Kombouaré: ‘A lot of hope’

PSG coach Antoine Kombouaré discussed the weekend’s visit of Lorient to the Parc des Princes and the promising debuts of Mevlut Erding and Guillaume Hoarau in attack.

Coach, the media has been talking a lot about your words on the radio yesterday...
“If I said what I said, it’s because I still have a lot of hope. Just to remind the players that we are PSG, that there is talent here, and we can’t be happy with the current standings. We need to bounce back, react immediately.”

Does your squad lack leaders?
“I said what I said because we’re 14th and we’ve lost a lot of games recently. But we have seen a lot of good things in the last two games. I’m not aiming for first place, but this squad has quality and we have to be able to get at least sixth place. There are 16 games left. We need to start with a win over Lorient on Saturday to start the climb.”

Are Lorient a good team to play when you need to bounce back?
“Lorient are almost PSG’s bête noire (Lorient have won three out of five games at the Parc des Princes) so it will be a tough game. In the first match this season against them our first half was terrible. The second was a lot better. We could have done better than the 1-1 draw. Lorient are difficult to play against and play good football. It will take a great PSG to beat them on Saturday.”

A lot of people talk about what great football Lorient play…
“I think we play pretty good football. We need to be a little more efficient in attack and defence. Lorient have always played good, attractive football. I saw their game against Nancy (0-1). They could easily have got a point.”

What do you think about the return of Guillaume Hoarau and his partnership up front alongside Mevlut Erding?
“Guillaume is getting better and better. He brings his quality to the team. From what I saw in one hour against Lyon, their partnership has all the makings of a great duo. We created a lot chances. We didn’t take our chances and Vercoutre made some good saves. But it was a good game. Now we have to score a few more goals, take those chances.”