In his press conference, the Nice coach pointed to the breakdown of his side in the second period, after a first half that they had perfectly managed.

Lucien, when a side misses so many chances, it is difficult to hope for a result... 

Yes, it's difficult. We played well in the first half but a match lasts 95 minutes. It's a rhythm to keep up, be it offensively or defensively. We saw that in the second half, we struggled to hold onto the rhythm that we had in the first.

How do you explain this lack of reaction?

You need more mobility. To have so many chances in the first half and to come in at 0-0, it isn't a problem in itself. It's like that, that's football. But then, you need to stay concentrated, to continue to make runs. To be compact like we were able to do for 45 minutes, with a pretty high level possession. If you put more effort into making runs than marking, you can't expect to have a half at the same level. If one or two do it less well, it's a chain reaction that follows.

Is the problem physical or mental?

I never speak about the mental side in front of the media. I don't like it. But then, I see things that aren't going right... We train very well, but there are things missing in the match. Above all, you need to be consistent throughout the match. At 0-0, we had the chances to score 2 or 3. That's when it is most dangerous, because you need to concentrate more to prevent surprises.

Sometimes we get the feeling that your backline is left isolated...

A 4-4-2, it's nice, it can be spectacular, like the 4-2 against Marseille, but it can also be dangerous at times. You can't lose the ball in those situations, when you are facing the game. They counter at incredible speed with very quick players like Ninga. We didn't see that in the first half. For the goals, it isn't the central midfielders who are in question. In a 4-4-2, we need to sew up the wings where the ball is so that they can't shoot from these kind of positions. These are details. For the second, our midfielders get beat easily, Montpellier counter and were on a roll. You need to recognise that we didn't have the same quality in the second half.

Are you surprised by this difficult start? 

The league can be very tough, this is not a surprise, I said it before the season. Look at last season, against Montpellier, we were losing 1-0 here before coming back through Belhanda in the final minutes, at home we were losing 1-0 before the brace from Le Bihan. We will need time to find the quality from last season. But it is another match that we have wasted. There are positive things but 

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