Reaction: AS Monaco eager to bounce back following painful Montpellier defeat

In the aftermath of AS Monaco’s unsatisfactory defeat against Montpellier, Adi Hutter, Takumi Minamino and Breel Embolo offered their thoughts on what was a frustrating night at the office.

Costly mistakes punished

A regular theme of ASM’s season has been them dropping points following avoidable errors. And the Montpellier match saw this trend rear its head again. Kassoum Ouattara committed the first costly and untimely blunder, as his underhit backpass was latched onto by Musa Al-Taamari, who coolly found the back of the net to give the home side a lifeline to get back into the contest when Monaco were in control and leading 0-1.

Then, in the 82nd minute, it was Embolo’s turn, as he lost possession in the heart of the pitch, which served as the catalyst for Al-Taamari to score the winner.

“The first half was good. In the second half, individual errors put us in difficulty and then Montpellier were too comfortable. Today, it’s more than a big disappointment, it’s a blow to the head for us and everyone at the club. I respect all the opponents, congratulations to them for their victory,” insisted the Austrian tactician.

“It’s a defeat that hurts because we want to get out of this situation. In the first half, the team did good things and we created several opportunities. In the second, we made big individual mistakes. It’s not the first time that’s happened this season. It’s sometimes difficult for a coach to explain that.

“We tried to come back after with several situations in the last minutes, but it was too late. I have a lot of respect for Montpellier, but we needed to impose ourselves to regain confidence. Tuesday will be a totally different match, it’s the Champions League at home, but I don’t think the team already had Aston Villa in mind.” 

Bounce back

Eager to bounce back as quickly as possible and return to winning ways, there’s no doubting Hutter, his coaching staff and the players are doing everything in their power to find their groove again even if things aren’t going their way at present. The experienced manager’s measured words certainly underlined why he’s such a master of his craft, with him smartly approaching the situation instead of panicking.

“Firstly, my motivation will not drop and I want to continue to help the team and find ways I can help our players at this time. I have experienced this situation in the past and it is nonsense to want to punish players, this is a young team. It is a difficult phase and I am not the kind of coach who wants to abandon them. I am the coach, I am the first person responsible. You have to be positive even if it is difficult for everyone,” Hutter insightfully stated.

“With my 630 games as a coach, I have already experienced this situation and I have the tools in hand. I will give my all. Of course, we must be better and we will have to fight to get back on track, but I am nevertheless totally convinced that we will soon be back. The teams behind us are coming back strong, but the season is still long.

“It often happens in football when you have a string of disappointing results. At the beginning of the season, the victories were there and everyone was happy. I have been in professional football for 35 years as a player before and now as a coach. It is not the first time that something like this has happened to me and the main thing I have learned is to stay positive, work on the details and help the team.”

Confidence boost needed

With both Hutter and Embolo mentioning that the Benfica loss, where ASM conceded two late goals to fall to a devastating defeat, hit the squad hard, the challenge is now to recapture their form ahead of the crucial second half of the season.

“It’s really difficult at the moment because the performances are there, but we can’t solve the problems in both areas. We can see that the confidence is no longer 100% and we have to get back to work to reverse the trend. We are not far from our objectives and I am convinced that we will come out of this situation as a group,” insisted Embolo.

“This match [against Benfica] has indeed accentuated this, we have strong moments in each match and even if we concede a goal, we know that we can still change the score. Unfortunately, we are not able to finish as we would like and that is the case today. It’s certain that mentally it plays a huge role, we have a young group, it’s up to us, the old ones, to take responsibility in this kind of period and move forward. Luck must be on our side, but it’s by working that we can force success to come back to us.”

Focus shifts to Villa

The upcoming Champions League contest offers Les Monegasques the perfect opportunity to restore some positivity to the club. While it will be a huge task overcoming Unai Emery’s side, Monaco are unquestionably capable of beating anyone on their day, which the Barcelona triumph highlighted.

“For now, it is very difficult to take our minds off the Champions League match on Tuesday. However, this is what we must do quickly to focus on this important match and the upcoming Ligue 1 fixtures,” said Minamino. “Difficult moments can come at any time in a season, but I would say this one hurts particularly badly. I am disappointed, but so is everyone else. If we want to stay in the top three of the league, we have to win these kinds of games.”

Embolo then added: “It’s certain that a victory would be good [against Villa], especially in a situation like this. It can give us confidence and peace of mind, so it can give us a boost. We’re going to work hard to bring back this victory – for us, our supporters and our goals.”

Looking ahead

Seeing as Les Rouge et Blanc have only won two of their last 11 matches in all competitions and are winless in 2025, a massive week looms for the club that features two fascinating home fixtures vs. Villa and Rennes, where securing at least one victory and producing mistake-free performances will be the aim.