Monaco boss Sébastien Pocognoli on a mission despite injuries and consistency

Three months ago, when Sébastien Pocognoli arrived at AS Monaco to replace the dismissed Adi Hütter as head coach, expectations were high.

With his stock rising after his achievement in guiding Union Saint-Gilloise to a first league title for the first time in 90 years, the 38-year-old Belgian was seen as a dynamic young talent who could help Monaco take the final step after finishing second and third in the previous two seasons,

To date, things have not worked out like that. Since inheriting a side in fourth place, just three points off leaders Paris St-Germain despite a run of draws, Pocognoli has presided over six defeats in 10 Ligue 1 outings.

The club now sits ninth in the table, a whopping 17 points behind top-placed Lens. A spate of injuries that has left Pocognoli struggling to fill the substitutes’ bench has hardly helped, but while the Belgian is aware of external scrutiny, he insists time is all he needs to steady the ship.

Monaco boss Sébastien Pocognoli: ‘I’m on a mission’

“I’m on a mission in Monaco,” he told L’Equipe. “In the best-case scenario, we’ll be successful together. In the worst-case scenario, it’s a valuable experience and it will serve me well in the future. If we have the time to put things in place, good things will happen.

“One of my hallmarks is that I don’t give up when things get tough. There are plenty of coaches who would complain or make excuses. We handle problems internally. We’re resilient and we don’t lose our heads. When we’ve done our best, we stand by our actions. Everyone has to work diligently in their area and support each other.”

Some would counter that losing their heads is something Monaco have done all too regularly. Since the second-half dismissal of club captain Denis Zakaria in a 4-1 defeat at Rennes last November, there have been five red cards in the past eight games domestically, compounding the ongoing injury crisis. Pocognoli believes his players need to be a little more savvy.

What did Sébastien Pocognoli say about Monaco’s disciplinary problems?

“It’s a creative group, with a lot of individual quality,” said the Belgian. “That has advantages and disadvantages. The good side is that we have moments of beautiful football. But we also lack a bit of character. 

“When your DNA is based on talent, when it comes to going into more duels, we don’t fundamentally do it well: there are situations where we can avoid yellow cards. The fact that [Lyon’s Argentina international Nicolás] Tagliafico went uncarded against us shows experience. That’s something you learn; we’re lacking that a bit.”

If that game, a 3-1 home defeat that will be remembered primarily for a brutal, studs-raised challenge on Tagliafico by Monaco midfielder Mamadou Coulibaly, seemed a curious one to reference, Pocognoli was on firmer ground when he talked of the need for his side to maintain a more even level of performance.

Sébastien Pocognoli targets greater consistency from Monaco

“I’d say it’s been very inconsistent,” said Pocognoli. “It’s very difficult to have a shared identity if you only have three or four substitutes available for each match. However, in terms of our play, in the matches where we’ve been good, we’re much better than we were a few months ago.”

By way of example, Pocognoli cited November’s home win over PSG in a game defined by former Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamno’s second-half winner, as well as a 1-0 league defeat at Marseille and a victory over Galatasaray in the Champion League the following month. The Belgian’s point was clear: the sooner Monaco are able to hit those heights regularly, the sooner results will come.

“The goal is really to try and find consistency,” he reiterated. “If we have 90% of the squad available, we’ll manage it. And we also need to finish with 11 players, because it’s hurting us.”

Monaco face 12th-placed Lorient at Stade Louis II on Friday night.