A New Dawn for OGC Nice: From Summer Struggles to Top Ligue 1 Defence
OGC Nice have conceded just a miserly four goals from seven games
There was a time in the early days of summer sunshine when the future of OGC Nice looked bleak and forlorn, yet another window of dysfunction seemed in store for the club on the banks of the Mediterranean.
A little-known manager had walked through the door, their distracted billionaire owner Jim Ratcliffe was chasing the takeover of fallen giants Manchester United and the transfer activity consisted of crown jewels being linked with moves away.
Today, their summer troubles seem so far away, their acroamatic Italian manager 34-year-old Francesco Farioli has spearheaded an undefeated start to the Ligue 1 season.
After seven games, OGC Nice are sitting pretty in fourth position after collecting a credible three wins and four draws from their spoils of early season war.
Ligue 1 Table After Seven Games
What is this early season form built on?
The Italian’s philosophy has seen OGC Nice kickstart their season forged on a solid defensive foundation; they have the best defence in Ligue 1 after seven games conceding just a mere four goals (note they have defeated PSG in Paris 3-2 too).
Central to the OGC Nice stern defensive spine is the immortal Brazilian legend Dante, who is enjoying a never-ending Indian summer in the French Riviera.
Dante’s OGC Nice love story began way back in 2016 and at 39-years-old his powers are still shinning so brightly that he is the club captain.
A competitive player by nature he is arguably one of the club’s best signings in the modern era, remarkably he is older than their new manager.
Farioli only recently earned his UFEA Pro Coaching certificate, a qualification he did not possess when he was hired just a few months ago.
The Italian though is a learned man, gaining a treasure chest of transferable knowledge from his studies in Sports Science and Philosophy.
Timeline of crucial building blocks to this new look OGC Nice
Entertaining Rather Than Functional
Nice have at times in recent years been pleasing on the eye, a side often endowed with a maverick of sorts, players who could get onlookers on the edge of their seats through a moment of skill often infused with a sprinkling of madness.
Another Italian Mario Balotelli in the not-so-distant-past came to the club with a troublesome reputation but in the South of France his escapades on the pitch in Nice colours, brought some welcome levity to the club instead of the turmoil that often haunted his career.
And who could forget the marauding runs of Allan Saint-Maximin, a player when playing for the club was full of bullish bravado and blood headed bluster.
Last year it was journey men Ross Barkley and Aaron Ramsey that held the entertaining baton at the Allianz Riviera but today thus far this version of OGC Nice seems different.
Under Farioli a press is implemented when the opposition is in possession, a web of zonal and man on man aims to suffocate the enemy.
There is a ruthless streak to the way they hunt in packs with a high press, this seems in many ways a coming of age for the club’s identity underpinned by honest hard work.
They no longer seem a soft touch, their stars are not born for YouTube showreels or the occasional moment of magic that would be enough to secure a midtable finish.
This incarnation of Les Aiglons looks different and plays the game differently too, instead of star names at the end of their career there is hunger, organisation and no shortage of endeavour with and without the ball.
Totem Poles of This New OGC Nice Way
Two players who personify this newfound lease of developing football identity at the club are a defensive warrior in Youssouf Ndayishimiye and a hardworking left back in Melvin Bard.
At this early stage of the season, only three players in Ligue 1 have more interceptions than Ndayishimiye, the 24-year-old native of Burundi is a tireless chaser of danger.
The versatile player who can play in defence and midfield arrived in January 2023 from Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir so far, he is proving a quality addition and seems to be thriving under the new manager’s methods.
The now OGC Nice Sporting Director Florent Ghisolfi was an integral part of the RC Lens renaissance, he is widely known for turning water into wine when it comes to the transfer market and in Ndayishimiye he maybe producing yet another quality vintage bottle of footballing genius.
French outlet L’Équipe reported RC Lens made a last-ditch unsuccessful attempt to steal Ndayishimiye from Nice’s grasp indicating he was a long-term feature of Ghisolfi’s scouting book of gems once considered during his Lens tenure.
At left back, 22-year-old Melvin Bard is exerting his influence with increasingly regularity under Farioli, he is a player of enormous humility but also comes with a footballing reptilian temperament dotted with innate talent that anoint him with everything a team needs in a left back.
Combative and exemplary in spirit, he is fast becoming one of the best left backs in French football, his rise to prominence has seen him become a key cog in this machine.
Bard is another sumptuous talent to come from the Lyon football factory and one they may well deeply regret waving goodbye to.
He had a loan spell at OGC Nice before joining permanently back in 2021, he has everything a supporter or manager would want in a player.
Now make no mistake Farioli has plenty of star quality at his disposal too Jean-Clair Todibo, Khéphren Thuram and Terem Moffi to name just a few.
But at this early juncture the new Italian manager is showing signs of sealing the sarcophagus shut on the days of OGC Nice being bereft of footballing identity and widely regarded as a soft touch.
There is a clear book of evidence in seasons gone by, that show when OGC Nice’s feet are held to the fire they fold like a boxer with a glass jaw.
Since the INEOS takeover the club has looked and performed like a pampered prima donna, oscillating between petulance and mediocrity but there are shoots of something growing in this team.
The new manager’s techniques are bearing early fruit, just ask PSG…
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