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Last Sunday, as he left the pitch after the hard earned victory over Lyon (1-0), Wylan Cyprien stopped to speak to OGCNICE.com. The midfielder, who is used to “speaking his mind”, made the most of a “classic” reaction in his post-match analysis of the Gym’s recent form.

Wylan, what did you make of this victory over Lyon?

It was a good evening and having seen the other results, the three points are important. In a corner of our heads, we all wanted to go out and win this one. The thing that makes me proud, is the way that we did it. Every single thing was done selflessly, full of solidarity and each and everyone of us put in a lot of effort for each other.

When I looked to my left, Walter, to my right Tameze, behind me Benitez, up front Ganago, I felt that solidarity and support. We were in any case. That’s the way that I love my OGC Nice. 

We really wanted to show that the match against Lille was an accident and not a lack of desire or determination. It was the best response that we could give. We dotted the Is and crossed the Ts.

Can you understand why some viewers could have felt “a lack of desire” during your defeat at Lille (4-0)?

No. To think that we didn’t give our all, that hurts. I went home and I was disgusted with the match, I had cramp... This defeat was viewed badly because we conceded four goals and in our runs and our tracking back, we weren’t able to give our best. But we are only human, there are days where our legs are heavy or where they don’t do what we want, even though our heads may want to. I don’t know anybody in any profession, be it footballers, politicians, police officers, referees, architects... who deliberately tries to be bad. We thought we would and we wanted to do well at Lille. It’s just that sometimes, it doesn’t happen. We are aware that we were poor in that match. 

Criticism is part of the game. After that, I went back out to battle, like we all did. We worked as hard as we could so that we didn’t have to live through that again. Against Lyon, it paid off. But against, Lyon, we weren’t leggy.  

Going from a heavy defeat to an excellent in one week could seem disconcerting: how can you explain this “yo-yo effect”? 

The squad is very young and lacks experience. Ganago (20 years old) is just starting in L1, Allan (21 years old) is very talented, but is still very young, Myziane (20 years old) is in the same boat. Myself, despite the fact that I have quite a lot of games on the clock, I am only 24, Rémi 24, Adrien 25... When you look carefully, the average age isn’t very high.

Given that we aren’t that experienced, we make up for it through our desire, determination, lots of running and physical effort. So everything is a bit inconsistent because our freshness makes a big difference on our results. Sometimes, everything goes well, in others we could manage things better because we struggle to do so. It can be tough, but in any case, we never cheat. No matter the opposition, we are fully committed.

”It’s down to us to knuckle down and pick up points” 

How do you feel about the end of this season? 

I am not a dreamer but I have objectives. I know where I want to go and where I want the team to go. With our quality and solidarity, we can surprise a lot of teams and beat whoever.

Except for Paris, the league is very tight. There are and there will be a lot of surprises. Nothing is expected of us, it’s down to us to knuckle down and pick up points, to play as the outsiders and why not, finish as high as possible, where nobody is expecting us.  

Against Lyon, you passed the mark of 100 L1 appearances. What does that mean for you?

It makes me proud. When I started 5 or 6 years ago (28 January 2013, with a match between Lens and Dijon, Editor’s note), never would I have imagined that I would make my 100th L1 appearance at 24 years of age. When you include L1 and L2 (where he also boasts 69 appearances), it’s not bad... but it’s not the end. I want to go even further, to play even more, and above all, to be good. When I was injured, I spent many long months away from the pitch, I know what it is to be on the sidelines, so I make the most of every game.

Last Sunday, two youngsters made their professional debuts: Maxime Pélican and Paul Wade. What advice can “the old boy” Wylan give them? 

Both of them have lots of quality. Paul is still very timid, but I am sure that in the years to come, he will be a real star for OGC Nice. He should continue working and not get caught up in what happens around him. The same for Maxime, who is already a lot less shy (smiles). He has already shown in N2 that he is a goalscorer. What he gives will help us, be that in training or when he comes on. In the future, he needs to keep his carefree nature. It’s down to us to help the youngsters. We love them and we treat them as if they were our own kids.

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