Exclusive | ‘We must take the next step’ – Adi Hütter offers deep-dive into the Monaco project | OneFootball

Ahead of AS Monaco’s crunch UEFA Champions League tie against Benfica, Get French Football News sat down with Les Monégasques’ manager, Adi Hütter, for a deep dive into the project at the Principality club, their ongoing domestic and European campaigns, and the development of some of their key players.

You’ve already faced Benfica once this season. How do you approach it, with confidence or caution?

I think it is better that you know the team. We know the team better than before. We know their strengths and their weaknesses. It is the first leg, a really important one, to be able to go to Lisbon with an advantage. At the Estadio da Luz, Benfica have big, big home fans, a big crowd, and a very, very good atmosphere there. We have to bring a good result for the second leg. I think we played well against them last time, only the last 10 minutes were horrible. We led even after (Wilfried) Singo’s red card. Then we didn’t defend well, especially Angel Di Maria’s crosses. We have to defend better; they are one of the best teams in Europe in transition. We know their strengths in a 4-3-3 formation. They have a good squad; they were unlucky with the two ACLs (Alexander Bah and Manu Silva) in the last game. We don’t know if Di Maria will be fit for this game; he is a decisive player. I trust in our style of play; every detail can be decisive.

Do Monaco head into it as the underdog?

I think that we should be proud because Monaco have a huge history. It was a few years ago that they were in the semi-final with a top young team with Kylian Mbappé and Radamel Falcao; they had a really good mix of experienced and young players. We are an underdog but on a high level. Benfica are a famous club in Europe but we are proud, we want to compete with them, and we are really able to win against them but we need a fantastic day. We have high ambitions and we also want to compete with Benfica. I don’t think that coaches or clubs underestimate French teams; maybe Brest is a really big surprise but not Lille, Monaco or PSG. Lille champions as soon as 2021. For French football, it was a really good sign to have all four clubs in the knockout stages and one team in the top eight.

How do you evaluate Monaco’s Champions League performances?

At Arsenal, it wasn’t easy. You saw that Manchester City lost 5-1 there. At Arsenal, we steadied the ship in the second half but in the first half, it could have been three or four nil, with big mistakes from our side. This is level, for me there is a gap between us, Arsenal, Inter Milan, and Barcelona, I think that we played Barcelona at the right moment and there was the early sending-off. Bologna wasn’t easy away, the win against Aston Villa was more than decisive. This win, under pressure, was for me great because Aston Villa are also a top team, but not at the same level as Arsenal – but it is really hard to beat them but we did it and we did it in a good way. I was happy for the 13 points in the group stage – it isn’t bad. We have been guilty for some results, for sure… we are in a process. Now there is a knockout, two legs.

Is it possible to bridge that gap that you mentioned to Arsenal, Inter Milan, Barcelona?

PSG- you can see what they are doing. Everyone in France is saying ‘No one is close to them’ but look at them, the opportunities they have. (Khvicha) Kvaratskhelia is one of my favourite players when he was at Napoli because I followed them a lot. He was the top player there with (Victor) Osimhen. They buy him for €70m. At the moment, they are one of the best teams in Europe, really one of the best. They are able to win the Champions League. But it is my opinion that we must take the next step. We started one-and-a-half years ago, we changed the group a bit, brought lots of young, talented, gifted players For sure, in some games, we miss a little bit of experience, in the right moments. Now we have to analyse well and say how can we go from the second category to the first category because between the top teams in Europe and Monaco, maybe there is a gap but we are the fourth youngest team.

You could say, ‘Well, Paris are younger than you’ but they sign players for €50/60m, with Desiré Doué, with João Neves, Gonçalo Ramos, and Randal Kolo Muani… you cannot compare us with them but we have a clear strategy. There is the Monaco style with lots of young gifted players from the academy. We want to follow this strategy but in the end, we have to realise and recognise to say, ‘Okay, maybe we have to do some changes’. Equally, when we talk about the top level, we are in the top 24. The teams in that 24 are massive – for me, only RB Leipzig should be in this. We are one of the 24 in Europe but in this, you have category one and category two for me. We are in two, to come to one, how do we get there? Yes, [it is important] to find a really good balance between experienced players and young players but it doesn’t depend on age, it depends on games. We have to analyse and then find the right key points.

