Monaco manager Sébastien Pocognoli: ‘If we have time to put things in place, good things will happen.’

It has been a difficult start to life at AS Monaco for Sébastien Pocognoli. He arrived at the club in October and has yet to instigate a significant turn in fortunes. 

At the midway point of the Ligue 1 season, the Principality club sit ninth, and they have lost six of their last seven games in the league, including a 3-1 loss to Olympique Lyonnais at home last time out. However, there have been mitigating circumstances, notably a slew of injuries. “There are things that are not controllable, I’m notably talking about injuries. When I say that, it isn’t as an excuse,” he tells L’Équipe in Belgium, as he picked up his trophy for manager of the year (in Belgium in the year 2025), a reward for his achievements with Union Saint-Gilloise last season.

There is little sign of the injury crisis that has engulfed the club abating, but Pocognoli believes that, given time, he can turn around the difficult situation. “I am on a mission at Monaco. In the best case scenario, we will succeed together, and in the worst case [scenario], it is a great experience that will help me going forward. If we have time to put things in place, good things will happen,” said Pocognoli. 

It is a call for patience at a club where it is sometimes in short supply. Les Monégasques face FC Lorient next up in Ligue 1 on Friday.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle