During the international break, Antoine Kombouaré took the chance to discuss PSG’s start to the season as well as the summer mercato...

Antoine, after a month’s competition, what have you thought of your team’s performances?
“Without mixing my words, I think the team has performed very well. What I saw in the opening four games was very encouraging, very satisfying. It’s only the start, but we have to build on these foundations. The hardest part is now about to begin. Everyone wanted to beat us because we’re PSG – even more so now that we’re near the top of the table. We’re one of the teams to beat and that pleases me no end.”

Do you have a better idea about the full potential of your squad?
“The team shows fantastic unity, as well as quality and the players want to work. The hardest thing about our sport is needing to prove yourself each and every outing. You have to keep testing yourself, putting yourself on the line. We’re not perfect, but we can draw on the positive things we’ve done so far to keep improving. The good results are also good for the confidence and let us work in a good environment. The trick now is to keep reproducing these results. That’s the new challenge for the squad.”

Are you happy with PSG’s mercato?
“I was happy with the squad I had. Mateja (Kezman) and Jérôme (Rothen), however, wanted to leave the club. We didn’t have a whole lot of money, we can say it, but that means we never thought of replacing them. What’s more, the players I have, fully deserve their chance and everything suggests that we’re on the right track. We also have to hope that we don’t have any suspensions or long-term injuries which could all have a negative bearing on our excellent start to the campaign.”

Will the young players get much playing time?
“When you lose two important elements of the squad, two things should happen. Firstly, the starting XI need to lift their game even further to ensure the good results continue. Secondly, the young players need to prove that they justify all the faith placed in them because they will get the chance to play.”

How are you dealing with the international break?
“First of all, you have to get on with it because that’s the calendar and that’s that! The break will allow us to recover from all the efforts we’ve made so far. But we mustn’t relax too much because we’ve got some big clashes as soon as we’re back. First we travel to Monaco and then we host Lyon. But the break will do us the world of good because the whole squad had a tough August and there was an enormous amount of pressure on the squad. After the break, a new cycle begins and I hope the results will be just as good.”

PSG has three players called up to the France Under-21 squad. That’s a reward for the young players good start to the season...
“Indeed, it is a reward for Mamadou Sakho, Granddi Ngoyi and Younousse Sankharé. They are talented young players and they have to prove it each weekend. I hope they understand that this is just the departure lounge for their careers and that they will be very successful.”