MHSC-Nantes: “In football, you have to have mental strength”, “We are always behind”… reactions after the Montpellier defeat

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While MHSC lost at home to Nantes (1-3), for the third day of Ligue 1, discover the reactions after the match of the coaches of both teams.

Michel Der Zakarian, coach of Montpellier:

“Even though we had the ball a lot, we tried to use it well. The circulation was quite slow. We got a bit more rhythm in the passes, in the movements, and we saw that we could destabilize a defense that defends very deep. They were compact, they defended well. We knew that they played like that. We saw them in their last two matches. Afterwards, they go forward quickly and we lost a lot of duels at the back.

In football, you have to have mental strength. When you play high-level sport, you have to have a strong mentality to win matches. You have to win the duels to have the ball and be well positioned.

Read also: MHSC: Savanier too messy, Sagnan solid at the back, Nzingoula promising at first… the notes of the match against Nantes

That's football. You have to find a place where you walk hard to use the ball well and be precise to put good balls, good crosses. There, we played a team that played at our level. They defended better than us.

Collectively, we have to be much better. Everyone has to be better. We have to have a better collective level. And that goes through each player. Everyone has to be better.

We have to build on what we have done, but be much more precise, much more accurate. And be much more present in front of the goal. There were two or three well-adjusted crosses to the far post, but we always arrive late. We have to be on time to score goals. We want to get ahead of the opponent. They got ahead of us. We are still behind."

Antoine Kombouaré, Nantes coach :

“In difficult moments, we fought together. I found that we were a united group. And above all, we put ourselves in little danger. Moreover, I think that in the first half: only one shot on target, that's a goal. We didn't defend too badly, even if we sometimes fell back too much. And then, the enormous satisfaction of winning and especially of scoring three goals with our three attackers.

It was decided at the end, at 2-1, I know this Montpellier team, it has character, temperament, it is like Michel, he is my friend. Until the end, as long as there was no break, we were at the mercy of Montpellier.

Read also: REPLAY. MHSC-Nantes: Nightmarish evening for Montpellier who chain a second consecutive defeat

We will keep our feet on the ground. We are super happy with these points acquired. I hope, in any case, to continue to pick up points. And then in difficult moments, we will have this little cushion that will allow us to tackle the rest well.

7 points out of 9, that's great. We are super happy. As I also said, because I will re-emphasize the fact that with the group we have, we must be able to be more ambitious. And avoid playing for survival on the last day.”