Preview: AS Monaco ready for colossal derby vs. OGC Nice
AS Monaco venture to the Allianz Riviera for a colossal derby with OGC Nice this Sunday, and Adi Hutter was keen to stress the importance of this clash in his pre-match press conference.
Another special derby awaits
Having drawn 0-0 with LOSC Lille and thumped Red Star Belgrade 5-1 in their last two games, Les Monegasques head in with their undefeated record intact. But Hutter knows how special derbies are and that his team will need to remain fully focused to achieve the victory they desire.
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“I can’t say that we’re going into this game with an advantage, because a derby is always special. I’ve played a lot of them during my career as a player and then as a coach, so from experience, it’s a special encounter. It’s not an advantage to play it at this time, in a good period for us. Both teams will play to win, and I hope we’ll be ready for this duel,” he insisted.
“We are in a very good phase at the moment, everyone knows that. I watched the Nice game yesterday in Budapest, but we expect to face a very different team in terms of the starting XI on Sunday. For our part, we have to continue our series, continue to develop our style of football and follow our process. Nice is a very good team with a great coach, Franck Haise. It’s a derby, I repeat, so it remains a big challenge for us.”
Praise earned
Seeing as ASM are in such brilliant form and are drawing praise and headlines from all over, Hutter was then asked about the kind words Red Star manager, Vladan Milojevic, offered about his team after their Champions League fixture . “It gives us a lot of confidence to hear this kind of thing. Especially since I know Vladan Milojevic well, who was a coach at Cukaricki (Belgrade) when I was in Salzburg, and he came to do an internship with us. In the second half we played a fantastic game, modern and intense football,” he explained.
“I showed my players what we did well and what we can improve on, but we really played a good game. The fact that people are talking about our way of playing is important to me. When we play this football, we can only be successful. There is a lot of intensity in our games and I want to see that all the time, including on Sunday, and against top teams.”
Confidence and belief
The topic of confidence was then touched on, as the 54-year-old simply wants his high-flying side to carry on their momentum. “It’s normal when you have success that confidence grows. But you have to be careful not to think about it too much and not get carried away. The players have accumulated a lot of certainty recently, but today all the teams, whether in Ligue 1 or the Champions League, want to beat us,” commented the Austrian.
“Our last defeat was in Lyon last April, which makes me very proud, but we have to be careful. Every three days a new team wants to take us down, so we have to be very vigilant this weekend. I think it’s really important to keep our feet on the ground. I’m responsible for the players continuing to work, and not starting to get carried away and not touch the ground. We’re very strong at the moment, but we have to be very careful. It’s not easy to fight, but I think at the moment we have a very good mix of young talent and experienced players.”
Balogun update
An update on the condition of Folarin Balogun following his shoulder injury that occurred prior to the last international break was then provided by Hutter. “He resumed small games with the group during the warm-up, but for the moment it is limited to that. We must be very vigilant, and he cannot participate in exercises with contact, in relation to his shoulder. He could come back a little earlier, but we are very cautious not to take any risks with him, as always with returns from injury,” he detailed.
Hectic schedule
The packed schedule Monaco are enduring served as another topic of hot discussion, with Hutter reinforcing the need to continue rotating the squad to ensure the players have enough recovery time. “When I look at the calendar, we had five days of recovery between the victory against Belgrade and this match in Nice, which is enough in my opinion. It will be the same before Angers next week, so we will see who will be on the pitch,” he expressed.
“The most important thing for me is that everyone is ready to play and show their qualities, whether in the starting XI or coming on during the match. This is what Aleksandr Golovin and Krepin Diatta have displayed, as they have shown great things. Everyone is involved, which is perhaps why we are so strong at the moment.”
Akliouche and Ben Seghir
The form of Monaco’s exceptionally talented young stars in Maghnes Akliouche and Eliesse Ben Seghir was also on the agenda. “We are very happy to have these two players from the academy in the team. They are key players in our group, even if I do not forget Soungoutou Magassa, Yann Lienard, Mamadou Coulibaly, Edan Diop and Saimon Bouabre. There are many young talents trained at La Diagonale among us, and Maghnes and Eliesse are the standard-bearers,” he asserted.
“Maghnes had a fantastic development last season, scoring a brace against Marseille. Eliesse wasn’t very lucky last year with injuries, but he’s showing this season that he’s very important and a very strong one-on-one player. While Maghnes is more of a playmaker. They’re both huge talents and we’re happy to have them with us.”
Game on
With all the pre-match action done and dusted, Monaco will now be wanting to let their football do all the talking in order to reign supreme in what will be a hugely exciting and fiercely-contested derby.