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P. Vieira: “We need to give the new recruits time”

Before leaving the Mosson, Patrick Vieira attended his post-match press conference. 

The match

“In the first half, the regret is that we conceded the equaliser far too quickly. On the whole, we came here with a game plan to cause them problems. We could have equalised and taken at least a point back to Nice. We lack those connections between players, some experience and a bit of luck. We leave with a fair amount of frustration because there were chances where we could have done better. Our objective is to continue to work, to progress. This match, qdespite the defeat, remains positive in terms of the spirit and the football we played. These are the kind of matches that help us to grow up. We leave here with this defeat but with lots of positives too.”  

The new recruits 

“They reflected the rest of the team. I knew that physically, they were going to struggle. Dolberg ended the game very tired, Adam too. They haven’t played much, didn’t have a pre-season. They have tremendous talent but we need to give them the time to work and to put their talents to use for the good of the team. It will be my responsibility to get the most out of the players and to try to put them in the best possible environment to allow us to get results.” 

The defensive aspects

“The players deserved to play given what they showed at Rennes. This evening, we conceded goals because of a lack of experience when taking decisions, anticipating, and reading the game more quickly. It could be felt in the key moments. In attack, when we were losing 2-1, we tried to force the game, and to make the difference on our own despite lots of tiredness.  That I also out down to a lack of experience. But once again, this match is a positive. We will come out of it bigger.”