With the elimination in the Coupe de France by Tourcoing on February 22nd, Nice Volley Ball is on a streak of six consecutive defeats. Falling behind in the championship, the Nice team now has one foot in Ligue B and cannot afford any more mistakes. An analysis of a chaotic journey before the final away game against St-Quentin on February 25th.
“Disoriented” – this is the word used by the coach of Nice Volley Ball, Slobodan Lozencic, concerning his players after their elimination in the Coupe de France against Tourcoing on Tuesday night, losing in three sets. But what has so disoriented the Nice team? For this match, the unavailability of key players such as Raphaël Mrozek and Ian Furneau was undoubtedly detrimental. Moreover, this trip to the north of France had been approached by the Azure staff as a preparatory match for the rest of the championship.
Five consecutive defeats and only one set won
But because of this, another question arises: what situation is NVB in the championship that it sacrifices a run in the Coupe de France? The answer is simple: they are in danger. The Nice volleyball players have not won in Ligue A since January 14th against… Tourcoing. Then followed five defeats in which Nice only managed to win a single set (against Poitiers at home). A bad streak that hurts, especially in terms of general ranking. Rémy Kraska’s teammates are in the penultimate position (with 15 points in 18 matches). And what is most problematic is that they are now five points behind the twelfth and last non-relegated team, Toulouse.
Last season, NVB, newly promoted among the elite, had a relatively good run in the championship, finishing in an honorable eleventh place. So, logically, if the 2010/2011 season seems tougher, it is either because the competition is of a higher level or something has happened within the Azure club that weakened it.
Whose fault? What is the reason?
First hypothesis: the change of coach in the offseason is not suitable. The graft has not taken. But since the squad and the main group have not radically changed, the blame cannot be placed on Lozencic (at least not completely). Second hypothesis: Nice has suffered, throughout the start of the season, from the physical ailments of its players, particularly its best player, Brazilian attacker Alex Damiao. This handicapped the team for a good part of the championship. From this perspective, the recent injuries of Mrozek and Furneau are obviously not a good omen for the rest of the competition. Moreover, to cope with the latter’s absence, the Nice club has just signed a 25-year-old Bulgarian player from the Russian championship, Aleksandar Simeonov.
Nice or the “Little Thumb” complex
Third hypothesis: even if the NVB players deny it, an inferiority complex towards other Ligue A teams has developed. At the end of each match, while regretting the result, the coach praises his team for “playing on par with the opponent during one set. After that, the team faltered physically.” These increasingly frequent post-match phrases from the Nice team suggest that they lack the necessary ambition at the highest level. Or, deep inside, Nice has already prepared for relegation to a lower division.
Yet, all hope is not lost. They have a postponed match (against Paris), and they face the bottom of the table team, St-Quentin, on Friday, February 25th. The moment for this Nice team to prove that they were written off too quickly, the moment for them to prove that they have heart and pride. And the upcoming matches may be revelatory.
