Adi Hütter: "Take this opportunity to get back to winning ways" | OneFootball

Eager to close the first half of Ligue 1 well by returning to victory this Friday at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes (7 p.m.), the Monegasque coach spoke 48 hours before the match played as part of round 17.

Having just extended his contract with the Club. Disappointed by a narrow defeat in added time in the Trophée des Champions (1-0), Adi Hütter has the will to quickly get back on the path to success in the league. It is therefore with this ambition that the coach of the Rouge et Blanc spoke before the team’s trip to Nantes. 🎙️

About recent results

I have no doubts about our football. We must not forget that we had an incredible start to the season, with good results and especially very good performances. Then we must not forget that we are playing a third competition this season, and not the least with the Champions League! We have a young team, which is continuing to develop, especially against big teams like Arsenal. It is obvious that we are not completely satisfied with what we’ve shown in big matches like in Marseille, Nice and to an extent Benfica, where we might have deserved the victory.

It’s a process that we’re following to grow as a team, even though we’re still in third place in the Ligue 1 tabole, in a position to reach the Champions League play-offs and we qualified for the Coupe de France against Union Saint-Jean. We’re therefore on target for our objectives, although we obviously have things to improve to really be back. In particular, we need to keep clean sheets and convert more of our chances.

On the defence

I am deliberately putting the Union Saint-Jean match aside. But recently we had a clean sheet against Toulouse, and in Reims. And against Paris in Doha, we could certainly have conceded a goal before we did, but we only conceded in the last minute.

Maybe we were too strong at the beginning of the season! I'm not here to make excuses, but to talk about the positive things I see in my team. It's also worth remembering that we've been deprived of Denis Zakaria for nine matches and 13 for Folarin Balogun. These are facts.

Almost three clean sheets in the last five games is not too bad, even if we conceded too many goals against Benfica and Paris in the league. We can improve on this, even if I am not dissatisfied with our defensive performances.

The reasons for a decline

Maybe we were too strong at the beginning of the season! I’m not here to make excuses, but to talk about the positive things I see in my team. It’s also worth remembering that we’ve been deprived of Denis Zakaria for nine matches and 13 for Folarin Balogun, these are facts. They are important and experienced players, so it is not easy to do without them.

But we are here, three points behind Marseille, even if there are many teams behind us. It is mid-season, so there are still many games with two very difficult months in January and February. We must stay in touch with the top places and show better performances.

On the impact of the Champions League

Olympique de Marseille is in the same situation as us last season, given that they are not playing in Europe. For us it is something new to play in three competitions, and in particular the Champions League. It is also not always easy to be able to train with the whole squad, especially since we do not have much time to train with our travels. I am not complaining about that, on the contrary, I am trying to manage my team as best I can.

They have shown recently that they can face the biggest teams. Against Paris Saint-Germain, they managed to draw with only 15% possession. Congratulations to them! They repeated this performance against Lille by also getting a draw after a good performance.

We have two very demanding months ahead of us once again. When there is criticism, my only wish is to bounce back, and that is also the team’s desire. This match against Nantes is very important, especially since they have recently obtained good results against big teams. We must nevertheless seize this opportunity to get back to winning ways.

About FC Nantes

They have shown recently that they can face the biggest teams. Against Paris Saint-Germain, they managed to draw with only 15% possession. Congratulations to them! They repeated this performance against Lille by also getting a draw after a good performance.

They have good stability and will welcome us at home with the desire to keep up their momentum. But for our part, it is important to show that we are back, and we obviously want to win this match.

Goals for the second half of the season

For us, as for other teams, the goal is always to finish as high as possible. When we look at our end-of-season goals, we are still in the race to qualify for the Champions League play-offs and in a position to finish on the podium in Ligue 1. Everyone wants us to be able to fight with Paris for the title, but the reality is that in the long run, it is difficult to compete with them.

Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Lens and Nice would also like to compete with them, but to do so you have to be very solid and consistent in your performances. We lack that at the moment, but once again we are on target for what we want to do.

On rotation

Obviously we will rotate in the coming weeks. The return from Doha was not easy, and we are entering a period with a lot of  matches close together, starting with Nantes on Friday and Reims on Tuesday. It is very important for the players to recover, which is why we are forced to rotate. It is not possible to play 10 matches in a row without being replaced.

He had a great match, making a lot of saves (9) to keep us in the game. I wanted to see him in the penalty shootout, where he could have been decisive. He was extraordinary, and I was very happy with his performance

Those who have less playing time will therefore have the opportunity to play, notably Jordan (Teze) and Kassoum (Ouattara) on the wings. It is important to set up a rotation in this period of the season, we must protect certain players from injuries. It makes no sense to force too much with our key players like Denis Zakaria, it is our role to protect them. We believe in all our players.

On using the goalkeepers

We have a Coupe de France match coming up next week, so we’ll see what happens, but Philipp Köhn will start in Nantes. Radeck Majecki is back in team training, but as usual, we’re taking care to be careful with the players who are coming back from injuries. Especially since Philipp had a fantastic match against Paris Saint-Germain, so he’ll play in Nantes and we’ll see what we decide for the Coupe de France.

His performance, was it a surprise? Once again he had a great match, making a lot of saves (9) to keep us in the game. I wanted to see him in the penalty shootout, where he could have been decisive. He was extraordinary, and I was very happy with his performance.