After his side’s seventh 1-0 victory of the season on Sunday afternoon against Strasbourg, Patrick Vieira didn’t hide his satisfaction. 

Patrick, another 1-0 victory!

We would have liked to have scored more but we came up against a very well-organised Strasbourg side. It was difficult to create chances and to be dangerous in attack, but we defended well and we were solid. After we opened the scoring, we were disciplined and agressive.

You already have 40 points, but have only scored 20 goals…

It’s difficult to explain, that’s true. We rely on our experience at the back to make up for our shortcomings in attack. The idea is to defend well and to allow our players the freedom to create something. Tactically, we were solid on the whole and we didn’t steal the three points.

Strasbourg weren’t that dangerous either..

We had a good amount of control throughout the match, but for us, it was tough in the final 30 metres. Our attacking players aren’t playing in their natural positions either. We need to continue to work, and I need to find the players that will bring something up-front.

You played Makengo in a false 9 position, can you explain?

JV is a player who is able to keep the ball with his back to goal. It’s without doubt his best match of the season. 

And Youcef Atal who has been missing for almost a month made a winning return! 

He was very important for us. He balances out the side with Allan on the other side. They are both players with a lot of pace and are capable of winning one-on-ones. Physically, it was a bit difficult for him but he had a very good game. It wasn’t planned for him to play the whole 90 minutes, but he held on. He is a good guy, he gives his all, and needs love to express himself. Here in Nice, he is very well supported and that allows him to be good on the pitch.

This victory is important for the side’s confidence…

More than that it was to get back to winning ways which was important for morale. Especially with the energy the players put in. They really deserve it. We lost the last two matches, but the effort in training this week didn’t drop. Today, it’s the reward for the last few weeks in training.

This match was also a tactical battle with your counterpart…

At the end of the first half, the tactical changes that Strasbourg made caused us problems. We changed systems at the break and the players were capable of adapting quickly. 

And the change with Andy Pelmard?

He had some cramp. There was a lot of emotion for his first game at home. He showed that we can count on him and that he will be an important player in the future.

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