Fifth Manceau to score three goals this season, Julio Donisa undoubtedly scored a crucial goal in this race to the uphill, against Boulogne-sur-Mer (1-0). Now two small points from third place, the men of cries are in favorable tie, especially since the calendar seems playful for them.
However, Julio Donisa was cautious when he left training on Thursday. Lightly smoked glasses on the nose, the striker exposed the mood in the Sarthe locker room, before moving to the Oise this Friday (7 p.m.)
Chambly is a team that concedes a lot of goals, while you don’t score a lot. Will being more prolific be the key to this end of this season?
I don’t necessarily agree, you have to start by not conceding goals before you score them. I think that if we don’t concede any goals, we already have a point taken. Winning 1-0 is fine with us. It’s better to win 1-0 ten times than 7-0 once. I think it’s more reasonable to stay focused on defense. We know how to score goals, maybe not five per game, but we know how to do it, so we will try to continue that from tomorrow.
The key to your game is high pressing and aggressiveness, like during your goal against Boulogne-sur-Mer. Will you continue to apply this tactic until the end of the season?
Each game has its story. That is to say that the coach has different game plans for each meeting. Afterwards, we try to keep a philosophy, but in this match it was really to press them high during the first fifteen minutes, to show them that it was not because they were badly classified that we did not would not respect them. It was really the idea to go get them high. For tomorrow, I don’t know more, but in any case against Boulogne-sur-Mer that was really the idea, to press them high.
This renewal, this diversity in the systems, as a player how do you experience it? Cris told us that you sometimes learn the starting lineup in the locker room before the game. Is it stimulating or is it more difficult to project yourself?
It’s different. Some players prefer to know who is playing at the start of the week. Others don’t, because he keeps the adrenaline and stimulants going until the end of the week. Sometimes we work on something all week and the same day it’s something different, so we’re never sure who’s going to play. We are always waiting, ready to play or not to play. There are really advantages and disadvantages in this system, as with everything. For example, if we already know who will play on Tuesday, maybe some will let go. So far we’ve been doing well and that’s pretty good.
In what state of mind are you with the band, do you really feel that it’s the last straight line?
There are two months and nine games left, we are really focused. Precisely, it is these “small” matches – “small” when you look at the rankings – that are very hard to win. We will try to make a phase of four victories in a row for the second time this season. We really want to do it. The first time was already in 2022 and it threw us at the top of the rankings. We know that chaining games in this championship is important and it’s only the playoffs that make us move forward. So we intend to continue it and we will give ourselves the means.
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Julio Donisa was cautious at a press conference on Thursday. © West-France
In the locker room, the objective is clearly third place?
In the locker room we want to go as high as possible, there is no specific objective. Tomorrow if we can take second place, we will take it. If we have to take the third we will take it too. The goal is to have no regrets and to give it your all. There are plenty of direct confrontations so it’s up to us to seize them.
It is true that the points difference is not huge, but several teams are in your situation. Do you watch the results and upcoming confrontations of other teams?
No, we don’t look at which team should play which team, we really look at what we should play. Afterwards, we know what match there will be on the weekend, but we’re not going to look at who Laval is playing in two weeks… No, it’s a bit too far and we’re really focused on ourselves and on what we have to do before watching others. It’s a trap to do that because we’re going to make false calculations. With “if” we do not advance, so we have to take the matches one after the other.
Since the beginning of the year 2022, we have the impression that your positioning allows you to take more pleasure in playing, a little in free spirit. What do you think is your ideal position?
I think my position is as a 9 and a half, where I can be useful to the team to bring out the balls, to help them play. I can be in front of goal, but I know there will always be someone else in front, like Armand (Gnanduillet, editor’s note). I think the position where I can be the most prolific is that, 9 and a half, 10… Afterwards I can also be effective on the sides and on my own as a number 9, as I was able to demonstrate against Châteauroux (1-0 win).
Read also: Le Mans FC. The Cris recipe: “I don’t like routine”
You were just talking about Armand Gnanduillet, last week the coach told us that he was important on and off the pitch, can you confirm that?
Sure. Armand is thirty years old, so he has seen things. He has played in championships that we have not been able to see, so obviously he brings this experience. He is no longer very young, whereas we are a team with a rather low average age. So Armand, Loïc (Damour), Couli (Ibrehima Coulibaly), they bring their experience. Of course, when it is necessary to speak he speaks, in front of everyone, and he does not hesitate to say what he thinks, so it is a good chance for the team.
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