At the end of Lille’s victory over Brest (1-0), Paulo Fonseca appeared in a press conference to analyze the recently held match. The Portuguese technician particularly praised his defensive qualities.
Triumphantly, with a smile on his face, Paulo Fonseca stepped in front of his desk and now faced the journalists in the press conference room inside the Lille area. To launch a waltz of questions, the Portuguese was first invited to highlight the positive aspects of this meeting. What did he like most during this part: ” Defense ! “, Paulo Fonseca said before continuing: “I think it was a good win. I think the team was able to adapt to the conditions on the pitch, but I think in the first half we could have done more with two or three goals and thus finished the game off. We didn’t do that, and after that, Brest is a team with qualities, and we needed “To defend and the team did it well, they did it very well. There was only a moment at the end of the game where they had a chance. Other than that, the team defended very well.”The mastiff trainer confirmed that he did not stop there. Indeed, Paulo Fonseca later relied on the defensive solidity shown by his men: “It’s an important point to defend well. I think we’ve improved defensively this season. We’ve worked on defensive solidity, the defensive line, individual aspects and also being more compact. But we have the same intention: to control the game with the ball. I think the team realizes that defending is as important as “That, and I liked the work of the players. I must admit that I especially appreciated the match between the four defenders.”
This is how the debut Lille coach fired on Alexandru (24): “Alexandru played a very good game. We need this spirit. He had to keep playing, because this is the mentality we need. Maybe sometimes we need to suffer and I think Alexandru’s continuity is important.”before continuing his choice on the right side, preferring the image of Bafoudi Diakite (22 years old) to that of Thiago Santos (21 years old): “I find more defensive stability with Bafodi. I didn’t want to change defensive players. I wanted to keep this framework. Thiago Santos is an option and we need him, he will have chances. »
Finally, the technician was questioned about his offensive line, as he formed a trio that we had not seen since the beginning of the season: “I think this match was a different match, a little more physical and I think Yusuf (Yazigi) was a good choice to play this match, which was more difficult for the player. The goal was to have the possibility of having many players in the penalty area because we need to be more “Efficient in this area at the moment. But I think the three played a good game. They had chances to score more goals, but overall they were good.” When the difficulties his men faced in the attack were pointed out, Paulo Fonseca rose to their defense, mentioning in particular the state of the green rectangle: “It is impossible to play on this pitch. I have asked the players to be more realistic, to take only necessary risks, and to be more objective, because this is impossible. It is a rugby pitch, not football.”The Lille coach concluded by passing behind his counterpart Eric Roy, who spoke into our microphones a few minutes ago.