And the squad has changed with the average age going down…

Wissam Ben Yedder left, Guillermo Maripán was a key player for the group. I think Ismael Jakobs did well in the end, we lost Mohamed Camara, a more experienced player within this group. We lost Youssouf Fofana – a France international, it was his fifth season in Ligue 1. We brought in George Ilenikhena who was 17 at the time, Christian Mawissa from Toulouse, it was his second season but he is a big talent. We also brought in Jordan Teze, who was a bit unlucky, he has a bit more experience, and Lamine Camara from Metz, who was in his second full season – once again a big talent. He gained his experience with Metz and from Metz to Monaco is a big step. We develop them into big players. But this is the difference (with PSG), Neves, when you are in the starting XI at Benfica at this age, it says a lot. Doué, when I saw him at Rennes, I said ‘Wow, €50m’. I saw his dribbles against us. We talked a lot about him but then there was the offer from PSG. It’s a lot of money. We want to develop our talents but maybe it takes a bit more time.

You talk about the imortant of experience players. Arguably there is not experienced player more important that Denis Zakaria, of course a player you know well having worked with him at three different clubs…

I’ve known him for over 10 years. You can see that he struggled at Juventus and Chelsea […] he is sometimes too often injured. We have to be careful about him also. He is always interrupted in his rhythm. He has missed 13 games this season, it is a lot for a key player. I can understand that the players around him are happy playing with him because he is a calm leader on the pitch. He is not the one who talks too much. That is his personality. He communicates on the pitch. It doesn’t matter what your approach is as a leader. If you do it with performance or if you’re more vocal, everyone can see. I think Zak is more this player and completely focused on the game. The players like it when he is on the pitch; he gives more stability.

How has he changed?

The first time I worked with him he was 18 – a big talent but sometimes he overslept! He missed practice, was late. I was really stern with him. He needed it. It wasn’t on purpose. He had alarms but didn’t wake up so I was hard with him! You could see he was a big talent with his big steps (stride), in the duels. As a fan, I say ‘Wow, what kind of player is this?’ He is a really box-to-box player. Now, he is more calm on the ball, his attitude changed a bit, a slightly different style from 10 years ago. What I like with him, when we talk about the person, I have the feeling that he is the same human as when I met him 10 years ago – so respectful. He was amazing at Gladbach and here too! Everyone loves him here at the club because he is humble and really kind, helpful. He has a lot of respect in La Turbie.

And in terms of the youth players, there is Eliesse Ben Seghir and Maghnes Akliouche who we talk about a lot. Would you say the former is in a difficult period?

For me, the process is normal. Every young player has it in his career. Sometimes you rise like a rocket! He had a really good first half of the season. It is normal that performances are like a wave. A part of development is needing those waves. He isn’t in his best shape at the moment but it is a normal process. Now he understands much more, when he was in the period where he was a bit tired, I think he was happy that he had less pressure, that he maybe came on as a sub. You can see the difference between him and Maghnes Akliouche is three years. You can see Maghnes, this season, he has never been under average. Last season, there were waves but this season, he is consistent in his performance. But he is three years older.

Do you think that Akliouche is deserving of a France call-up?

France have so many players on a top level but for me, I cannot see another player that has the same skills as Maghnes Aklliouche. He is a totally different player to France’s other players. It is their decision what they do with him. He showed us in big games too. He is brave, always dribbling, always has an idea. When I saw him one-and-a-half years ago in the duel… he wasn’t strong enough, he has developed and adapted a lot. He can now run… for me, he has a big career in front of me! I am encouraged to see where he can go. For me, we don’t know what happens. If we lose him in the summer, we lose him in the summer. This is also the club’s strategy to bring in young talents from its own academy to the first team an then at one point to sell them – this is the club’s plan and it is a good one! This is the process as a coach. I want to follow (Maghnes). This is the history of the club and I like it! For every young talent, we have to be careful – not talk about them too much and give them space.

Did you have to adjust your management style to the young squad?

I started doing this at the beginning of my career! Sometimes (at the start of my managerial career), I could not understand that some players did not have the same attitude that I had as a player. Then you start to learn that every player is another human. I started a lot with communication. How can you manage this player? Behind every player is a human, every day you are in touch with a person. When you don’t know someone, what is their reaction in a good or bad moment and you can make mistakes. There are always emotions and when you cannot control them, at the first moment that you are angry, you can say something and it can be too much. I am very careful about this. It doesn’t make a difference if they are old or young. When I’m angry, I am always talking about content and not the person. Sometimes, someone makes a mistake – I may be disappointed or angry, but as a person, it can happen. I build the relationship because I was also young and not always happy with the manager’s decisions. When you take something too personally, it can cause a break in the relationship. I am very careful with this.

