FACT OF THE DAY Finally a success, the Nîmes Olympique is relaunching without reassuring

By winning at Sochaux (0-1), Nîmes Olympique broke a series of nine unsuccessful meetings and avoided passing the international break in the relegation zone. If this victory clearly gives a breath of saving air to the men of Pascal Plancque, now 13th, their performance is insufficient to speak of a real rebound.

“If there is a team that deserved to win, it was Sochaux. “Lucid in a press conference, Pascal Plancque was not mistaken. Over the whole match this Saturday, his team was dominated, even tossed around in certain sequences of the first period. But with solidarity and not badly. of success, it miraculously managed to let the Doubiste storm pass before rebalancing the debates after the break.

Looking more closely, we have undoubtedly found some of the ingredients that made the beautiful summer of the Crocs possible. A great goalkeeper first, with the fantastic performance of Bratveit, returning from injury and qualified as “brother of Jesus Christ “ by his trainer after the game. In Bonal, the Norwegian goalkeeper – who was one of the best in Ligue 2 in August – repelled the Cubs’ seven attempts on target, making several impressive reflex saves. And as at the start of the season – during the triptych in Valenciennes (0-3), against Pau (0-0) and Dunkirk (0-2) – he was saved by his amounts.

Benrahou the “Mister more” of the Crocs

While the Nîmes had often given in on the first opportunity of their opponents during the last meetings, nothing seemed to be able to happen to them this time. The explanation? There really isn’t any. “In football, there is an element of irrationality that we cannot control, Pascal Plancque rightly pointed out after the meeting. The margin is very fragile between a victory and a defeat. ”

In Nîmes Olympique, this margin is often called Yassine Benrahou. A real X factor at the start of the season, the Crocos playmaker was decisive for the 10th time on his team’s 17 goals. A small deliverance for the one who hadn’t been for a month and a half and the reception of Amiens (3-3). Criticized for his often disappointing performances in recent weeks, Benrahou started the meeting very timidly. But as with each of the Nîmes successes in 2021/2022, it was one of his paws that made the difference.

However, this excellent result on Sochaux soil should not obscure the once again very poor overall performance of Pascal Plancque’s men. While they had regularly had possession in their last matches, this time they had to leave the ball to a much superior opponent collectively. And if they tried to contain the assaults of the premises with a low block and showed greater solidarity than in previous weeks, their first period proved to be catastrophic as regards the use of the ball on the phases of transition.

More comfortable without possession

With each good pressing achieved, a technical error came to ruin the hopes of a quick attack from Nîmes. Defensively, we are also quite far from the permeability displayed at the start of the season. Despite obvious goodwill, many individual errors and sometimes glaring poor communication between wingers and full-backs have too often endangered the team.

After the break, Nîmes abandoned its stereotypical short raises for a more direct game. “We stopped trying to systematically start from behind and come under pressure from Sochaux”, underlined Pascal Plancque at a press conference. A saving style change that the Crocs would no doubt be well inspired to repeat as their attempts to take out the ball have proved to be counterproductive lately. In lack of confidence, the Nîmes found their salvation by a simple game, often vertical, with a lot of aggressiveness in the median zones.

Finally, mentally, this group in which we have often pointed out a lack of leaders showed great resources this Saturday. Unlike some times this season, the Crocos have shown they can hold an advantage under great pressure. “We are still recovering, but we are on the right track”, concluded Pascal Plancque at a post-match press conference. After hitting bottom and trying to dig even deeper, Nîmes Olympique may have started a slow comeback in Sochaux. But the surface is still far and it will be necessary to show another face to really get your head out of the water.

Boris Boutet

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