The joy of a great career, the pains of an injury, a triumphant return and a first step onto the European scene. Maxime Le Marchand (27 years old) has been through the mill during 2016. His focus now is on 2017. The opportunity for the central defender to concentrate on the first dual of the year between Nice and Metz (kick-off, Sunday 15 January at 3pm) and to share his thoughts on all things Nice. In five points.

The return to the Allianz

We feel at home there and we have our bearings at the Allianz. We really would like to continue as we started in 2016, I hope that 2017 will allow us to do so. We know that the teams at the top of the league will go without losing at home. And then, the fans really help us. I hope that in 2017, they will still be there, so that we can continue to win.

Frustration in Lorient 

It has gone now but we can’t forget it. As I already said, I hope we will show a reaction, so we don’t have to look back on a poor start to the year. We wanted to go all the way in the Coupe de France, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We didn’t show what we are capable of at Lorient, so we need to correct that straight away. There are 19 matches left, we need to take them one by one. The game against Metz is already really important.

Adversity

Of course, given that we were Autumn Champions, each team will try even harder when they play us. People will be waiting for the game against us. We will need to keep that in mind so there are no surprises. We are really going to get going in the second half of the season, we need to be very clever. It’s down to us to show that we are one of the best, that we have the quality to remain at the top and that we can continue to demand that level from the squad.

The captain’s armband 

I am very happy to have worn the armband after everything I have been through. We have a relatively young team and I am young too, but what I realize is that I am one of the older ones. We have had some injuries recently, especially to Dante and Baysse who are the captains. I inherited the captaincy, which is great, I am very happy because it is a vote of confidence from the coach. He knows that I can play the role of leader for the youngsters.

In first place

It’s a nice reward for us, but we don’t put pressure on us. Personally, I have never been Autumn Champion before, so to do so in L1 is really great. However, there is no trophy for the Autumn Champions. I hope it can continue but the coach has said to us: We need to be first. We take each match as it comes. I hope we can maintain this attitude and that it will continue to work.

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