Will Still watched Auxerre drift into Brest’s preferred rhythm before half-time on Sunday, then demanded a very different response. His players delivered it, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Ligue 1 victory at the Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps.
The move
Still kept the 3-4-2-1 formation that had brought Auxerre a 1-0 win over Nice in their previous match. He also retained the system after the interval, despite an opening half he described as completely unsuccessful.
The Auxerre coach said his frustration was not tactical. Instead, he felt his team had allowed Brest to impose the type of contest they wanted.
“You have to be able to tell each other things when they are really not good,” Still said after the match. “Our first half was completely poor. It was not a question of the system. What annoyed me most was that we had fallen into the kind of game Brest wanted to play.
“We saw the worst and then the best possible Auxerre.”
Auxerre’s turnaround made it two consecutive Ligue 1 victories, following the home success against Nice.
The substitutes change the night
Still made two changes, introducing Romain Faivre and Naouirou Ahamada for Rémy Labeau-Lascary and Arthur Piedfort. The coach highlighted the impact made by both replacements as Auxerre recovered to win.
- Romain Faivre
- Naouirou Ahamada
- Rémy Labeau-Lascary
- Arthur Piedfort
Still said the substitutes had been told they were entitled to feel disappointed not to start, but that their responsibility was to influence the game when called upon.
“The most important thing is that we were able to react and show something else,” he said. “The players who came on brought a real added value, and that matters a lot.
“I told them they could be unhappy not to be in the starting line-up, but their job was to make an impact. When an opportunity comes, you have to take it. They did that very well. I appreciate strong reactions, and I know how to recognise them.”
The French season around it
The Brest win followed Auxerre’s 1-0 victory over Nice, with Still maintaining the same 3-4-2-1 shape across both fixtures. After a first half that left his side behind, the coach’s intervention and the bench response helped transform the evening into another important three-point result.