Every player is happy when he is playing. You can only play 11 players on the pitch. When everyone is fit, you have more than 10 players off the pitch, How many players are at this moment disappointed that they aren’t in the starting XI? For this, you need a good relationship to be able to give them explanations. This is the job of the manager. But no one is bigger than the club; we are a part of this club.

And is it difficult to manage the dual objective between getting results and developing youth players?

When you sign a contract here at Monaco, you know what you have ahead of you. You have conversations and you know the idea of the club. The job is really demanding because on one side, you have the developing of the young players and then also bringing results, but also with a consistent style of play, so we have an idea of what we like to see. It is demanding but I like this challenge. At the end of the day, it is always about results and for that you have to work hard and a lot. It is always about performance. In the final period we have to be strong and last season we were strong. It’s demanding but this is what I like.

Akliouche and Ben Seghir have seemingly thrived because of the attacking style that you have implemented. Are you uncompromising in this philosophy?

When I was a player, I was a good No.8 and I liked to play it forward. I hated boring football: 15 passes around the back line, back to the goalkeeper because football, for me, is entertainment and I like to play an inspiring brand of football much more. It doesn’t mean that you win every game but I think the spectators expect you to play forward, to try and create chances and score goals, rather than score a 1-0 but always playing in a low-block, one or two chances, or with set pieces. In the end, that is not the approach for me, it isn’t how I see football.

But you need structure when you have the ball. The players clearly have positions when we have the ball. Sometimes the feeling of Maghnes, Eliesse, or Golo (Aleksandr Golovin) can be a little bit different because they are creative players. In the offensive third, I say ‘Guys, you are creative players’, so I don’t say, ‘You have to play this ball and this ball – guys, you earn money for your creativity’  But I want to see that they always have a good idea behind it. I don’t want selfish players who want a shot on target. Play together! Since Mika (Biereth) is here, I have the feeling that things have changed a little bit

How?

Because when we saw the first game against Montpellier, he was often in a really good position but we didn’t play him. It was too selfish. Instead of playing the final ball, we shot on target. We then had a fantastic meeting with the offensive players and we showed them videos of him at his previous club, Sturm Graz, look at his running, his attacking runs, and then Maghnes was like ‘Wow, yes’ and immediately in the next game. Mika gives us other skills, he attacks the depths; he was close to scoring twice against PSG. He is always there, a typical finisher and he can help us a lot. He’s always ready. Especially for me, I saw him often in Austria but then I saw him also in Girona, in Lille, when you see his runs, his feeling, he is what we missed, he is a good player. We have to be careful, to develop him.

How would you describe the style of play in Ligue 1?

It is also similar to the German Bundesliga a little bit because they also like it to create a more open game. What I like in football is, in France for sure, there are teams with structure, sometimes with low blocks, with quick transitions. In every team there are big strong strikers, fast wingers, this is the easiest way to be successful. Auxerre are also like this. At one moment, they are really quick up-front. It is not easy to cover three-quarters of the pitch. In Germany also, it is a more transitional league but in France too. When you see teams lower in the table, from restarts, they go high and try to press. For me, it is really exciting to see how many coaches are more brave. Lots of teams are brave and I like this!

And what made you decide to join the Monaco project? Was it a case of the right job at the right time?

When you look at my history as a coach, normally I average two years. I am happy to be here now! After recharging my batteries, and thinking a lot about myself, I was happy to find AS Monaco. It was all new: a new language and a new culture. I see myself as more of a development coach, not a firefighter. The relationship with the club is a really good one. I want to give lots back. They have shown a lot of trust in me as a person and as a coach. The duration of my contract is until 2027 but I don’t think about it. I think how can we achieve our goals year on year? To always be in the top three is a big ambition. I never underestimate Ligue 1 or our opponents for these places. Lots of teams are fighting for this: Nice, Lille, Lyon, Lens, Marseille, Monaco… for me, there are five or six clubs because one of the spots is already filled (PSG) and then there are two places for maybe five or six, teams. To achieve this year by year is a big challenge. This is my aim because then there is consistency and then it is easier for the club to organise year-by-year. For me, I should think in the short term, not in the long term. Decisive weeks are coming.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Monaco