Before leaving Divonne-les-Bains, where he directed his second pre-season trip, Lucien Favre ran a fine toothcomb over pre-season so far. From training to friendlies, including the integration of the recruits, the coach went over, point by point, the challenges of the Gym’s pre-season.

Coach, you concluded your trip with a second victory, over Le Servette (3-1).
It was a very involved game, at least. We struggled to develop our play, but we had possession and a lot more than our opponent. In the 2^nd half, we were better, against a good side. Le Servette are a historic side in Switzerland. I hope that in time, they will manage to get back to the highest level.

What do you take away from this week in Divonne? 
It is positive. Unfortunately, we are gutted by the injury picked up by Cardi. The doctor will give us an update by Monday or Tuesday. We will see what happens after, here’s hoping that he will recover quickly. It’s important not to have had any other injuries. Apart from that, everything went very well.  The lads worked hard. It was intensive after what were two tough weeks in Nice.

“Half-way through pre-season”

Where are you at in your preparations?

We are half-way through. We have had three weeks back and in less than 3 weeks, there is the first match (Q3 of the Champions League on 25 or 26 July, Editor’s note). After a huge amount of physical work, we have now picked up the pace with our ball-work.

How is the group’s morale?

It’s magnificent, as always. Everything went well. We trained very well. The players were tired because it was intense. The morning of the match against Le Servette, they had a big training session. But they are professionals. And we need to make progress, because the first tests are just around the corner.

Are you already thinking about the Q3 of the Champions League?
Of course, it will take place ahead of the start of the league. It’s a match with two legs, in which you either qualify or you don’t. We will do all we can to win and then we will see.

“Some big sides”

The opposition will be of a higher standard in the next friendlies.

Yes, we will now be facing some big sides. La Gantoise (13 July) play in the Belgian league, which is a very good standard. They were in the Round of 16 of the Champions League two years ago. They were knocked out by Dante’s Wolfsburg, but still caused them problems. That means what that means. Then we will face Slavia Prague, champions of the Czech Republic (16 July).That will also be tough, with lots of commitment. And finally, we have a final game in Bavaria, against Gladbach’ (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Editor’s note, 20 July). That will be a very high level game too.

How do you feel the new recruits are settling in?
Lees-Melou is integrating himself quickly. He is a very intelligent player. You can feel he has a back-story, with the past he has had. It is something that is absolutely incredible; he played in the 6^th division (in the Division d’honneur, Editor’s note)! To do something like that, it must be unique across the world. And he has huge quality: he has two feet, intelligence in his play, etc. He has had one year in L1 with Dijon and he still has a lot of potential, which makes it interesting. As for Makengo and Tameze, they are already making progress. It is coming bit by bit. It isn’t easy to manage though, with the amount of work we are asking them to do. In terms of their game, there is a lot of movement to integrate. But then again, we are pretty demanding. It will take a bit of time for them both. But on the whole, I am happy.

“Get up to speed before the Q3”

How is Mario Balotelli getting on?
Mario, we know him. We know what he is capable of. He is still missing something to be ready, because he started one week after the others. He played a half against Nyon, then again against Le Servette. He like Seri, Plea, Eysseric are logically behind the others in their preparation because of either injury or a late start. I am not forgetting Le Bihan either, he is very important for me.

What is the next objective you will fix for the squad?

A large part of the squad will come into their own. Pre-season has gone well. Soon, we will see where we are at because we will be facing teams that are well placed in their respective leagues. That will allow us to prepare ourselves, ideally, and I hope, for a Q3 which will be tough given that our opponent will be Ajax (Hol.), Dynamo Kiev (Ukr.), Viktoria Plzen (Cze.),CSKA Moscou (Rus.) or Club Bruges (Bel.)*.

*Draw on 14 July.

C.D / F.H. (photos Y.F.)

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