Reaction
Ursea: "There's work still to be done"
Check out Adrian Ursea's reaction following Le Gym's victory over Nîmes in the Round of 64 of the Coupe de France (1-3).
How would you analyse this victory?
Despite the fact that we have secured a second consecutive victory, the match this evening proves that we are still a way off being cured of our issues. There's still a lot of work to be done. We need to be more consistent over the full 90 minutes.
What were you missing at the time that you conceded the goal?
The desire to always want to push forward, to find solutions, to be even more calm on the ball. We aren't completely out of the situation, there are still moments where we are lacking confidence when we need to kick on. As soon as we become ponderous in our situation, it becomes more difficult. And even if they are struggling, it's enough for our opponent to make the most of these rare chances. At the moment, it only takes a slightly dangerous situation for us begin to panic. We don't always have the right reaction. It's happening less and less and we hope to correct this in the future.
Can you tell us about your system?
Our system for the last three matches has been a 4-3-3. But what has really changed is that way we are able to bring it to life. For example, previously, we had Danilo playing at centre back, but when we had the ball, he pushed into midfield. It's not the first time that we have tried this in order to cause the opposition problems. It's all about creating a numerical advantage. We always want a numerical advantage in order to eliminate the opposition's first line and then build the pressure on the rest of their team. It's a question of adapting to the problems that the team opposite us is causing us and it depends on the players' characteristics. Hassane and as we saw today Stanley, have the ability to play higher up the pitch. When we can find them, we can get crosses into the box.
Is this Coupe de France a real objective for you?
In the league, as soon as you know that there are other challenges, that we aren't sitting well in the league table, that becomes a thing. The Coupe de France is another competition, and so we can feel liberated when it arrives and so we approach the games with a different mentality. On the other hand, it's not an objective as such for us at the moment because we can't afford to get ahead of ourselves. Our next objective will always be the next match.
Can this match be a positive for Rony Lopes going forward?
He is in a good place, especially given that he has come back from injury, like all of the team in fact: we have just picked up a second consecutive victory, something we haven't achieved in a long time. We are trying to reproduce these kind of performances more regularly, with positive results at the end of them. That's the only way that we will be able to build our confidence.
Is that the reason that you didn't make too many changes to the team?
You could look at it from that angle. But my worry was mainly to manage the players' game time. Some are coming back from injury, the new arrivals (Saliba and Todibo) haven't played many matches before joining us and have now played a lot of games in quick succession. Saliba, for example, has played 7 in a very short period. The idea is to be able to deal with this level of work, to give them game time, but at the same time, not destroying the balance of the team. We tried to do our best. We were lucky that above and beyond the qualification, we avoided picking up any injuries this evening. It's a very good thing, given that at the moment we only have 17 players, plus the goalkeepers. We have six injuries. And I don't think that we will be able to get any back before the end of February. It's a difficult situation.