After a third defeat in a row against Racing 92, the Parisian manager wants to be positive and retain the progress he has seen in his team.
Interview at Paris La Défense Arena
Did you groan when you got another red card?
Gonzalo Quesada: Yes, I complained about that red card. I also complained about a lot of little mistakes. I think it’s a shame, we had prepared the game well. We lost the three derbies, but it was better from game to game. Four if we also count the first match (in Top 14) in the season. It sounds ridiculous but we made a lot of progress from the first to the third derby. Today (Sunday), we are not far from winning, even at fourteen. It hurts. There are quite a few details that prove to us that there is still a long way to go before we are able to play in a Champions Cup quarter-final. We saw that we were not that far today but also that that is not enough. We had an average game but the referee also had a pretty average game. Racing didn’t need that, they were going to win, they were going to qualify. Discipline is a bit frustrating. In the state of mind and the content, there is better.
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You talk about an average match, it had nothing to do with the first two…
Sometimes I’m too positive… (Smile) I didn’t want to be too positive. There are many players who know that they stop at the end of the season, others who haven’t played too much. We wanted to rely on them, the revenge side, their character. Gray, Maestri and Sanchez have been great as bosses, experienced players. (…) In what the team to release, there are many reasons to be proud. We remain on three defeats in the derby but, at 15 against 15, we could dream of a victory at the Arena. It would have been great for this group.
I know how difficult it was, we were shaken up everywhere. In particular by you (the journalists) but also people close to the club
Gonzalo Quesada
And we will quickly have to switch back to the Top 14…
The week is going to be short, we receive Pau on Saturday who had 15 days to prepare for this trip to us. We’ll see if we have any more injuries and suspensions… We’ll calmly prepare ourselves. There are encouraging aspects of this game to prepare for the four games we have left.
What is your goal now in the Top 14?
Prepare Paul. I could give you the phrases you love: “the ingredients”, “the matches one after the other”. But that’s the reality. We cling. (…) We recently released performances that would not have been possible if our group was not healthy. I said it in the locker room: today’s performance and state of mind is very reassuring for me. I know how difficult it was, we were shaken up everywhere. In particular by you (the journalists) but also people close to the club. We are focused on Pau, but we are going to play our last four matches thoroughly. Yes, we will try to win all four. If we beat Pau, it will take the pressure off us.