Here is Lucien Favre's reaction following Le Gym's defeat at Clermont on Sunday (1-0).

With the team trailing, you made changes in the second half. And everything was going a lot better until the two red cards…

The referee applied the rules but I feel that it was harsh. Even with Lemina's tackle. It wasn't an assault either. What's done is done, we need to focus on other things rather than the red cards.

It will make an impact though, with matches building up and you will have players suspended next Sunday for the important match against Marseille…
Yes, but that's the way it is. Every match is important, starting with the return leg of the play-offs. The match today was also important. I thought that we pretty much controlled the game in the first half. We created a huge chance, another 10 minutes later. We didn't concede many chances. We had more possession than them, a lot more (63% in the first half, Editor's note).

Do you regret not starting with Andy Delort at kick-off?

We went without the full-backs too, and also other players. That's the way it is, we have a lot of games, we play every three days. There are some who will suffer, who "suffer", even though there are worse things. 

We get the impression that we are seeing two teams: one in the first…
… (he interrupts) And one from the hour mark. Yes. Certain indispensable players? You are the ones saying that. There are some players who can play in some systems, and others in other systems.

Are you worried?
I'm not worried, but there are things that I see. I don't want to talk about them now. I think that today, at the very worst, we should leave with a 0-0. We need to get back on track, lift our heads and move forward. We had a good first half in Israel, an average second half, we have to be more consistent. If you look at the last two games that we lost... We could have drawn today, in Israel too. 

Would you have been satisfied with a draw at this early stage of the season?
Why not. It's better than a defeat.

These first results have been disappointing…
Yes, but we need to know what we want. I am still calm because we are going to improve progressively, find our feet. At some point, we will need to define our system, and that's what we are unable to do at the moment.

Can you explain the decision to move to a 3-5-2?
We have played 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 since the start of the season. They are similar. Never in a 3-5-2. I did it today because we were't crossing enough, breaking the lines enough. We needed to add extra weight up-front. We created one or two opportunities, one clear-cut chance, but not a lot. We need to overlap. So we need wingers who will run with the ball, who are good in "1-on-1s". In a 3-5-2, you need pace up-front, to use the space, you need the support of two attacking midfielders and full-backs.

I thought that we weren't too bad playing in this system. It could be a solution. We will see if we use it on Thursday or after.

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