Adi Hütter: "Retain our qualification for the Champions League" | OneFootball

Disappointed to have lost the last match of the season for the Rouge et Blanc at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis (4-0), the Monegasque manager wanted to remember the team's qualification for the Champions League in front of the media.

They ended the season with a misstep. With a largely rotated team at kick-off, and reduced to ten men at the start of the second half, AS Monaco lost to Lens (4-0). It was an immaterial defeat to Adi Hütter and his men, who will play in the Champions League next season, as the coach wanted to remind us in a press conference. 🎙️

Good evening, coach. How would you analyze tonight’s match?

First of all, I’d like to congratulate Lens, because it was a deserved victory for them. The red card obviously had a significant impact, even though I didn’t like the way we played in the first half. We didn’t want to lose this match, and we were expecting a completely different performance.

I want to remember the whole season, because last weekend against Lyon, we had an extraordinary end to this season, securing this ticket to the Champions League. We also wanted to win tonight, but I don't want to talk too much about this match which remains anecdotal in view of the entire season we have had.

It’s obvious that fatigue played a role, as we’re finishing a very trying season, even though I wanted to see some players who have had little playing time in action. So I’m disappointed with the result, but I think we should remember our qualification for the Champions League, because that’s the most important thing.

What do you wish to take away from the result?

I want to remember the whole season, because last weekend against Lyon, we had an extraordinary end to this season, securing this ticket to the Champions League. We also wanted to win tonight, but I don’t want to talk too much about this match which remains anecdotal in view of the entire season we have had. We have had great successes with a very young team and playing around ten more matches with this Champions League campaign which we completed with 13 points, while having faced three of the four semi-finalists of the competition.

In any case, I want to thank our supporters, who were once again in large numbers to support us in the away end, as they have been every time this season, and apologize to them. But Lens really played a good match and they deserved this victory. We will now go on vacation to recharge our batteries, and I still want to congratulate my team for having once again achieved a very high objective this season. Today was simply not our best day.

What can you improve for next season?

I think we can improve in many areas, as we could have done much better in some matches, like tonight. We need to work on our mentality, to have the desire to win every game, and improve our style of play. There are many things we can improve, but it will also depend on potential arrivals and departures.

Nous devons trouver le bon équilibre selon moi, car j’aime avoir des jeunes joueurs issus de l’Academy et du Groupe Elite à disposition, pour les faire progresser. Nous voulons continuer à former les meilleurs talents issus de la France, pour pouvoir trouver le bon mix avec des joueurs d'expérience.

Some young players have in any case shown good progress this season, even if not everyone has necessarily had the playing time they hoped for. What I can tell you is that I am very happy that Eric Dier will soon join us.

Do you need more experienced players?

I think we need to find the right balance, because I like having young players from the Academy and the Elite Group available to help them progress. We want to continue developing the best talents from France, so we can find the right mix with experienced players.

We’re on the right track, even though we’ve been unlucky this season, being deprived of Folarin Balogun for five months and of Denis Zakaria and Aleksandr Golovin for many matches. But in the end, we finished on the podium of the top flight.

A word on playing Eliesse Ben Seghir as a number 10…

It was his first full season without injury, with his first experience in the Champions League. Young players always have ups and downs in their performances, that’s normal, but I’m happy with him. Sometimes players are disappointed that they don’t always play, but I also have to protect them from time to time!

After the sending off of Soungoutou Magassa, the match didn't go our way unfortunately. And then it must be said that we finished with a lot of youngsters, like Saïmon Bouabré and Lucas Michal.

In the end, Eliesse had a more than decent season and we will see next season where he will play, because he is capable of playing just as well as a number 8 as he did against Benfica, on the left wing or as a number 10. He has a lot of qualities and he will be important for us next season.

Were you surprised by Lens’ strategy tonight?

For me, they were simply better, even though we had chances to score with Eliesse (Ben Seghir), Takumi Minamino, or George Ilenikhena, with some good saves from the Lens ‘keeper. After the sending off of Soungoutou Magassa, the match didn’t go our way unfortunately. And then it must be said that we finished with a lot of youngsters, like Saïmon Bouabré and Lucas Michal. We struggled, but I repeat, Lens deserved their victory.

A final word about Takumi Minamino, tonight’s captain…

He had a good season, just like last year, scoring a very important goal, especially last week against Lyon. He was the most experienced player in our team tonight, which is why he wore the captain’s armband. He deserved to be; he’s a very versatile player, very intelligent, and never injured! He can also play in several positions, which is an asset for us.