Nice-Premiere took advantage of the international break to speak with the coach of Gym. A serene coach who reflects on Nice’s difficulty in winning at home. He also discusses the good performances of OL and LOSC, which he would like to take as examples.
Vincent Trinquat: The next match takes place in Strasbourg on November 19 after a mini international break. How do you feel about this break? Does it come at a good time or, on the contrary, would it have been better to play again immediately after a defeat?
Frédéric Antonetti: It’s definitely better to play immediately; the risk is overthinking. The players are responsive and no one stays in the locker room. They are all present. They are serious. We take advantage of this break to train well. I have a loyal and healthy group that wants to progress.
VT: Do you have a points target for the upcoming five matches at the end of the first half of the season? Tell us about these five games. Two very difficult ones with Lyon coming to town and a perilous trip to Rennes and then three matches against teams fighting for relegation: Strasbourg, Ajaccio, and Metz.
FA: The objective is to put the relegation candidate as far behind as possible. Currently, they are six points away. We need to widen that gap to be comfortable. To be honest, winning against Lyon would be an exploit. Rennes is a very good team. The Rennais are very strong at home, but we perform well on the road. And then the three teams currently in the relegation zone will be hard to beat. Last year, when Gym was in this position, they managed to get results. And it’s often the case when you’re in the bottom three.
VT: Is Lyon really untouchable this season? Do you watch their Champions League games? Do you watch them as a “normal” viewer or rather as a technician noting down the characteristics of that team? Are you thinking of solutions, for example, to counter Juninho’s free kicks without revealing them, of course?
FA: I watch the Champions League. Not always as a technician. It depends on my mood and the kind of day I’ve had. Sometimes it’s nice to relax and be just a regular viewer. I enjoy watching this competition more than an international match. The quality of the games is high.
Lyon in the league is above everyone else. And then, with a budget of 120 million euros, the highest in France by far, Olympique Lyonnais can afford a superior squad to any of its competitors. Remember that OGC Nice has a budget of 25 million. Lyon is progressing and structuring year after year. It’s necessary to congratulate OL. Having such a club in France is a very good thing for French football.
Regarding Juninho’s free kicks, I believe the best strategy is simply not to commit fouls. We also have very good free-kick takers, and we practice them in training.
VT: Also, a word about Lille and their great performance against Manchester. Can Nice ever hope to play in this prestigious competition?
FA: I really appreciate this question. This club should serve as an example for us. Remember when Nice was soaring at the top of L1, Lille was struggling. There was talk of firing Claude Puel but he stayed. He had a plan in mind. He was able to work in peace. And we see where all that led. Nice was living day-to-day whereas Lille had a medium-term project. Players like Makoun, Moussilou, Debuchy grew with the club. We need to take inspiration from that. We can also look up to Rennes. Nice was at the top of the rankings, and Rennes was flirting with relegation. But they kept the same direction. Stade Rennais is now playing in European competition. I think Nice should have built on their excellent league in the 2002-2003 season and planned for the medium term from there. That’s what I’ve been trying to do since I arrived.
VT: An away defeat versus four at home. Do you have an explanation, any solutions? Is it a mental issue? It sometimes seems like at Ray, the Eaglets play with a fear in their bellies, the fear of performing badly. Is this an observation you make, and how can you remedy it?
FA: In the first fourteen matches, we are critique-worthy at home. I don’t want to go back to the unusual match against Sochaux, but we should have won against Troyes and Nantes and drawn with Saint Etienne and Marseille. Bordeaux, we might have snatched a draw but we must admit that the Girondins were superior.
We faced three excellent goalkeepers who were men of the match: Jérémy Janot for Saint Etienne, Michaël Landreau for Nantes, and Cédric Carasso for Marseille. Add to that three posts against Troyes. Certainly, without victories, doubt sets in. With a victory and two draws, the doubt would have been dispersed. Let’s continue to work. However, I am aware that our track record at home is poor.
We are critique-worthy at home
VT: You are starting to be “heckled” by supporters upset over this 14th place. What do you want to tell them, especially those who criticize your formation in
4-3-3 and the off-center positioning of Koné?
FA: Being heckled for home results I would find logical. For the fourteenth place a bit less. But I don’t feel that the stadium is heckling me. As for the 4-3-3, I would understand criticism if we didn’t have chances. We create between five and ten chances per match and ten per striker since the start of the season. Less for Camara who has less playing time. To analyze, one must consider the opportunities we create thanks to this formation. Big teams play in 4-3-3 and are not reproached for this system. Against Bordeaux, I had Marama Vahirua support the two strikers, and it didn’t work. And then our 4-3-3 is effective away. The group is progressing, and the absence of results should not spoil everything. We should not delude ourselves into thinking we could finish in the top five.
VT: Nice Première will soon release a dossier on the training center of Gym. Do you participate in the training and give directives regarding the playing patterns? Have you spotted interesting potentials among the under-18s? Do you plan to integrate them into the professional squad before the end of the season?
FA: I have been to see the reserve team play five times since the start of the season. 75% of the CFA squad has trained or will train with the first team. This allows me to get to know them better. For a few weeks now, Ismaël Gace has been training with us. Regarding the training, I find it too early for me to interfere. At Saint Etienne, I started to interfere after two years.
VT: We met after the victory in Paris, we see each other after a home defeat against Bordeaux. Is it easier to talk to the media after a victory?
FA: Yes, of course, it’s easier.
