Moving on quickly after securing qualification. Following their victory in the Conference League play-off second leg against Górnik Zabrze at the Stade Louis-II (4-1), which secured their place in the competition’s league phase, AS Monaco return to their home ground this Sunday (20:45). Filipe Luís therefore faced the media ahead of the Matchday 2 clash in Ligue 1 McDonald’s against Olympique de Marseille. Excerpts 🎙️
An update on the squad
Matthis Abline will be in the squad tomorrow, as he has recovered from his injury. However, Folarin Balogun, Takumi Minamino, Mohammed Salisu, Ansu Fati and Edan Diop will be unavailable. As for Ansu, we do not have a specific return date. He needs to recover from his minor injury. He is almost fully recovered, but he needs to regain full fitness before returning to the team. We will see how long that takes, as he missed a large part of pre-season.
Takumi Minamino and Mohammed Salisu’s return
After a long-term injury, especially when it involves the cruciate ligaments, it depends on each player. In a few weeks, they will be fully available again, but we have to respect both stages of their recovery. First, the doctor has to give the green light for them to play again, and then there is the process of returning to competitive action. Everyone recovers differently, at their own pace. Some players find it more difficult, while others feel no discomfort and return to playing immediately. After eight or nine months out, we have to see how they come back, but of course they will get minutes over the next few weeks. We will then see how they feel, how they perform with and without the ball and how they handle that playing time. The intensity of a match is really high here, so we will make our decisions based on that. During the international break, we could play friendly matches, which could therefore be an opportunity to give them some playing time.
A very positive start to the season
I see a lot of positives and many good things that we have achieved since I arrived. The start was obviously difficult because my players had to take on board my ideas and style of play, which are different from what they may have been used to. We also had to change the mentality, but I see a lot of progress in that area, particularly among the younger players. In the last match, there were several young players on the pitch at the same time. That is part of the learning and adaptation process. I am really happy with the good things that are currently happening at the Club. Of course, we have had some issues, but every French team has them. The most important thing for me is that we have a very strong squad, with quality. We hope to improve even further, and the return of the injured players will help us do that and be as competitive as possible throughout the season. The match against Marseille will be a huge test and a big game, but we are really excited to play it.
Is OM the first real test?
I think every match is difficult to win. Even if some can appear easy, like Thursday’s game, that is because we got a good result and put the ingredients in place to make it that way. Playing Marseille is never easy because they have a great squad and a fantastic coach, Bruno Genesio. I have been following his work for years and I like the way his team defends and plays. So we know it will be difficult.
Denis Zakaria’s role as captain
As I have already explained, Denis is very important to me. The captain is my extension on the pitch; in a way, he has to be the coach of the team. He also has to be the leader, by speaking to the players and managing the dressing room. He understands tactics and my door is always open for a discussion. We work very well together and he is playing fantastically. He is one of the world’s elite players because, among other things, he can cover the pitch and he never hides. He is a great player and I am happy to have him in my squad. He adapted quickly even though he trained less than the others. He is special. (A big brother?) I think he is an example through his attitude. He does not need to talk much. But the way he trains and his hunger to win mean that his ambition is contagious. He is the type of leader I like, and the team is stronger when he is there.
The change in mentality
It is not about changing the mentality, but more about educating. Sometimes you have to have several conversations to change certain behaviours that I saw when I arrived and did not necessarily like. What I see now is that we are playing more as a team, and that is the big difference compared with my early days. Everyone wants to defend and protect our goal. Those are the little details that I love. As I said, some players have already developed. Some are young, so we have to work with them more individually to help them improve. All these changes are because I play a different style of football to my predecessors. It is neither better nor worse, it is simply different, and that is part of the process.
The Conference League draw
I am not thinking about the upcoming European matches; I am solely focused on our game against Marseille. But to come back to your question, the Conference League is a very good competition and I am happy that we are playing in Europe. I like big matches, I like playing intense and exciting games. There are some in this league phase, but the main objective is to reach the next round, so we will have to win them, whoever we face.
