Luka Elsner encountered a footballer in Ligue 1 about whom he holds an extremely high opinion: Inevitable comparison with none other than Messi
Photo: Le Havre
Luka Elsner entered 2024 with a clear goal: securing survival in Ligue 1. But then… The bench of the Slovenian national team? Luka Elsner says he’s not experienced enough for such a significant step forward in his career. Indeed, at this moment, there’s no Slovenian expert gaining experience on such a grand stage.
As the coach of Le Havre in Ligue 1, Luka Elsner has faced a footballer about whom he holds an exceptionally high opinion. So high, in fact, that he unabashedly says he’s unstoppable. Comparisons to Lionel Messi are, of course, inevitable.
“Kylian Mbappe? He’s unstoppable. You have to reduce the volume of what he does. Regardless, it’s clear he’ll get his chances. He moves incredibly well on the field, creating space for finishing or linking up play,” said Luka Elsner, former coach of Domžale and Olimpija, in an interview for Sportklub.
Luka Elsner: “You can only try…”
The 41-year-old professional, currently guiding Le Havre to 11th place in the French league, continued about the Paris Saint-Germain superstar: “At times, it seems like he covers a lot of ground on the pitch, much like Lionel Messi, not actively involved in the game, and then makes the right move in crucial moments. You simply have to reduce his space, but the scenario in this game (Le Havre lost 0-2, Mbappe scored the first goal, note), where we were pushing high and had a lot of possession but lost the ball far from our goal, suited him perfectly. He played up front, which worked well for him in this match. Maybe it would’ve been different if it was eleven versus eleven. But he’s unstoppable, just like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in their prime. You can only try to limit his space as much as possible, which we did quite well, but he scored from one of the three situations he had.“
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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