One of 21 players who will challenge Montpellier on Saturday evening at the velodrome stadium. Mathieu takes a few moments to talk exclusively to his website about OM and his position in the club.

How does OM feel about playing against Montpellier on Saturday?

I hope we will finally win our first home match of the season! Against Bordeaux we only managed to draw and then we lost against Milan. We now need a win at the velodrome so that we can forget our defeat against Milan, and so that we can carry on to the next step in the championship.

Has the team been able to digest and forget its defeat against Milan?

As our coach has told us, we must forget it. Our priority now, our livelihood is the championship. If we play well in league one, we will be able to re-qualify for the championship league. We had it hard on Tuesday, now we must turn the page. 

What was missing, to trip up the Italians?

Efficacity. We aimed at the goal many times, but apart from one, never in the net. Milan had two opportunites and managed to score two goals. We played some good football but unfortunately it wasn’t enough and so we were out of the championship.

The team must be impatient for its first victory at the velodrome?

Yes, we would like to confirm the win we had at Mans (2-1). To beat Montpellier, would be great for our morale. We would all like to achieve the objectives we have for ourselves. This would mean a perfect home match, which we have not been able to achieve this last year, and which has been our downfall. We know that these opponents are not easy to out-manouvre. We know that, so there should be no surprise. It won’t be easy to beat Montpellier, they have a dynamic game at the moment.

What does Lucho Gonzalez brought to the team?

One thing is for sure: he needs  to improve his pace. We are expecting a lot from him as he is the biggest transfer in our club. He needs time. He is not an international Argentinian player for nothing. Even if some say it was just the Portuguese championship, he played some good games there. He has a lot of talent. This summer, there have been  a lot of changes. Let’s give everybody a chance to adapt.

And you? How are you?

I take each day as it comes, I work hard. The championship only started up again a month ago, there are still plenty of months to come. Nothing can be taken for granted, we will just have to wait and see. We all want to be permanent players. I am still disappointed when I find myself on the bench, which for me, is logic. It’s my fourth season here. I now see many things in retrospect, things which at the beginning, annoyed me. Now, I will do all it takes to reverse this situation, that dissatisfies me.

Your fans are more and more supportive, we see them regularly at trainings…

This makes me very happy. I am not the type who gives up easily. Things have never been easy for me. When I arrived at OM, there was more rivality than there is today. I have never been given anything on a plate, I have always had fight for my place.