Monaco (AFP)

With his new coach Robert Moreno, Monaco took just one point in four L1 matches, was eliminated in the Cup, and was destabilized by the bloodshed of Gelson Martins on a referee in Nîmes. Against Angers Tuesday (19:00), the ASM wants to avoid the crisis.

. Gaps and certainties of Moreno

Robert Moreno wrote a book on 4-4-2, was a member of high-flying technical staff, was a few months coach of Spain. But he is new to coach N.1 in the first division.

His ideas on football, his playful and sometimes innovative sessions collide with a reality: the pragmatism of his L1 counterparts, whom his principles have not yet surpassed.

But Oleg Petrov, the vice-president, defends it. "I have no doubt about him despite a difficult start, he warns. His work is very professional, his communication with the players is good. I'm sure I made the right choice. We have to leave him a little of time to settle in. The spiral will reverse. "

Moreno's speech, which seemed clear when he arrived, began to stiffen, however.

"I don't want to waste my time with what I can't control," he says. "I have to make sure I improve the tactics, the mental control."

"I don't know why we didn't manage to win in L1," he admits. When you don't win, there is a crisis. But for me, there is a crisis when the players do not do what is asked. However, they are making efforts. I'm sure we will gain a lot by continuing with this mentality. "

Meanwhile, his image, like that of the club, is already tarnished. "I don't care," he retorts. "I can't control it. I can just control the training. And win. Then it will change."

. Bankruptcy of leaders

The mind-blowing images of Gelson Martins repelling Mr. Lesage before and after being excluded from the meeting in Nîmes on Saturday came to disturb the state of the group, already shaken up by the arrival of the new technician.

The usual locker room leaders (Glik, Subasic, even Fabregas or Jemerson) seem to mark the occasion when others, like Maripan, Baldé, or Adrien Silva, who is however only on loan, try to emerge, in the dark. Only technical leadership is clearly defined: it belongs to striker Wissam Ben Yedder.

"All the players are together, on the same boat, defends Moreno. I see them training or in a meeting. They want to win and achieve a series of victories. We must remain calm, have confidence in our work. I am sure of the quality of the players. The results will come. "

. Reluctance and firmness of management

Oleg Petrov was a businessman, "without knowledge of football". But, fortified by his entourage made up of Russian football personalities like Viacheslav Ivanov - deputy director general - and Igor Korneev, former sports director of Zenit Saint Petersburg and Lokomotiv Moscow, he gradually emerged from the shadows during this period complicated.

"From now on, I will no longer communicate!", He promises. Consequence: he announces sanctions against Gelson Martins, whose behavior is "neither acceptable nor forgivable", and "pays" for video assistance. "Statistics show that it has been used nine times for Monaco. Either the most in L1. Only once has it been in our favor. I am not criticizing the arbitration but asking for fairness", launches -t it. A little more fuel on the fire ...

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