Over the course of the last two matches, Mathieu Valbuena has reound the joy of being in the starting line-up. A delight which is plain for all to see on the pitch where he is taking great pleasure from playing and scoring.
On Wednesday night, at the Stade Vélodrome in the Coupe de la Ligue, Didier Deschamps once again put his faith in Mathieu Valbuena, as he had against Le Mans. Rarely used at the start of the season, « the little fella » is back playing in 2010 and has found more and more confidence on the pitch. «I’ve never hidden the fact that I feel really great in this team. There are no problems and we have great things to achieve. When I am called upon, I try and respond present. For the time being things are going well for me and I hope that will continue. We are winning and that is always nice. On a personal level, I’m playing and that is great as well. I have to keep going, not be content with that and be more consistent. That’s what makes the difference».
21 years old when he arrived at OM, Mathieu Valbuena is now 25 years old and is taking his time on the bench with a certain amount of philosophy «When you aren’t playing, or not very often, it’s not easy, but that is part of football. I’ve been through some magnificent moments here and less good times. I hope the future will be even better. I’m hanging in there. There’s a great atmosphere here and I get on really well with all of my team-mates. We’re still involved in all competitions and that is positive. It will allow us to play every three days, there is nothing better but it demands a lot of sacrifice ».
Against Lille and Le Mans, his percussion, speed of execution, his wing swapping with Hatem Ben Arfa and his capacity to beat his opponent allowed OM to control a match which had started off badly. «Lille wanted to show their ambition at the Vélodrome after their elimination from the Coupe de France. I think they did just that right from the start of the encounter, but we put them under a lot of pressure. They are a great team with a lot of individual talent. When we went behind we managed to react with our pride, which did us a lot of good. We didn’t give up, we chased the score and managed to react quickly ».
With his goal scored in the 81st minute, which offered the victory and a qualification to his team, Mathieu Valbuena and his partners are now only 90 minutes away from a final at the Stade de France. «It’s a dream. Bringing home a trophy would be great for our supporters, they would be delighted. It was clear to see, with Lyon for example who put out a strong side against Lorient, that teams are not neglecting this competition. It’s a competition where you can be in the semi-final after just one or two matches. It’s a competition which we want to win just like the Coupe de France or any other competition. I hope we will go as far as we can and our first objective is to get through to the final, I hope we will manage this all together ».
While waiting for the semi-final against Toulouse, OM have only three days to recuperate and throw themselves back into the L1 with, on Saturday at 21h00, an encounter against a direct opponent. Montpellier are the surprise team of the season, in a fantastic 2nd place in the table. «We have to refocus quickly as we have a very difficult match coming up on Saturday away to Montpellier. We have to remain in this positive spiral, winning games in order to try and catch up to Bordeaux» he concludes.
