After OM's victory away to Grenoble (0-2), OM's sporting director was satisfied with the behaviour his players. "We’ve started the season well, even if any information we take from this match doesn’t have great value just yet as it is the first game of the campaign", esteemed José Anigo.
How would you judge the first victory of the season for OM?
We put in a good first half, scoring quickly. In the second half there was about 25 minutes during which things got a littlte complicated, but for the first match of the season I think it went very well. We have a lot to be satisfied with, we took all three points from a match away from home and we didn’t concede any goals. This just confirms the solidity that we showed in our pre-season mathces. This side recuperates the ball well and works very hard. We’ve started the season well, even if any information we take from this match doesn’t have great value just yet as it is the first game of the campaign.
There are some temperamental players in the squad and we saw that tonight with Diawara and Heinze, for example. Was that something that was desired when you were recruiting?
Yes, it has its importance. But what is important is a side that knows exactly what it wants, with players that are mature and that have personalities. This group of players has a determination that is evident. It will be very important during the difficult periods that we will come up against during the season. What is important, and we saw it tonight, is that team is solid and difficult to break down. This side gives off an impression of force.
Something that comes up frequently in conversation this year, whether it be the coach, the President or the players, is « the title ». Mamadou Niang explained that « we don’t want to make the same mistakes »…
It’s true that we need to win matches against “teams well within our capbilities“. We will have to win against clubs who aren’t vying for the title and not drop points stupidly. It’s also important to win our home games. That’s what cost us the title last season. Afterwards, saying that we want to win the title is not something new. And everybody thinking that doesn’t change anything for us. We are open about it, but we cannot be the only club thinking about the title. It will be won with consistency and I believe that we are armed for that. Happily enough we have a large squad as we will be playing a lot of matches with the Champions League, the Coupe de France, the Ligue 1 … We were missing three players tonight, and those players that came in for them were as good as those who were out. I’m thinking of Cissé, Kaboré, Abriel. I’m delighted for them and for the team.
The next match will be played at Montpellier. That’s almost three games in a row away from home for OM…
Three of our first four matches are away from home, as we have to play the next match in Montpellier. We cannot dwell on it, what is important is taking all three points. However, we are heading to Montpellier with our supporters so we should have the impression tToutefois, lat we are playing at home... We really need to win all three points and confirm tonght’s performance.
