Monaco - Nice

Coach Favre, case by case

On the eve of the trip to the Stade Louis-II (kick-off in the derby on Tuesday at 9pm), Lucien Favre spoke to the press. The Nice coach delivered an extensive update on his squad, answering every question asked of him about the “individuals”. Verbatim.

The coach on...

... Dante as a sub against Amiens: “It was planned that we would rotate at the back. And if we rotate, it’s for everybody.”  

... Balotelli: “He made a very good return (against Amiens) for 25 minutes. Is he going to start? It’s possible. He hasn’t played in the last 3 matches and he missed a lot of training sessions. We will see.“

... Jallet: “He is also coming back. In 4 days, he has trained a couple of times and isn’t feeling anything.”

... Le Marchand: “He can say: I play at centre back and full back, it’s great. It’s not a given that everyone can do both. The position of full back is more difficult, you are very close to the line, and he comes out of it very well. He is strong tactically, is very receptive, and with the ball at his feet, he isn’t bad... He has certain things to improve, we talk about them nearly every day. For him, it’s very good, and for the club too.”

... Burner: “He bounced back well against Amiens. Offensively, there is no need to talk about Patrick, he is very good. He still has some things to improve, it’s logical, he is young. But it’s very interesting.”

The low-down on the injuries

The coach confirmed that Papy Mendy, Arnaud Souquet, Arnaud Lusamba and Mickaël Le Bihan will be unavailable for the trip to the Principality. He then provided an update on the former Le Havre forward. “Le Bihan isn’t back with the squad yet. He is only running for the moment. He is getting back into shape physically, is working on his endurance, and is beginning some resistance work. We will see when (his return) to the squad will be possible, we don’t have a date for the moment. I hope for him that his progress will be positive. He is a very good player, we saw that last season...”