Sébastien Pocognoli: "The fans had a great evening of football." | OneFootball

The Monaco coach spoke to the media after this resounding victory away to Nantes (3-5).

A victory in style! Taking the lead thanks to an early goal from Mamadou Coulibaly, and after a back-and-forth battle, the Rouge et Blanc secured a spectacular 5-3 win at La Beaujoire against Nantes in this 10th round of Ligue 1. The Belgian coach was clearly pleased with the result and spoke at the post-match press conference.🎙️

Good evening, coach. What are your thoughts on tonight’s performance?

I’m happy we had a good evening. I think everyone who watched the match, whether Nantes fans, AS Monaco fans, or neutral viewers, enjoyed a great night of football. And for that to happen, you need two teams, so I also want to emphasize that Nantes really put in a great performance.

I think we deserved our victory, very rationally, even if we perhaps made things a bit difficult for ourselves. I’m still proud because creating so many chances is the whole point of the game. Today, we may have conceded too many goals, but that’s because we played our game. Now, we need to find the right balance in our periods of dominance to capitalize on them, and not give away too much during periods of weakness like today.

He's a top player who loves a challenge. He played a very good match; I wanted to rest him at the end because he was starting to get tired. He contributed so much to the team; he played a very solid game. I'm not surprised, but above all, I'm very happy for him.

Was it frustrating to go back to the locker room with the score tied?

It was frustrating because we conceded a goal in stoppage time, and I think that comes down, as I told my players, to game management. We had the ball, we gave it to the opponent with an unnecessary pass, and then they launched a counter-attack that we could easily have stopped. We have a young team, and we’re going to teach them all the tricks of the trade; it’s part of the process. But I was quite positive at halftime because if we had kept our heads and continued to play our game, we would definitely have created more chances in the second half.

We'll have to find a balance anyway because the reality is we're playing again in three days. Against Toulouse (1-0), we struggled a bit. We need to see how we recover from that match because we don't have an infinitely large squad.

Can you tell us about Maghnes Akliouche’s performance?

I set him two challenges this year. The first is to become a leader, both technically and vocally. And he’s becoming one more and more; he’s been working on it since I arrived, so I’m very happy. He’s a top player who loves a challenge.

He played a very good match. I wanted to rest him at the end because he was starting to get tired. Unfortunately, he lost the ball in an area of ​​the pitch where he shouldn’t have been. But that’s just a minor detail because I think he contributed so much to the team that he played a very solid match. I’m not surprised, but above all, I’m very happy for him because it gave him the confidence to believe in the challenge we set for him.

What can we expect from Monaco: Version Pocognoli ?

We’ll have to find a middle ground anyway because the reality is that we’re going to play in three days. Against Toulouse (1-0), we had a bit of a tough time. We need to see how we recover from this match because we don’t have an infinitely large squad.

So we need good recovery, some unseen training, and to keep our players who have less playing time in shape. Like today, they were decisive again. That’s also part of what’s very important to put in place before the Lens match, I think.

How do you feel after securing second place?

It’s not a major detail because the league is very tight, and we know that things can change quickly from one match to the next. We talked about it in the locker room because it also gives us a lot of positive energy to know we’re second. We’re already focused on the Paris FC match, and we’re going to try to consolidate our position. This place is still symbolic, but we have to stay grounded about it.

But I think we need to look at this positively because the French league is quite strong this year at the top of the table. Inevitably, things will pull away at some point, and it might all come down to the details going forward.

What do you think of this very tight Ligue 1 table?

I’ve just arrived, so I’m a bit out of the loop in this ranking. But I think we should look at it positively because the French league is quite strong at the top this year. Inevitably, things will pull apart at some point, and it might come down to the smallest details in the future. It’s also good for these six teams to push each other to improve. I hope we’ll pull away in a positive way in the next few weeks.