Europa League: In Budapest, Nice Looks to Finally Kick-start Their Season
Since the arrival of Franck Haise at OGC Nice, the Eaglets have been providing attractive football, but it has been a month since they last won: their trip to Budapest to face Ferencváros on Thursday (6:45 PM) in the 3rd round of the Europa League demands a reaction.
On September 20th, Nice humiliated Saint-Étienne (8-0) in the league. However, since then, Saint-Étienne has collected four points in Ligue 1, while Nice has only managed three, with as many draws.
While the first two draws against Lens (0-0) and Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Riviera (1-1) cannot be considered major setbacks, the third against Nantes (1-1) last Sunday left a bitter taste in Franck Haise’s mouth.
The first half of the Nicéens was so superior to their opponents that the coach was baffled by their failure to score at least one goal.
“When you dominate a half so much away from home, you need to score at least one goal,” he lamented after the match. “You have to hurt the opposition. I remain frustrated because we could have won if we had been more efficient, impactful, and precise before halftime. But for that, you need to score,” emphasized the Nice coach.
Haise and his staff are working hard to address this recurring issue, also evident during the first half against Paris Saint-Germain.
The aim is to allow players to push forward in larger numbers to capitalize on dangerous situations, as well as to demand more aggression from them. The attackers or midfielders from Nice are tasked with taking their chances more frequently in favorable positions, something they have struggled to do recently.
To achieve this, Haise is counting on the gradual return of Gaëtan Laborde, who was sidelined for long after a foot fracture and surgery. The former Montpellier player, who came on against Nantes, possesses different qualities from Jérémie Boga, Badredine Bouanani, or the injured Mohamed-Ali Cho, who are more focused on evasion and dribbling than efficiency.
A more direct player than his teammates and capable of striking from various positions, Laborde, like Evann Guessand, can provide an alternative to execute more direct attacks and finally capitalize on periods of dominance.
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Five Matches Without a Win –
Since the Saint-Étienne match, the Azuréens have gone five matches without a win, across all competitions. Apart from the three draws that have hindered them in Ligue 1, Dante and his team are still winless in the Europa League, where qualification for the playoffs is a minimum objective.
While the defeat in Rome against Lazio (1-4) amid heavy rain can be understood, the draw against a mediocre Real Sociedad side (1-1) at home has weighed down Nice’s overall performance. Once again, Haise was frustrated after that match, lamenting “two points that we didn’t win even though we deserved to win them.”
Currently ranked 30th out of 36 teams, thus out of the top 24 that leads to direct qualification or playoffs, Nice must secure a win in Budapest.
Facing a struggling Ferencváros team, who has suffered defeats against Anderlecht and Tottenham in the Europa League, a victory in Hungary would allow Nice to finally kick-start their season just before the Côte d’Azur derby against a shining Monaco side on Sunday.
