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Srarfi: “I am progressing, and I don’t intend to ease off”

One year - almost to the day - after his arrival, Bassem Srarfi seems to have stepped it up a notch. The man who made the difference in the first game against Toulouse, earning the penalty and then scoring the winner in the 91st minute (2-1), the young Tunisian international (20 years old) took the time to speak to us ahead of the visit of the Violets (kick-off on Saturday at 8pm). Lively, decisive, tenacious, he broke down his year in Nice during a quick visit to the Allianz Riviera, in the middle of the day. Longing for the future with a burning desire. 

Bassem, before anything else, when we talk about the first match against Toulouse, what comes to mind? 

It’s really the turning point of our season, the match that changed everything. If it had gone differently, our season could have become more complicated, because we weren’t going through the best of periods. It was also a turning point for me, on a more personal level. I scored my first goal in L1 there, and from that, I gained confidence (this season, he has played 15 matches in L1 and has scored two goals, Editor’s note).

One year after your arrival, do you think that you have adapted well? 

In any case, I am giving everything to do so. In persevering, working hard, I am beginning to feel really, really good. Bit by bit, I am picking up confidence. At the start, it was difficult, a new club, a new country, a new league... Progressively, in working, I have been able to get closer to the level of the others and that makes me happy. I feel that I am appreciated too, at the club and by the supporters. The coach encourages me to have even more confidence in myself and to reproduce what I do in training in the games. I feel that I am progressing in all areas, physically, tactically and technically. I am progressing, I see it and I don’t intend to ease off. I need to become stronger to be able to resist even more in the duals, because in L1, from this point of view, it is very demanding...

The defensive efforts: is that one of the biggest changes in your game?

Defending is an obligation, it’s normal and logical to apply myself. To be honest, I have been doing it more since I arrived and more than when I was at Club Africain. A lot more. What’s more, if you don’t defend, you can’t play in Ligue 1, it’s as simple as that. However, it’s not because you defend well that you need to forget to attack. Especially when you are an attacking player. Quite the opposite, that’s the best part. 

Check out the full interview with the number 11 in the next OGCNICE.mag.