Saint-Maximin: 'I never think about myself, or the statistics'

A month has passed since Allan Saint-Maximin sidestepped Diogo Dalot in the box and took aim. He still thinks about it, about what happened next. "I know that chance could totally change the game. For sure, this is in my head," he says. "It was very difficult after that game, especially when you know you don't really do nothing wrong.

"The shot, it was a great save from the keeper. You just feel like there is a lot of luck sometimes. If you look at the shot of Rashford, you have the chance of the ball being tackled by Sven (Botman), or going up… sometimes you need luck in football, and we didn’t really have that luck in that game.

"I don't feel bad for myself. I feel more bad for the supporters because they really deserved that. There were so many supporters there. You just keep thinking about how that final can go if that chance was not missed, you know? But football is like that. I need to think about that chance again and to make sure that if I have that opportunity this weekend, it will be in the back of the net."

"I know that chance could totally change the game. For sure, this is in my head."

It took a week for the feeling of emptiness to pass after February's Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United. Saint-Maximin says he felt the weight of history that day. It was 0-0 when David de Gea threw an arm up to repel his shot and it never really got much better than that for Newcastle. Defeat in a first final for 24 years stung but the Frenchman, sitting in a far corner of his club's airy training centre restaurant, feels invigorated now.

"I feel great. It's different than before, because we fight for something big," he offers. "We all know why the supporters deserve to be in that position. It's great to be able to fight for something bigger, to be in Europe – especially the top four. There are 12 games left before the end of the season and we're going to fight.

"It's a great feeling because we know it's in our hands. We know what we have to do. We know how many points we need to get. We have a great staff, it's the best group and best team I've been with. We need to know that we have already achieved nothing, to really be focused, and finish the season with everyone happy – the club, the supporters and all the players – to be able to fight and to be in Europe next season."

It is strikingly different to before. What was 'before' like? "It was hard. Some people don't understand but it's very hard to fight to not go down. We know if that happened the club would probably change – everything, even the staff numbers," he nods over at the counter, behind which chefs are preparing lunch for the players, "the people who work there in the kitchen – everything changes. That's why when you stay at the top level in the Premier League, it's something big. It was a tough challenge but I think because that happened to us, we are even more stronger than before."

"It's a great feeling because we know it's in our hands. We know what we have to do."

Saint-Maximin is on form and is speaking with an engaging freeness. There is apparent genius in him but it has always felt like there is more to come, more to produce. There has to be from a player with so much natural ability. Under Eddie Howe – a manager the 26-year-old feels has done "an incredible job" at St. James' Park – it is thought there is more of a framework, a structure, in place to funnel and harness Saint-Maximin and his unique talent.

But for the last 18 months there has been almost constant speculation about his future, about whether it lies at Newcastle, about whether his style fits their new way of playing. "My response is simple," he begins. He wants to be clear. "When I play, I always try to do my best and to make sure we win. I never think about myself, or the statistics, or think, 'OK, I need to make sure I have the best statistics so I will be in the best position if I have to move or if I have to stay'. I never think about that. I always think about the team. When I go to the pitch, my main focus is to make sure we win. Even if I don't score or I don't make assist or nothing, I want to make sure we win. It's what I always do.

"I think I helped the team a lot to not go down this past year, and I contributed a lot in that. It's always my main focus. I did the same this season. I started very well, we didn't lose any games when I was on the pitch and it's always my main focus. I'm there to make sure we don't lose. All the players think like that. I did a very good game against City, I scored a goal against Wolverhampton. After, I had the World Cup in my mind with the French team as well, and after, I got injured.

"When you get injured in that situation, it's hard. It's very hard mentally, especially when you have a goal in your mind, to go to the World Cup and all of that, and you start very good – score, assist and everything. It was very painful for me, and after you have to go to war again, go and fight to keep your place, you know?"

He continues as his answer rolls into the minutes. "Before, it was different, because you get injured and the team have not very good results and you have a lot of pressure on you because you need to come back as soon as possible. But that time was different (to) a year before, because the team was playing well and they were winning so when you come back, you need to show, even when the team keep winning, and that's exactly what I did.

"If we look now, we have two games and I started the (last) two games and we won the two games. I was involved in the goal we scored (through Alexander Isak against Nottingham Forest). This is always my main focus. I did a great game against Liverpool, and I was man of the match when we got the red card, but we didn't win the game. It's a great performance from me in that game but it's not what I want for the team, you understand?

"It's always like that. My main focus is not myself. It's always to think about the team. I'm going to do the same this weekend, and even if I don't score many goals or many assists, if by the end of the season we are in the Champions League, I will be very, very happy with that. For sure, if I can score and make assists it will be great for me and great for the team as well. But I want to do that when we win. I don't want to do that, score a goal and we lose 3-1. This doesn't make sense for me."

