Dennis Appiah, annoyed with Nice's second goal, Saturday night.

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Valery HACHE / AFP

  • FC Nantes lost (2-1), for the third time this season (in six games), in Nice, Saturday night.

  • The Canaries will pass the international break in 16th place in Ligue 1 with two points ahead of 18th, Strasbourg.

At this accounting rate, eight years after leaving it, FC Nantes (16th) could well go up in the elevator and find Ligue 2. On Saturday, the Canaries were beaten (2-1) in Nice for the third time of the season in six Ligue 1 games and flirt dangerously with the relegation zone.

In 2020, the FCN won only three games out of fifteen (13 points out of 45 possible in L1).

The players point out, rightly at the start of the season, the calendar (defeat in Lille, Monaco and Nice) leaves no respite to the people of Nantes.

Nevertheless, the evil seems deeper to this day and the future of coach Christian Gourcuff more and more suspended.

Autopsy of a worrying situation for the FCN.

Big individual failures

It was the revelation of last season, it is the disappointment of this start of the year.

Moses Simon, 5 goals and 5 assists in 2019-2020, is only a shadow of himself.

“We lack a bit of madness,” regretted goalkeeper Alban Lafont on Thursday.

Simon embodied this zest of recklessness in 2019, this is no longer the case.

Last week, the Nigerian left winger spoke with coach Gourcuff and told him about his difficulties in the match, especially with an attacking side like Fabio behind him.

Other overdue executive players: Ludovic Blas, replaced on one side in Nice, still does not confirm (or only intermittently) the talent that is lent to him and the financial investment (8 million euros) made by the FCN he there is one and a half to bring him from Guingamp.

Saturday, it is Nicolas Pallois, often irreproachable, who showed himself a tone below.

As for Imran Louza, cut off at the start of the year due to his two suspension games, he does not seem (yet) to have his usual influence in the middle.

A collective that purrs

Still a little the same feeling.

Especially outside.

The Canaries are never completely overwhelmed thanks to a block (in 4-4-2) well in place.

But, in the offensive phase, the beautiful sequences remain in the preparatory stage.

Good intentions often fade up to the opponent's penalty area.

“You have to take risks, observed Alban Lafont on Thursday.

If you want to score goals and develop a good game, you have to take some.

"" It lacks the acceleration, it lacks the intensity, analyzed the same day, the Nantes coach.

Sometimes it's related to a mental aspect.

It is a notion of aggressiveness, not in the sense of contact, but in commitment.

"If he did not touch his immutable device for the trip to Nice, Christian Gourcuff changed the animation by changing the men (entry of Abeid, Louza a cut above and Blas on one side), as some players would have blown it last week.

A strangely calm transfer window

Monday evening, at midnight, the endless transfer window will finally be over.

Nantes, which has already taken two free players (Jean-Charles Castelletto and Pedro Chirivella) and raised the option to buy at 5 million euros for Simon, will he recruit before the final gong?

This Sunday, no attacker file (priority position sought) is really advanced.

This does not mean that no player can sign tomorrow… We know the propensity of the Kita family to accelerate cases in the money-time.

Are one or more departures still possible?

There again, it is dead calm.

Kalifa Coulibaly and Abdoulaye Touré (to name a few) have no firm offer yet.

A coach on borrowed time

With such results, Christian Gourcuff is inevitably in the eye of the storm.

Even more with a president whose reputation as a consumer of coaches is well established.

“When you do this job, you have to be ready for anything.

With my experience, we are even more ready for anything.

This is what Gourcuff let go on Thursday at a press conference on the question of whether he felt threatened.

In the meantime, if he had (perhaps) a doubt about the investment of some of his players last week, they did not fail in this area (outnumbered almost the entire match) Saturday night in Nice .

"If some doubted the solidarity of the group, they had the answer," said the Breton on Saturday evening.

This Sunday, there was no question of the dismissal of Gourcuff, who is lucky to be appreciated and respected by President Kita.

This consideration should however not be sufficient in the event of a bad series after the break (reception of Brest, trip to Lens and reception of Paris).

Hotbeds of tension all around the team

“There are a lot of negative vibes right now.

“Several employees made the same observation last week when an extrasportive affair arose… At Jonelière, hotbeds of tension have been burning for several weeks.

One of these files was publicized at the beginning of September when Stéphane Ziani, coach of the U19 years, said out loud what many trainers thought of Christian Gourcuff.

The professional staff of the Nantes coach also maintains very fresh relations with the medical staff, especially some physiotherapists.

Internally, some employees, supported by management, have allowed themselves to grow wings and have many rights.

Their takeover coincided with the sacking of several people, some of whom had great affinities with players.

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