OM-Lille (1–2): The coach's reaction

The refereeing

I’m never sure about the refereeing. There were two key moments: the foot on Paixao’s face and the challenge on Greenwood. The challenge was aggressive, reckless and violent. I’m not here to judge Mr Bastien’s decisions.

The second half

We had two big chances right at the start of the second half. We conceded the goal straight after. The half-time break would have been different if we’d scored. We lacked aggression on the ball in the box. Lille are used to big games; they’re in Europe. We lost our passion in the second half. Tonight, we had an opportunity to extend our lead and maintain our momentum. It’s frustrating. Lille had a good first half. It’s a shame because, leading 1-0, we would have liked to extend our lead and the match would have been different.

The match

We knew we had a great opportunity and that we weren’t going to control the match for the entire game. Lille’s equaliser came at a time when our team was in the ascendancy. The positive momentum has stalled, but we’re not going to second-guess everything. It’s a shame we didn’t capitalise on those moments, especially given the results of the teams chasing us. There’s a break now; we need to work hard and be in good shape for Monaco.

Mason Greenwood

He’s having a scan tomorrow. He’s in a lot of pain. The foul, the impact was violent. It was a double impact. If you have to throw a punch to get a red card… There was a violent collision from behind. We’ve got an injured player and that changed our game because we know how much Greenwood contributes to our team.

The table, the final sprint

We must stay calm through everything we’re going through. There are seven games left, 21 points. We must keep a clear head. We wanted to win back our fans. There’s disappointment for everyone. The players going away on international duty must take care to come back and approach the match in Monaco, which will be important.

The attack

We considered starting with two strikers. Amine Gouiri is back from injury. He came into the match bringing his technical quality. When you put a player up front, you lose a player in midfield and that can make things a bit more difficult for us. The goals are coming from avoidable situations. We need to be more aggressive. Gouiri is a very important player for us. We showed balance; we made the most of the transition. Our key players must create chances for us.

The team talk

We’ll have a positive team talk. We had one after Brest. We’re clear-headed. We regrouped after the Coupe de France. We mustn’t feel sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on track. We mustn’t let our emotions get the better of us. When we have a poor performance, we must remain focused and clear-headed.

The break

There will be a chance to recharge. We’ll tailor the work to individuals. We’ll have around fifteen players, including the goalkeepers. We’ll see some young players from the academy too. There are positives and negatives. Those who go away must return in good health. There are long journeys for some. I don’t want the mood at the club to be dictated by results. I always encourage my staff to stay positive so they can pass that on to the players. Physically, we’ve had a dip in form and that’s cost us tonight. We need to work on that aspect.

Greenwood suspended for Monaco

We’d discussed yellow cards and tonight we made some decisions.

We had four players at risk. Mason Greenwood was on four yellow cards. I’d warned him not to react, but when I see the footage, I don’t understand how he managed not to react. Punishing both players equally doesn’t reflect what actually happened. We missed him throughout the match. We lost a player, but they didn’t.