Nice (AFP)
Start of fire in Nice after four defeats of rank? Coach Patrick Vieira and his captain, Dante, play the firefighters, but the most effective would be to beat Reims this Sunday (17:00) for the 12th day.
Vieira also assumes the role of the policeman. Was he too nice to the players? "I will say rather too patient with some," he replies, pitching his group for the first time this season at a press conference.
For the first time since his arrival on the Côte d'Azur, Patrick Vieira has pointed out the individual failures of his players after the road exit in the Coupe de la Ligue at the 18th L2, Le Mans (3-2).
"Annoyed, very angry", after "an unacceptable performance", the technician warned "some players" who "must realize that their performance is insufficient".
Vieira takes his share, judging himself "not enough behind them, not precise enough in (his) demands", but also leaves the stick.
- "State of mind" -
"The defensive withdrawal is for example a state of mind.When we do not have it, everything becomes very complicated in the field," warns the coach.
Nice, whose last victory dates back to 21 September (Dijon, 2-1), is three lengths from the barrage, so there is urgency, even if the OGCN is also only five lengths of the Rémois (4th) .
It is especially sporting that Nice is on a bad slope. His game is disintegrating, his will too. Very palpable in the first period in Strasbourg (1-0) and more in the Sarthe.
The game and state of mind are no longer really there as these are the key points of the message of the 1998 World Champion.
"We are having a difficult time, it's part of the construction," admits "PV", evoking the arrival of the powerful new owner, the oil group Ineos, who has only experienced two victories since taking power.
Vieira, who has swept the hypothesis of a return of unemployed Hatem Ben Arfa ("It does not fit into the project", he assured), is not in danger.
- "Accept critics" -
Its president, Jean-Pierre Rivère, assured him a "total support" Wednesday in the columns of Nice-Matin. "There is no crisis, we must stick together".
In eight years in the presidential chair, he has dismissed only one coach. In its early days (Eric Roy, in November 2011). And he then supported Claude Puel and Lucien Favre during autumns under pressure.
Vieira can also count on the support of his captain. Dante and the coach are on the same wavelength, including the idea of gentrification with the arrival of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe at the end of August and in his wake of talented recruits opening new perspectives to a ranked formation 7th to wrist strength in the spring.
"You have to accept the critics and look at each other in the mirror, I'm lucky to have a big one at home," says Dante about Vieira's change of tone.
For the Brazilian, the group is behind his coach. "He puts a system in place and he can say whatever he wants, he does not play on the field, we have to find our state of mind from last year, to make the efforts together".
"Against Reims and Bordeaux we already have the duty to recover our values because if we win by playing like at Le Mans, we will not be happy", assures a Dante just as voluntarist as pragmatic: "I would like to have 6 points of more at the truce ".
The Niçois have two matches to meet the requirements of their coach.
© 2019 AFP