Interview

Favre: “I hold on to the positives”

Despite the numerous chances his side missed, Aiglons coach Lucien Favre prefers to hold on to the positives from this 2-0 victory in the Aube.

Lucien, how do you analyse this win?

We had lots of chances, something we have rarely had, and something that Troyes have rarely conceded. Troyes struggled today. We had 6-7 huge chances during the game, that is the positive side of it, even if we need to be more ruthless. If we want to be more demanding, we could also say that we lost balls a little too easily in dangerous areas, giving Troyes chances, and at 1-0, we were always at risk of conceding the equaliser. We scored the second at the end, which was more than deserved.

Is it worrying that you dominated so much but weren’t able to make the break?

You never know. They can always get back into it. A counter, a cross… There are choices which weren’t the right ones. But to know how to play simply, it’s complicated. Is it frustrating? I hold on to the positives: we created several chances. We need to put them away, that’s true, because it could have cost us dearly. It was poised at 1-0 for a very long time and we were tense.

Like against Guingamp, Alassane Plea was decisive again today…

I am happy for Alassane. He had scored 4 goals at Guingamp whist playing at centre forward. Today, he scored two whilst playing on the left, which is more tricky because he has to travel further and also needs to defend more. It’s good for the team that Alassane works hard for the side. He needs to continue like that.

“You can only rely on yourself”

Like at Guingamp, the entrance of Srarfi also helped you to put the game to bed…

He brings an intelligent directness, especially when he comes in on his left foot. He is there for the last but one or the last pass for Alassane’s goal, and at Guingamp, he scored the fourth goal which is important. It’s good to see. Another youngster who is progressing bit by bit.

You welcome Rennes next Sunday, a direct competitor. Do you feel that this game will be decisive?

Decisive, no, because after this match, there will still be 18 points up for grabs, which is still pretty good. We have a good couple of fixtures coming up, we welcome Rennes, we go to Angers, then we welcome Montpellier. We can’t look any further than that, I think. Match by match is our philosophy this season, there’s no point in getting ahead of yourself. We are thinking about Rennes for the moment. In this league, you can only rely on yourself in any case.