Interview

Favre: “We are paying for everything at once”

Lucien Favre regretted the “avoidable” goals that saw his side fall to defeat against Lazio.

How do you analyse that match?

We played very well in the first half. We had lots of possession, we were calm. We needed to be good at the breakdown, to defend well. We did it well. Our second period was OK until 2-1, then it was tough. It's difficult to lose this match 3-1 when we were leading in the game.

Since the start of the season, you have conceded goals from some big individual errors.

We are paying for everything at once. The smallest little detail. It's tough. For everyone. But it's like that, we can't replay the match. We didn't have the time to breathe after our goal. It would have been better to hold on to 1-0, of course. We need to work on the things there are to improve, and to try to correct them.

We spoke a lot about tactical systems in recent days, but we get the feeling that it's not because of a system that your side is on a tightrope during every one of your opposition's attacks...

No, for their equaliser it's not someone out of position. In the first half, they didn't have a chance. In the second, they pressed a bit more, but we can also avoid the 2-1. The third from the corner is anecdotal. The first was a real shame straight after the 1-0. For their second goal, it's not a “real” chance. It was too easy for them to score. If we had been taken to the cleaners, we would have congratulated them, but it's not really the case.

Your keeper has been in difficulty since the start of the season. What do you think about his situation?

From the bench, I saw a big misunderstanding, but it came so quickly after our goal that I didn't see it very well. It's of course annoying to concede a goal like that. The second one annoys me too. We are surprised. I am not going to single out one player in front of you. But we weren't 200% concentrated in the key moments.

Do you take any positives from a fixture like this?

We lost – again – a match in which we could have got a point. If we have lost, it's of course because we made mistakes. I also keep positives, our first half and a part of the second. 2-3 players came into the rotation and had the chance to show themselves like Burner, Walter and Sneijder.

The other match in the group ended in a draw...

It's not nothing. But then, I think that we should only concentrate on ourselves. It's certain that their draw is good for us. But I really want us to concentrate on cutting out our errors and stopping these lapses of concentration.

Wesley Sneijder hadn't played for a month, how did you find his performance?

It was satisfying. He needed to get between the lines behind Mario. It was very difficult to find the spaces. He came to pick the ball up a lot. You can't drop too deep in this system because if you do