After Brest defender Brendan Chardonnet impressed by Mbappé and Breton coach Michel Der Zakarian who congratulated himself on not having taken “a nice beating”, Mauricio Pochettino appeared in the auditorium of the Parc des Princes. He returned to the lessons of Parisian success at home, a month before receiving Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
What did you like the most during this game?
MAURICIO POCHETTINO. We started well but then we lost a few balls and we got into trouble. In the second half we made better decisions. We saw good collective play, we controlled the match. I am happy with the involvement of all the players. We had better circulation by being aggressive. Yes I am satisfied. Because it was not an easy game.
Would you have liked a bigger score given the number of chances?
Yes of course. We would have liked to win more broadly so that it corresponds to the number of chances we created. But the most important thing is to get chances. We know that we have players who have the goals in their legs. If they didn’t score today it will be next time.
Is this the kind of performance that can give your team confidence, especially in view of the upcoming game against Real Madrid?
Every game, every competition is different. But this performance, especially in the second half, gives us confidence. It reaffirms certain ideas and concepts that we must work on. It’s true that the team was good and did what we expected.
Wijnaldum came out with an ankle injury. Is that bad ?
For the moment we have no news. He will have to pass exams.
We finally saw Sergio Ramos at the Park…
It was important to him. Playing 25 minutes is good to find the competition.
You switched to three-man defense when he entered. Could you adopt this system more regularly?
It is an option. Everything is possible in football. We can consider it. We have already done this during the match. After a defense with three with pistons on the sides, it is something which it is necessary to animate, to work well. It’s not just putting in players, pawns and arrows but, yes, it’s an option.
What does the fact of not going on an internship in Qatar tonight change for you?
We will have time to work. The team wanted to go there to meet our fans and play a match there (Editor’s note: in Saudi Arabia). It was important for the club. Circumstances make us stay. We will take the opportunity to work with peace of mind. We hope that we will have the maximum number of players available.
