Reaction: Pocognoli reflects on AS Monaco’s painful loss vs Lens

It was a night to forget for AS Monaco, as they suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat to RC Lens, with Folarin Balogun’s red card near the end of the half proving a pivotal turning point. A disappointed Sébastien Pocognoli spoke after the clash to share his thoughts on the result and many other topics.

Debrief

Understandably cutting a dejected figure, the Belgian manager reacted in a measured and honest way when assessing the contest.

“I’m obviously disappointed to end this run on this note. It was a setback against Paris FC (0-1) last week, and this is another one. I still have mixed feelings, because we’ve been alternating between good and not-so-good matches since I arrived. That’s why I’m remaining reserved and measured in defeat, because we need to try and properly analyse what we’re doing right and wrong. We’ll definitely learn from this first big defeat,” he lamented.

Regrets

When asked if he had any regrets given how the confrontation unfolded, the coach was frank in his views when discussing a game where Monaco underperformed their expected goals reading while Lens overperformed theirs.

“There’s bound to be some, because this match could have gone the other way with Aleksandr Golovin’s goal in the third minute, which resulted from a major marking error by Lens. I felt they were trying to exploit our strengths and weaknesses, just as we were trying to exploit them. Whoever won that power struggle would gain the advantage. The red card also changed the game, and we certainly gave away some goals,” stated Pocognoli.

“But beyond the goals conceded, we struggled physically. We weren’t consistent enough in the duels, and today we suffered a lot because of it. So, beyond certain areas for improvement in terms of our play and movement, this is certainly the fundamental aspect of football that we need to work on to achieve consistency.”

Tough schedule

Next on the agenda was his opinion on if the Champions League fixture in Norway had affected his players physically.

“Yes, I can imagine, but we’ve had three days to recover, and I found my team ready to start the match in good shape today. Yesterday’s training session was energetic, and there was good momentum, so I think from a physical point of view, we can’t use that as an excuse,” he explained.

Approach

Upon being questioned about whether the recent inconsistency meant it was time to adopt a stricter approach with the squad, Pocognoli replied in a shrewd manner.

“I can do that, but since I arrived, we’ve been working incredibly hard every day, the players, my staff and myself. I’ve never seen them slack off in training; they’ve always given their all. So yes, there have been some inconsistent performances, but now’s not the time to throw everything away. Those who may have made mistakes today also delivered performances that allowed us to experience some great moments, and that we can build on for the future,” insisted the 39-year-old.

International break

Quizzed on if the international break comes at an ideal time, Pocognoli highlighted the chance for players to rest, recover and build on the lessons learnt since joining, stating: “I think this will allow the absentees to return. Some players who have played a lot of games and are about to leave for international duty need a bit of a rest, just like me and my staff. As I’ve said since I arrived, we work rigorously and diligently every day on the upcoming matches. In any case, it will be good to get the injured players back and get back into a positive dynamic with some healthy competition and, I hope, a positive energy.

“We’re going to do everything we can to get them back into the swing of things because we’ll need everyone back on their feet quickly. Beyond that, since my arrival, we’ve also been able to learn a lot from the core group of players we have, as I’ve said before. There have been some great discoveries and some more challenging moments. We’ll have to use that experience and, above all, keep it in mind for the future.”

Attacking play

On his team’s attacking output in this one, it was interesting to hear him outline the tactics and the obstacles encountered.

“The attacking approach was the same as in the other matches, except we had a different profile behind the striker because we wanted to have a bit more attacking presence and certainly try to unsettle RC Lens’ back three, while also exploring the space in behind the defence a bit more. We weren’t able to do it the way I would have liked, simply because we didn’t create all the necessary conditions for the match. We only had two or three good moves in the first half that resulted from this,” he reflected.

“I sensed a desire between Mika and Balo to combine and work for each other. It leaves me with a bit of regret because I wasn’t able to capitalise on it, and it would have been great to have that positive feeling before the break. It could have allowed us to create several attacking opportunities with two number 10s or two strikers. Unfortunately, that red card prevented us from playing the way I wanted.”

Reset

With the international break pressing pause on their campaign for now, Monaco will be hoping to get back on track when they return to action against Rennes in Ligue 1, before heading to Cyprus to face Pafos in the Champions League.