He had accepted to “say a few words” in the lead-up to the game against Saint-Etienne. He ended up speaking for more than half an hour, before being caught out by the imminence of the training session. A passionate man, an enthralling man, Adrian Ursea delivers his point of view on the Gym’s season and the hatching of his young talents. Throughout his answers, Lucien Favre’s assistant describes the methods of the Nice coaches and depicts his notion of football.

Has the derby at Monaco (2-2) been digested?
The squad has got used to playing back-to-back matches, especially thanks to the Europa League. The players are capable of getting themselves concentrated for matches, and then quickly coming back down after them. We have learned how to recharge our batteries, not only physically, but especially mentally, because in matches like these, the level of concentration and involvement needs to be at its maximum. Monaco is behind us, and we are focussed on Saint-Étienne.

“Failure is the first step towards progress”

What feeling dominated the atmosphere after Monaco?
There were several. We are still proud to have pulled out a big performance, especially against big sides. We had the match at hand until that error in concentration. Instead of contesting it, we needed to remain calm, get set-up, respect everybody’s position. Failure is the first step towards progress. It now needs to help us going forward and to bring something positive.

Since the heavy defeat against Lyon (0-5), Nice hasn’t lost in the league. This failure, did it serve as your “first step towards progress”?
All matches, good or bad, help us. After Lyon, we analysed what wasn’t going right, especially in certain situations in the game. There was progress after that because the players applied it on the pitch.

“There is a lot of humility in this squad”

How did this eureka moment take place?
You can’t say that there was “a” eureka moment, but a certain understanding. We are lucky to have a very lucid squad, where, we feel a lot of humility. Leaders like Dante allow everybody to keep their feet on the ground. The players rallied round, didn’t give in to the panic and continued to put our game into action. That’s the way that we got out of this difficult situation. Against Toulouse, after 4 minutes of the game, we were in 19th place….

How did you feel at that moment?
We were focussed on the football, even though we were aware of the league table. I retain that despite the tough winds, we continued to produce our passing game. That’s what allowed us to find our confidence again. After that, the save from Benitez is the real turning point in the game. But the game also allowed us to get our heads out of the water. I am a fan of the game. The game, it’s my language. And it’s above all the best way to get the result.

Did other factors help your return?
I think about our supporters, who never left us during this tough period. We need to take our hats off to them, because we always felt supported. There was a rather calm dialogue, they knew that we couldn’t lose our quality from one day to the next. We needed a bit of patience and a slice of luck to get things going again. I was very pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the fans. We also felt calm at the heart of the club. Including the employees. Nobody gave into the catastrophism.

“Before running, you need to know how to walk well”

We are less than one month away from the Round of 32 of the Europa League against Lokomotiv Moscow. Has the preparation for this match begun?
No, it will begin a couple of days before. We are competitors and it’s always the next match which is the most important. Today, we aren’t thinking any further than Saint-Étienne, even if the staff already have Lokomotiv in one corner of our minds, and we are beginning to analyse their matches on video. There is no better preparation for Moscow than to put in big performances in the matches before, so here’s hoping for some positive results. Before running, you need to know how walk well.

In the good period that you are currently going through, the Gym has been able count on the rise to power of some of the lesser used players at the start of the season. How have you been able to keep them mobilised?
The players need to be aware that the coach is forced to make choices and that it is preferable to offer him a variety of solutions. The second thing, which is the most important, is that, even when they don’t play, the players need to do everything so that they are in the best possible condition, physically and mentally, to be ready to take their chance when it arrives.

“It’s not us that make the choice: it’s the player”

Like Malang Sarr, who seems to have come back stronger…
Exactly. Malang had a slightly tricky period. For a 17 year old, spoken of by the medias as one of the best youngsters in Europe in his position, his start wasn’t the easiest to take. He learned his lessons, and what it means to be a professional. He continued to prepare, waiting for that chance to present itself to him. It came against Toulouse, where he made a very good return. We said to ourselves: “it’s interesting, we are going to be able to rely on him”. On the other hand, if a player is messing about and isn’t ready, we don’t have that feeling. In certain ways, it’s not us that make the choice: it’s the player who excludes himself or gives himself a way back into the team. At the moment, there are a few more chances to play for some: it’s down to them to show us that they are here and that we can count on them.

How can you continue to progress when you play less?
You can progress just by watching your teammates, by observing the opposition, by listening to the coach, Fred (Gioria), Alex (Dellal), etc. And in training, there is always something to correct on a technical level, the movement… Videos are an essential tool. Take the example of Adri Tameze: when he arrived, we had to throw him in at the deep end, to explain our philosophy to him, what we ask of midfielders, both offensively and defensively. The players have to get behind our philosophy. It comes down to details, which are fundamental.

What kind of details?
A body position for example. A lack of that wouldn’t allow the team to move forward. A bad piece of information will lead to bad control and will make us lose time, maybe even the ball. Our passing game implies risks that you need to eliminate. Adri (Tameze) is very open to listening and we can see that bit by bit, he is making progress. The policy of the club is to play youngsters. "JV" Makengo, Malang Sarr, Arnaud Lusamba, Vincent Marcel, and the others who are in their post-academy days. There are more things to correct than with experienced players like Mario (Balotelli). But the job to be done isn’t that big either.

“Give people pleasure, that’s our job”

On Sunday, you will welcome Saint-Etienne, who are in a difficult patch…
Yes, and they will give their all to get out of it. Their coach (Jean-Louis Gasset, Editor’s note) is very experienced, and caused us a lot of problems last year with Montpellier (2-1 victory). We have been warned. We will need to be focussed on our game and at the same time, taking into account the particularities of Saint-Étienne’s game.

Were you aware of the rivalry between Nice and the Verts ?
No, I discovered it when I arrived at the club. When I was young, Saint-Étienne had a very attractive style. I have always liked attractive play. Our first task is to give pleasure to people. I don’t see football any other way than that. I was shocked to see the reaction of the supporters, that despite our defeat against Monaco in the Coupe de la Ligue (1-2) saying to us: “how well did we play!”.  That made me think a lot. Johan Cruyff said that “quality without the result, is useless, and the result without the quality, is boring.” That is also our philosophy. Even in the tough moments we kept our desire to play.

F.H.

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