Jallet: ‘Up to the task’

Having joined PSG last summer after three seasons at Lorient, the Parisian defender Christophe Jallet is preparing to meet his old teammates with his current club sitting 14th in the standings...

Christophe, PSG are currently sitting down in 14th place in the standings. Are you worried, alarmed?
“A little bit. We don’t feel we’re where we should be on the ladder. The results haven’t gone our way. We’re coming off three straight losses, so we can’t really say we deserve better, but given the way we’ve played... we’ve been playing some good football. We’re making little mistakes through a lack of concentration and that’s been costing us a lot of points recently.”

Have you spoken about the club’s situation between you, the players?
“We’ve spoke about it. Everyone knows what the scenario is. We’re not lacking much to push the scales back in our favour. We’re playing some good games of football. When you look at our first half against Lyon, you have to ask yourself: ‘How did we lose that game?’. But in the end we head home with nothing. We have to be more focused, especially defensively. We’re scoring goals, but we can’t seem to keep a cleansheet.”

Lorient have enjoyed a lot of success at the Parc des Princes with three wins in five games. How are you approaching this game?
“It’s going to be a very tough game. Les Lorientais love running into space. I hope we’ll be up to the task. They’re a great ‘away’ team that take advantage of the smallest weakness in the home side. If we want to show that we have any aspirations in the league, this is the type of game we have to win, we need to sore and we need a cleansheet in a big home game.”

You joined PSG this season from Lorient. What are the differences between the two clubs?
“In terms of how the squad works day to day, there’s not that big a difference, apart from the fact that Paris’ training complex is better. But everything that goes on around PSG is different. At Lorient, everything’s cool. We were 14th in the league and it wasn’t the end of the world. There’s isn’t as much pressure at Lorient as there is here. The two club’s also have very different ambitions.”

Did you speak to Grégory Bourillon before he signed for Lorient?
“He made that decision all on his own! But he did ask me things about the club. I think he’ll do great over there. They play a type of football that he’s suited to. He was down the pecking order here and was fed up. The move will give him a real boost. I don’t have the slightest doubt that everything will go well for him.”