The original interview is really good. He comes across as a player that has a level head and wants to learn. Here’s a google translate of the Belgium article.
The new life of Isaac Mbenza: "Manchester City, we wonder how they do"
Jonathan Lange
Posted on Tuesday September 11th, 2018 at 10:37 am - Updated on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018 at 1:17 pm
By signing in Huddersfield, Isaac Mbenza has moved into a new world.
From a distance, his transfer surprised. In early August, Isaac Mbenza left Montpellier to join Huddersfield in the form of a pay loan of 2.5 million euros with a mandatory purchase option at 12.5, which therefore values up to 15 million.
A considerable amount that does not inhibit in any case winger who had arrived at the end of a cycle in France (see elsewhere) and who enjoys this arrival in England.
"It's going well, it's changing, I do not have the sun, he's having fun, but I have everything, I found an apartment in Huddersfield at twenty minutes. is a bit like Brussels. "
Seduced by German coach David Wagner's game plan: "We try to play precisely, he knows what he's doing, the coach told me I'm versatile and he has several options for me on the sides of his 4-2-3-1, even in 9 ", convinced by his exchanges with his former partner in Montpellier Steve Mounié and Adama Diakhaby with whom he shares the same agent and who has also signed this summer, immediately put at ease by Laurent Depoitre he gets to know, the striker said: "I could not land unknown." This did not prevent him from switching to a completely different reality. Between surprise and delight.
Isaac, the players who land in England often evoke a new world they discover at the first training. Myth or reality ?
"(Smile) England, it's completely different, it's going fast, in impact, even in small games, everyone wants to win as everywhere, but it's even more pronounced. It's not only: 'you come back, you lose' It's: 'you come back, you lose and there are consequences at the end of the month.' Even the grounds, the installations, is something else. "
You got shaken physically from the beginning?
"Obviously, in practice, you give yourself but it's not like in a match, when you're in training, you do not attack an opponent like in a match. you have to make a big mistake, you have to do it even in practice, it surprised me a bit but I quickly understood after two or three actions: if you want to exist, it's the based."
Because a training equals a match ...
"Exactly, you come back from training, you're cooked (laughs)."
You celebrated your first in the group in the defeat against Manchester City (6-1), a reference ...
"I played big teams like PSG, Marseille, Monaco, but City, to see them close, close, close (sic), it's not a coincidence to find them at this level.I understand why they are there It's the best, it's on the pitch, they're missing an action, it's not 'it's okay', they're really angry when they miss a pass because they know they must not miss it, while remaining calm. "
Where do you place them compared to the PSG for example?
"It's not like with Mbappé or Neymar who will take the ball and make the difference It was collective A team with control-pass, control-pass It's Guardiola In fact, it's the right pass at the right moment that triggers everything: a pass opens a lot of doors.We wonder how they do it.On the bench, I looked, I was focused on the game.But they made passes that on the bench I had not seen. "
Faced with such an opponent, as a substitute, do you absolutely want to return or, on the contrary, are you afraid of suffering?
"(Firm) No. Me, 6-1, 11-1, 21-1, I want to play, I play football for that, to play against the best, we're not here for all the time playing against the weaker ones because we do not really learn, we have to play against the strongest, watch them to learn, we learn from the best. "
Your debut took place a week later, against Cardiff. What did you feel ?
"I was happy, I realized my childhood dream of playing in the Premier League, I was super-happy until the red card (Hogg was excluded in the 63rd, he came in five minutes later). I'm going to get back in five minutes, I'm warming myself by saying that there's a way to do something, that we're good in the game, then there's this red card and I think we're going I had to defend, defend, defend, but I was super happy with this first point of the season, a great experience. "
"He farted a lead and disrespected me"
The Imp returns for the first time on his departure from Montpellier.
Isaac Mbenza may be a great dribbler, no way for him to avoid the subject of his departure from Montpellier. The opportunity also for him to lift the veil on the circumstances that led him to leave 18 months after his arrival.
Isaac, why did you leave Montpellier?
"I came to the end of a cycle and then I had the opportunity to sign in the Premier League." Entering this league is extremely complicated, the club is being built, it has arrived in the elite there is a The coach had the right words, he was able to convince me I had a bad relationship with the coach in Montpellier It also played for me to leave Montpellier is also there. I had more than a year of contract, I was planning to extend but there was this offer that came to 10 days from the end of the transfer window in England.They wanted to do it quickly Montpellier left me the choice They would have been I'm glad I'm staying, I would have extended, it would have been good, either I would stay, or I would go to the best world championship. "
You talk about your relationship with Michel Der Zakarian. How and when did it get worse?
"Just before the last selection in March with the Devils, after the match against Dijon where we made 2-2, I had a big altercation with him.We had the game in hand, we had to win this game 100 times. missed an opportunity by shooting close to 10 or 15 minutes from the end while we were still leading 2-1 and we conceded 2-2 The coach got angry, farted a lead and told me I did not really appreciate it, and after that, I can understand how angry it was, it was an important game for everybody, me, the club, but it has to stay in the frame. football, not that it goes beyond that.We explained after a few weeks.But something had broken.It was not the same.After that, I have held more than three matches. I was top scorer for a while (he finished the season with 10 goals, like Giovanni Sio, NdlR). "
Which is all the more surprising ...
"Yes, I scored a lot of goals, and when I put myself on the bench, I did not necessarily understand, without pretense, it's rare for a coach to go without his best scorer, it's his choice, I respect him. , but I also have the right not to accept it, it was too far, I was not happy to be on the bench, it's normal for a player not to accept it, otherwise is that there is a problem. "
The interest of Huddersfield is therefore timely ...
"Yes, but I did not necessarily have to go down, either, but I would not have said yes directly, it was a very important choice, today, young people of my age are at the A's, evolve in the biggest clubs in the world, we want to do it too, but before that, we have to make the right choices, those who are in the big clubs have made the right choices at the right time. my generation, to not lag behind the talent but our choices.It is important.I do not waste time.I had a experience at the Standard that serves.This was beneficial, I think otherwise. I do not say to myself: 'Ok, it's a good club, I'm going.' I weigh the pros and cons, I discuss with my advisers, with Montpellier, with Huddersfield.
Who valued you at 15 million euros, a significant sum for a player who had only one year of contract ...
"Sure, but if I stayed in Montpellier, I would have extended, it was in my interest and in the interest of both clubs, I would have had a good exit at the end of next season. I had it faster than expected. "
"We are the team to beat"
A warm reception awaits the imps in Hungary.
The Hungarians have not forgotten. For a long time, on March 26, the members of the Magyar delegation plotted in the night of Leuven against the exclusion of their central defender Toth after 10 minutes following a fault on Dimata that they considered severe and who had everything changed (3-0).
"It is clear that they will be revenge," says Mbenza. "Now we are the team to beat, we have not lost yet, we have to justify our quality."
The Imps did it by winning with maturity in Malta (0-4) while the Hungarians, in fact, lost in Sweden (1-0).
This defeat relegates them to 9 points of the Devils and Swedes who still have two matches to play when they have three to play. The difference in particular goals prevailing, the Hungarians can not catch up with the Swedes and a little hope exists for them to come up to the level of the Imps: it would be necessary for them to win this Tuesday night by more than three goals. 'gap while doing cardboard full then hoping that the men of Johan Walem then bow to Sweden. Improbable or almost
was there to celebrate?
