When speaking to the press, Patrick Vieira explained his regret at his side’s lack of realism and the lack of character after Dijon had taken the lead.

Patrick, a very cruel scenario and result this evening.

It’s a catastrophic scenario for us. To lose 4-0 at home is difficult to accept. It’s hugely disappointing.

Before you spoke, Olivier Dall’Oglio explained in his press conference that the difference between the sides was that ability to take chances…

We created quite a few opportunities for ourselves, some clear cut chances, but unfortunately we were unable to score this evening. We really lacked aggressiveness in attack and defence. We didn’t defend very well, we were quite timid. The message to the players at the end of the match is that to play well isn’t enough, we need more. We have a lot of lessons to take away from this game.

On a tactical level, you tried an original way of playing with a 3-4-3 which moves into a 4-3-3 when you lose the ball…

It allowed us to create some opportunities. The defeat is also due to our lack of aggressiveness and a lack of efficiency. The tactical side of things is secondary to that. If you look at the content of the game, we had the chance to score a couple of goals this evening.

How do you explain the fact that your side collapsed after conceding the first goal?

We lacked character. We lacked personality. That’s what explains this catastrophic scenario after conceding the opener. We didn’t manage to react, we didn’t have enough players to drive the team forward.

Is that something that worries you for the future?

It also sums up our first two matches. These weaknesses were already there in the first two games. We have a style which exposes us to counters. Our problem is that we had chances, but we weren’t able to score, unlike our opponents.

“We will turn the situation around”

To counter this lack of efficiency, we imagine that you are looking forward to getting Balotelli back!

Mario, we know his qualities and his weaknesses. When you look at his stats from the last two years, we know that he is capable of scoring lots of goals. This evening, our forward line was Myziane who is very young and needs to build up his experience, Allan who needs to improve his finishing, which isn’t his real strength, and Bassem who scored 3-4 goals last year. We need to work harder to be more efficient and to erase our difficulties. There are also positives, but we know that in football, the hardest thing is to put the ball in the back of the net.

You only have one point from your first three matches. Is your main task to reassure your young side?

Of course. We are in a tough period, after just three matches. It’s the reality. We need to continue to work. I believe in this squad, I believe in my players. The content during the week in training is good. There are also good things in what we see in the matches. The season is long, we will turn the situation around.

Next match, you travel to Lyon…

Of course it’s a tough match, but it’s also a nice challenge for us.

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