Saint-Maximin celebrates after setting up Joe Willock's opener in the 2-0 win over Manchester United

We both draw breath. Data and statistics lead the way in football now and there is an argument that such metrics probably do a disservice to players whose qualities are kind of unquantifiable, visible primarily to the naked eye. Numbers cannot adequately convey the thrill of watching Saint-Maximin in full flight. He has referred to his international ambitions though and there is a realisation that if he is to break into the France squad, goals and assists are likely required in bulk.

"For sure, it's my target as well. I want to give my best to get the French call. I know how it's tough to be in that squad. We have incredible players there. But it's good to have a goal like that because you can push yourself," he says, pausing. He has returned to the previous question and has more to add. "And you know when I look at the system, that's why I'm not really worried about what people say. I can see a lot of comments, a lot of people say, 'Maxi don’t really fit in that system', 'he don't really run enough' or a lot of things like that. But I know it's not true. I know as a fact I was the main player and I was the player to run back and do all the things, even if I need to get injured for the team, to make sure we don't lose and we don't go down to the second division. When you get that fight, the fight I have now, it's nothing difficult for me, because I used to be in a more difficult position. Now we fight for something, we work for something. It's a better position to be in.

"I always try to run back, to help the team to attack as well. Sometimes the people outside don't understand that. Sometimes what they think is not what the manager asked me to do, you understand? The manager always asks me to give my best defensively but he wants me to attack, he wants me to score goals, he wants me to run, to go one-v-one against my defender. If I always, like, be and play like a left back it would not be possible for me to do that. With my quality, I need to find the balance and it’s what the manager wants from me (that is important). That's why sometimes people think they know everything, but they just know nothing. That's why I'm very comfortable because the manager knows when I am on the pitch, we don't lose like every single game. That's the most important for me."

"My main focus is not myself. It's always to think about the team. I'm going to do the same this weekend, and even if I don't score many goals or many assists, if by the end of the season we are in the Champions League, I will be very, very happy with that."

He points out that he has not made any critical errors this term and believes that even if he had, the bonds in the Magpies' dressing room are too thick to be severed by unintentional errors. "We will never go, 'you did that', 'you did this'. For sure, the people outside are going to do that – 'it's you', 'it's him' or this and that. But that's why I feel comfortable – because I know I don't put myself in that situation. That's why I just want to keep fighting, keep doing my best for the team to not concede a stupid goal because of my fault."

It is authentic stuff and he delivers it with conviction. He tells of another bond he shares outside of football too. Saint-Maximin immerses himself in the Helios community, made up of players of the card game of that name that he developed. He says there are more than 10,000 in that group now, helped by an app, with the majority of players in Newcastle but some in Manchester and London. They hold tournaments and he provides prizes, his own way of giving back. "I meet a lot of people around Newcastle I would never have met without the game," he explains.

"Football, and life – it's all about memory. Without that game, without that community, I would never be able to share that moment with them, and I would just stay at home with my family, recover, watch movies, do my own work, do nothing else. But that helped me go out, to talk with the people, to improve my English, to know more about the Geordies and lots of things inside Newcastle. Lots of people have never left Newcastle – they've always lived there, some people have season tickets there."

He feels his connection with the city, shaped by football and supplemented by Helios, is a lasting one but seems worldly-wise enough to not predict the future. "I will always never forget when they cry my name, when they be there and give me the love, and I will always try to give back to them."

"Here, it's different. The feeling, my life here, the way I love the supporters, and the way they support me and love me – it's crazy."

There are 12 games left for Newcastle to book their return to Europe. Saint-Maximin wants to help them get there and experience it with them. "It would be crazy for me, like, the biggest achievement in my career," he says. "I've never been in a situation where I start every single game and be part of a team going to be in the Champions League or Europa League. That's never happened in my career. I've been at Nice and Monaco as well, very good clubs, always in a good position. They won the league as well at Monaco.

"But it was not like here. Here, it's different. The feeling, my life here, the way I love the supporters, and the way they support me and love me – it's crazy. They've been there when everything was not good. To see myself when everything starts to come together, I feel very good."

With those last two starts and wins, he feels, has come a greater level of fitness than he had felt earlier in the campaign. There are significant games to follow in the coming months – Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea stand out – but today's visit of Manchester United is the kind Saint-Maximin, the born showman, craves.

"It's the best game to play. I love playing big games," he nods. "As I always say, we see the best players in the best games. When it's a big game, you want to see all the very good players, and if every single player gives their best – as we did against Chelsea, against Manchester City, against Arsenal – I am sure we are going to have the best chance to win against any team.

"But we need to make sure that all the players are on it. If that happens, I don't really worry about the result. Because I know we're going to win."