Style more important than points to Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri is confident that Monaco can bounce back from defeat to Saint-Etienne by maintaining their passing style.

Last Saturday’s 2-0 reverse was the first of 2014 for Monaco and, coupled with Paris-Saint Germain’s victory over Marseille, saw Ranieri’s men slip eight points behind the Ligue 1 leaders.

Ranieri is not concerned at the gap between Monaco and PSG, maintaining that the side’s style of football is more important.

“The most important thing for me as coach is the way Monaco plays football,” he said.

“I want to see Monaco play the game well.

“For me, it’s about the philosophy of the football itself.

“The idea is obviously to win with the desire to also play well. The results will come for us if we play good football.

Monaco face Sochaux on Saturday and Ranieri expects a tough encounter with a side fighting to stay in Ligue 1 under Herve Renard.

“The most important thing is to think about the next game against Sochaux,” he added.

“It will be a difficult game, difficult like the game against Reims.

“It’s going to be a really, really difficult game and a tough test for our team.

“Everybody thinks that Sochaux will be relegated, but I believe they will save themselves in Ligue 1 this season. It will be a really hard game for us and we need to secure a win.”