OGC Nice coach Olivier Pantaloni was more than satisfied after his team's 2-1 win over Lille, their first of the Ligue 1 season.

Coach, what's your analysis of this first win of the Ligue 1 season over LOSC?

I think, again, that we are making progress with what we want to put in place. After the match against Auxerre, we saw the levels of commitment that we needed to show on the pitch to get results. Throughout the week, we felt, first of all, that the principles were starting to take root more firmly and that there was a strong determination to turn things round. Tonight, we proved it. In the first half, the team played well, caused problems for the opposition and created chances. We did the same at the start of the second half. And then, at certain moments, when we started to run out of steam, the players really dug deep; they worked incredibly hard to hold firm after scoring the second goal against a side that were pressing very hard. We’ve truly rediscovered the character of a team, and that’s important for what lies ahead. That’s what we need to build on for the next few matches, knowing that there’s quality in this team. We know there are some very good players. We hadn’t really gelled as a team yet. Tonight, I can talk about team spirit, collective effort, and the will and determination to go out and secure that first win.

Tonight, you changed your captain. Can you explain that choice?

It wasn’t my decision to change the captain. It was Jonathan Clauss who came to speak to me about it. He showed great courage and honesty in telling me that he didn’t really feel he had what it takes to be captain. I saw this in a very positive light. He addressed the team and explained why he wanted to hand over the armband. Everyone appreciated his initiative.

Axel Witsel was chosen to replace Clauss as captain. When was he told?

We let him know on the day of the match. We didn’t want to get it wrong. As Axel had only just joined us this season, we did ask ourselves the question, bearing in mind that he is, after all, an experienced player with a stellar career. It would have been reasonable to assume it would be him, but we wanted to consider all the options so as not to make a mistake. I think everyone was in agreement.

Tonight, the attacking duo of Wahi and Amoura made the difference, especially Mohammed Amoura. Did he meet your expectations?

I’m happy for him because he’s an extremely selfless player. Tonight, he was also more clinical in what he brought to the game. We know that with these two players, we can cause problems for teams that sit a bit higher up the pitch. Elye (Wahi) didn’t have much luck tonight. He’s not quite back to his best yet, as we know. However, even when he’s not 100%, we’ve seen what a dangerous player he can be and how much he can unsettle the opposition. We’ll make the most of these three weeks to ensure he regains his full fitness and that will see his decision making improve, because his style of play is very physically demanding and involves a lot of runs off the ball. Which, at times, given that he’s not yet at his physical best, can lead to a loss of focus. But once again, he’s a player who’s very important to us because he’s a formidable weapon.

You decided to keep faith with a few players who have been criticised. You must be satisfied, particularly by the performance of Yehvann Diouf?

Yes, because it wasn’t easy for him. He was under fire from the critics. Perhaps there’s the context of last season to consider. At the start of the season, he made a few minor mistakes, although I would point out that he was asked to change the way he played. Today, like Youssouf Ndayishimiye, I think he was really keen to show what he’s capable of. He’s a player with character and spirit. When you are criticised and some people are making fun of you, you need to have real character to come back and play like he did tonight. I think this will give him even more confidence and even more motivation to perform just as well in the upcoming matches, and the same goes for Youssouf.

Coach, after nearly a year without a home win, did you feel like a new bond with the fans was created tonight?

We know that the crowd reacts to what we put in. In my pre-match team talk, I spoke about all the principles, everything we want to do tactically, the discipline, the rigour and eliminating mistakes. I think that’s what all teams work towards, it’s the foundation for performing well. Apart from that, I think what we were lacking, to repeat myself, was our attitude, the intensity of our commitment and the aggression we needed to show on the pitch. And once we get that back, when we see the fruits of that labour, then we’ll have the crowd behind us. We managed to do that tonight and I hope we’ll be able to repeat it in our next matches.

Does this win show the true potential of your team?

Working alongside this team day in, day out, I’m convinced there’s real quality here. I think the most important thing for us is to create this team spirit, the unity, a collective strength that allows the squad to perform to its full potential. And of course, within this squad, there are then individuals who can also shine. I’ve always told them that, for me, coming to Nice meant taking another step up in terms of the potential of the squad I’d be managing. Today, we’ve shown what we’re capable of; we need to keep going in this direction and push ourselves even further to perform even better. The feeling of victory in the dressing room tonight must drive us to want to experience it as often as possible this season.

What can you tell us about the change in philosophy compared to the last game?

Unlike the early matches, where we were up against teams that sat back and waited to hit us on the counterattack, that wasn’t so much the case tonight. But what I liked tonight was that even against a side that were applying a bit more pressure, we didn’t hesitate to play long – something we’d seen very little of in recent matches. And managing to bring variety to our play – having periods of possession, but also playing a much more direct game – that’s perhaps more unsettling for the opposition.

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