Le Gym’s coach Adrian Ursea spoke to the press after his side’s defeat against Brest (2-0).

The weeks go by, but they look very similar: your match was again thwarted by two defensive errors.

We wanted to control the match and cause this Brest side some problems. They are a formidable side at the break down. It ended 2-0 for our opponents, we can’t say much about that, but we will hold on to our capacity to produce good football. Because above and beyond the result, there is no contest between what we produced in our last game (against Lorient) and this evening.

Brest exploited the errors your side made, but the same can’t be said at the other end of the pitch…

In our preparation for this match, we identified the problems that Brest could have: play down the wings. It’s an area that we need to continue to work on. We must improve that.

Until now, we have lacked time because of the frequency of the matches. Since we returned to training on 29 December, we have been able to work on this, but we still need some more time. We also need to be more prolific. When we discover areas to be exploited, we need to do so as quickly as possible.

Why have you opted to start with Jordan Lotomba on the left instead of Hassane Kamara for the last two matches?

I thought Lotomba was interesting in the last match. I am lucky that I have some very interesting wingers in this set-up. Finally, I also found Hassane to be struggling, especially physically. We know that those positions require immense energy, it needs you to make runs forward and recovery runs. Over the course of a number of matches in close succession, it can be taxing. It’s down to me to manage these issues.

What did you make of William Saliba’s debut?

Very interesting. When you have a young player of his age - almost 20 years old - who has just arrived into a new squad and who shows such personality in the middle of a defence that he has known for one day, I think it’s very encouraging for what is to come.

Will you be able to rely on Kasper Dolberg for the match on Saturday against Metz?

Yes. He is already back training with the squad. Today, he has had a good session back in Nice, we will see how he is feeling tomorrow. Bit by bit, our injured players will come back. It will create competition for places. And that will drive this squad forward.

This evening, Amine Gouiri cut back an awful lot…

Yes, but you need to take into account the full context of the match today. When you play against deep blocks of players as we often did today, there isn’t a lot of space for our forwards, so Amine often drops deeper and cuts back. There isn’t a lot of space in deep and then he needs to get back into position in order to be there in front of goal. But I would say that it’s the whole team that needs to be more dangerous in the final 30 metres. We know that attacking the final 20 or 30 metres is that hardest to put in place.

Do you think there is an emergency in terms of the number of points?

Of course. We are well aware of it. But I am convinced that we will get through this difficult period,. We have the foundations to build upon. But we need to correct what’s not going well so that we can be more prolific in the final 30 metres.

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