Rouge et Blanc tried everything, but unfortunately, Philippe Clement’s players were only able to bring back a single point after a draw in their trip to Nantes (0-0), as part of the 20th round of Ligue 1. A sense of disappointment was inevitable in order after the match, even if the new coach of AS Monaco was quick to highlight the good performance of his players, who were dominant from start to finish. Here are his reactions at a press conference.
Good evening coach. What is your analysis of this match?
As a coach you always want to win matches and to have a winning mentality in the locker room. And tonight I saw a team that wanted to go for the win the whole game. We started very well, with a lot of domination and a good pace of play. We also created chances, which unfortunately weren’t rewarded with a goal. Circumstances were not in our favor afterwards, with two defenders coming off with injury in the first half. Obviously the tempo dropped a bit after that, and there was also more space for Nantes, who had opportunities on the counterattack and at set pieces.
Battle Chess ♟️
➥ #FCNASM I 0-0 pic.twitter.com/KjD6i0moDL
— AS Monaco EN (@AS_Monaco_EN) January 9, 2022
Even playing a man down, your team didn’t give up and tried to win all the way until the end…
In the second half we tried to pick up the pace up again, with two attacking players. We had a very big chance through Myron Boadu, who was not lucky enough to find the target. Then, playing with ten against eleven for ten minutes, it was bound to be more difficult to chase a result. But what pleases me is that despite these circumstances the mentality remained the same on the pitch. We’ll have to generate more offensively in the next few weeks, but we’ve only been working together for four days, so I’m not worried.
Tell us about the decision to start Caio Henrique as a number 10…
In the absence of a few regulars, we had to be creative. Jean Lucas had only had two matches since his return, so I tried to put Caio in a position that isn’t necessarily his usual. I think he did a really good job for the team in this role. We will see in the next few weeks what solutions are available to us in this part of the pitch, but I found his display very compelling. I spoke with him about it before the game, and he told me he had played in that position when he was younger.
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧 👊
➥ #FCNASM I 0-0 pic.twitter.com/HfSxpBHPoY
— AS Monaco EN (@AS_Monaco_EN) January 9, 2022
What was your team missing to come away with a win?
There was less space for us in the second half, and physically I think we’re going to have to work a bit as a team. This is a point upon which we will be able to improve, but it is something that is quite normal, given that we have just returned from our winter break.
What did you think of this Nantes team?
We were ready to respond to all possible tactical options facing this side. We had studied all of their matches, making our analyses. The first 30 minutes were very good for us, again. But the injuries disrupted our tactics. If we’d scored in the fifth minute on that chance by Sofiane Diop, the game could have been very different. We have things to improve upon for sure, but I’m pretty happy with the mood. I have a really motivated side and with a little time to work out our playing philosophy I’m sure we can do great things together.
