Diatta and Kehrer's reactions after the victory over Rennes | OneFootball

The Senegalese full-back and the German defender appeared in the mixed zone with big smiles after the victory against Rennes at the Stade Louis-II (4-0).

A top-class performance. Dominant and efficient, AS Monaco secured an important victory against Rennes (4-0). And after the match, Krépin Diatta and Thilo Kehrer were understandably satisfied as they appeared in the mixed zone. Excerpts.

Good evening Krépin, this might have been your best performance in several months…

This may have been one of our best matches since Sébastien Pocognoli took over as coach. We’ve delivered some good performances before, sometimes without being rewarded with results. Today, we saw an AS Monaco team that was eager, unafraid to make mistakes, and keen to press high. We played our own style of football, and that’s the result of a very strong team performance.

Do you feel that fortunes are starting to turn in your favour?

The key is to focus on ourselves and bring the necessary intensity from the off, and today we did that. It’s just one win. We’ve dropped a lot of points before, and now we need to try and start a winning streak. We have the team and the players to do it. We have to believe in ourselves and give everything on the pitch.

Ligue 1 is not an easy league. You have to fight, play with intensity, and give everything to win matches. Today, we applied those principles. Now, we mustn't fall back into our old habits and must continue to play this way. That's how the victories will follow.

Krépin DiattaRegarding the level of Ligue 1

Is this renewed intensity due to the meeting between players last week?

Yes, I think that’s something we emphasised in the dressing room. Ligue 1 is not an easy league. You have to fight, play with intensity, and give everything to win matches. Today, we applied those principles. Now, we mustn’t fall back into our old habits and must continue to play this way. That’s how the victories will follow.

Is the Coupe de France becoming a primary objective?

I don’t want to settle for just the Coupe de France. AS Monaco isn’t a small club. We have to believe in our abilities and play every match with desire and intensity. When we’re aggressive and play our own style of football, we’re better. If we string together some results, we can climb back up the table.

A word on Maghnes Akliouche, who was decisive after coming on as a substitute tonight?

Maghnes is a fantastic player, a product of the Academy, and very attached to the Club. I like his attitude and the quality he possesses. He sometimes goes through tougher periods, like the whole team. Today, he came on and made the difference. He’s a very important player for us, and we’ll need him to win matches!

Offensively, you seemed more liberated and grounded tonight. Is that also a key for what’s to come?

When you put your heart into everything you do, you enjoy it. Winning duels, playing together, being grounded – all of that motivates and boosts the team. Today, we did it, but it’s not the end goal. We have to keep going in this direction and give even more to win matches.

Thilo Kehrer’s reaction

Thilo, can we talk about a landmark victory tonight?

A landmark victory? I don’t know, but we can see that the last three have been decent in terms of what we wanted to achieve. We talked a lot about the fundamentals, attitude, team cohesion, and mentality. We tried to prioritise the squad, and that’s what we did in those three matches. It’s no coincidence that we’ve gone three games without conceding a goal. Today, we managed to convert our chances, which allowed us to get a good result and leave with a positive feeling for the future.

Do you feel things have improved across these last three matches?

Yes, absolutely. We feel like we’re working more as a team. We’ve gone back to what makes us strong: the collective, working together, both offensively and defensively. When we share the effort and defend together, our individual quality shines through even more.

I think it helped, but it all depends on how you run the system. Attitude, energy, intensity, discipline in positions, how you close off gaps and move forward together - all of this matter. It's a combination of factors that makes it work today.

Thilo KehrerRegarding the team's mentality

Did the change of system also play a role in the result, as we saw on Wednesday?

I think it helped, but it all depends on how you run the system. Attitude, energy, intensity, discipline in positions, how you close off gaps and move forward together – all of this matter. It’s a combination of factors that makes it work today. But we absolutely mustn’t do less: not in effort, not in our attitude to defend our goal, and not in concentration. That’s the foundation and the key, and we have to maintain that level.

Is Denis Zakaria now indispensable in defence following two very big performances at the back?

What’s great for us is that Zak, like other players, can play in several positions. We all see how much he helps us defensively. He also sometimes moves up into midfield, his usual position, and he’s very good at defending. He’s a real asset for the coach. We often like to jump to conclusions. For now, it’s working in defence, but in the future, we’ll see if he plays at the back or in midfield. What’s certain is that we’ll need everyone.

Offensively, you were very effective tonight. Can you explain why?

We were missing a spark. We’ve defended well in recent matches, we shared the workload, but sometimes we lacked cohesion, a bit of confidence, and perhaps a bit of luck. These are all interconnected. Today, everything fell into place and that made the difference. Scoring four goals without conceding any, with a solid defensive structure, is very positive.

In the Champions League playoffs, you will face PSG. Is it an advantage to have played them recently in the league?

I don’t know if it’s an advantage. We know the quality of this team, and we also know they’re the favourites. There’s still some time before these two matches, but it will be completely different from Ligue 1. To have a chance, we’ll have to be at our best in every aspect of the game. That’s why the upcoming matches, especially the one against Strasbourg, are important for our preparation.

Is this match in Strasbourg already crucial for the rest of the season?

Every match is crucial. We’ve been subject to a lot of negative talk these past few weeks, but things can change very quickly in football. We’re still competing in three competitions. In Ligue 1, we can still climb back up the table, in the Coupe de France we have a very important match in Strasbourg, and we’re still in the Champions League. From a season to range from disastrous to a successful one, everything can change in an instant. It’s up to us to stay focused, match after match, on the fundamentals.