Relief never quite settled over Toulouse on Saturday night. A first win of the season arrived in a 3-2 victory against Le Havre, but Jens Berthel Askou saw as much disorder as celebration in a game that repeatedly slipped away from his side.
A first victory, but little comfort
Toulouse had opened their campaign with two home defeats, losing 2-0 to Lyon before Lille left with a 1-0 win. The success over Le Havre therefore delivered their first points of the season, yet Askou did not describe himself as relieved by the result alone.
Instead, the Toulouse coach pointed to the tension of a match in which neither side appeared fully secure. He felt his players needed considerable guidance as the contest became increasingly unpredictable.
- Toulouse scored twice and believed they had taken control of the match.
- Le Havre responded, ensuring the home side could not settle into the lead.
- Toulouse produced further dangerous attacking spells and could have added more goals.
- The final 3-2 score gave Toulouse their first league win, although Askou felt the performance remained uneven.
Askou sees progress amid the chaos
“I am not really relieved because we won,” Askou said. “It is more about the way the match unfolded. There was a lot of tension and it was rather chaotic from us.”
He said the game felt capable of changing in an instant, unlike the more controlled nature of Toulouse’s previous two fixtures at home. “You felt so much could happen if you looked away for 20 seconds,” he explained.
Askou admitted that his team had assumed they were in command after their first two goals, only for Le Havre to hit back. He also noted that Toulouse had opportunities to score again during several intense passages, something he said had also been visible in the previous match.
The coach described the Le Havre game as perhaps Toulouse’s biggest contrast so far between their strongest and weakest moments. Still, he took encouragement from the quality his side showed at times and from the growing precision of his players.
“The players are continuing to improve and are becoming more accurate,” Askou said. Toulouse will have more time to enjoy the three points on Sunday; for their coach, the work of making the performance less volatile has already begun.
