Satisfied with the performance of his players in Bergen, the coach is looking for a real balance between a solid defence and a dangerous forward line as «the most important thing remains the result» he says.
Erik, what lessons have you learnt from your teams first two games ?
The balance of the team wasn’t bad against Rennes but at least two of the goals could have easily been avoided. If I have to go through another fifteen games like that, I’ll end up in the hospital... I hope it doesn’t happen again, as I’d like to be alive for the end of the season.
In Norway I saw a team that held the game in its hand for the full 90 minutes thanks to strong tactical discipline. We were lucky with their free kick at the end of the game and we are still a little lacking in the midfield, we need to be able to get forward more quickly. But, we’ve made a big step forward compared to last season, where we had a lot of difficulties in games like this.
What needs to change against Auxerre on Sunday at the Vélodrome?
We need to be able to hurt them more. We pretty much know how they are going to play and we need to be able to find a style that will hurt them. First of all the defence has to stay tight as I was a defender my whole career and I know if a house does not have strong foundations then it will fall down. When you look at the attacking potential that we have, if the defence is solid and doesn’t concede any goals then we are nearly guaranteed the victory. In football what counts is the result but it’s good to do things in style so that the spectators have a good time.
How are you going to organise your offensive line-up, having seen that Djibril Cissé did not start the game in Bergen?
What I saw this morning (Friday) made me happy. Having two quality centre forwards who will always score goals is a luxury! Even if one of the two doesn’t start the match, it’s important to have two quality players in that position. With injuries and suspensions, you really need that and it is the same in the majority of the clubs in Europe.
