•Squad list for Arras:

Gardiens: Letizi, Moreau
Défenseurs: Apam, Cid, Gace, Hognon, Jeunechamp, Rool
Milieux: Echouafni, Faé, Hellebuyck, Traoré
Attaquants: Bamogo, Ben Saada, Modeste, Mouloungui, Ozokwo, Quansah

Rémy, Kante, and Coulibaly all have injury problems and Adu is suspended (?!), but the rest of the absences are being rested or, in the case of Barul and Moussilou, cruelly ignored. Antonetti said earlier this week that Moreau could get the start if Letizi can’t go and, though the match is being taken seriously, it’s nevertheless thought that guys like Hognon, Cid, Traoré, Ben Saada and Modeste could all figured in the first XI.

•Though he returned to Nice not yet fully recovered from the injury he picked up last month, Rémy is due to start training again on Tuesday, and is expected to be in the squad when L1 resumes on the 10th. Woo hoo!

•Not surprisingly, Roger Ricort is denying that the club are interested in either Dindane (yes, him again) or Sablé, the former because he (still) costs too much, and the latter because, well, they just don’t want him.

•During the break, both Cyril #1 (who Google translate calls “the crustiest“) and Chouf talked to Nice-Matin about the season so far, and both of them, while pleased with the 30 points the team have amassed, pointed to the canceled Grenoble match as the thing that screwed everything up because it “broke our rhythm.” Cursed rain!

•In an interview with the official site, Antonetti also gave his take on the first half, praising the team’s ability to take points even when they don’t play their best, and being his usual, eminently reasonable self in bringing some perspective to how high Nice were flying about a month ago. (He, also, lists the cancellation of the Grenoble match as one of his regrets, along with the loss to Le Havre on the season’s opening weekend.)

•Ospina was voted Nice player of the month for December, because he is just that awesome.

Happy New Year, everybody. Hopefully next time we talk, it’ll be about advancing in the Coupe de France, and not about some sort of humiliating disaster.

•The Grenoble match will be played either a week from today or on the 17th of this month. The 10th was the league’s initial proposal, but Pierre Wantiez had a fit about Nice getting an extra day of rest, so it could be pushed back a week. (In response to the fit, Antonetti turned on the sarcasm and suggested that maybe a strike is in order, if only to ensure three full days of rest between matches. Oh, snap!)

•Out of concern for the proverbial “public safety,” the police have stepped in and forced the cancellation of the special train that was to take Nice supporters to the OM match. In light of past problems, one understands their concerns, but Nice’s security guy had a point when he suggested it’d be a lot easier for police to manage the supporters if they were all in one place, rather than arriving as they will now, via bus and car, at various times and locations.

•The official site has an interview with Chouf ahead of the match, in which he’s characteristically cautious, and also expresses some concern about the team going two weeks between games.

•Nice Premium ran a long interview with Maurice Cohen on Sunday, and even through the filter of Google translate, it’s well worth a read. Among other topics, he discusses the status of the club’s youth program, if there will be any winter signings, what’s up with Chouf’s and Letizi’s contracts, and how the defense will stand at this time next season. (He also reveals that Cyril #2 has a clause in his contract whereby it’s automatically extended if he reaches a designated number of appearances. That’s, like, flying car technology right there!)

•On the topic of signings, a couple different sources are reporting that Nice are tracking Monaco’s Camel Meriem. No idea of there’s any validity to the stories at all, though. Anyone?

•Via the OGC Nissa forums, here’s an Infosport feature on Nice from last week that includes some of the yelling at Habib! (among others) that I’m always talking about. It’s hilarious even to me, so I’m guessing people who actually understand French will enjoy it, as well.

•And, finally, I can’t find the original source, but one of the fan sites is reporting that Antonetti has officially announced the gloves are Ospina’s after Christmas. Nice. (Nahhhc, not Neece.) He also may end up playing against OM, depending on how Letizi’s feeling — the old man didn’t train at all yesterday.

ETA: The train to Marseille has been un-canceled.

Who does he think he is, Gerd Müller?

ASSE 0-1 Nice
But: Echouafni (20è) pour Nice

St Etienne: Janot – Andreu, Benalouane, Varrault, Sauget – Machado, Hautcoeur, Dernis (Payet, 73è) – Ilan (c), Gomis (Gigliotti, 82è), Mirallas (Matsui, 64è)

Nice: Letizi – Diakité, Apam, Kanté, Rool – Echouafni (c), Coulibaly (Jeunechamp, 73è), Faé, Hellebuyck – Bamogo (Modeste, 58è), Mouloungui (Cid, 94è)

* * *

There’s not really much to say about this match, apart from that it was just the sort of ugly win that makes you really proud of a team. The three points won were nothing to do with ability, and everything to do with desire, organization, and fight; points that have to be gutted out if Nice are dreaming of an extend stay within shouting distance of where they are in the table right now.

Conditions were dreadful and, for essentially the whole match, it was 10 men behind the ball and a whole lot of running from everyone in red and black. Ugly or not, it was awesome to see how hard everyone worked — Bamogo did nothing but defend for long stretches, and Hellebuyck, who must be the fittest man in the world, was all over the pitch, particularly late when legs were going and no one else could get forward. He was immense.

Really, it’s hard to think of much to add to Anonetti’s postmatch comments, particularly the bit where he said “I [take my] hat off to our defense that was heroic.” Damn right. This team have given up one goal (against five scored) in their last four league matches and, apart from some lapses against Lorient, the defense — including Letizi, who doesn’t get many style points, but is there when he needs to be — has looked nearly impenetrable. I don’t care who you’re playing, those are impressive numbers. After a preseason spent leaking goals, I don’t think anyone would have guessed a Lloris-free Nice would be defending this convincingly, even by late November.

* * *

I also don’t think anyone actually believes Nice will stay this close to the top of the table for long, but it’s fair to say that, in the last seven matches — starting with Bordeaux and including Créteil — the team have really shown us something. Apart from periodic, inspired stretches, the football isn’t petty, but they’re smart, they’re hard to play against, and they believe in themselves. Those three things, even without Rémy, and without the still-missing killer instinct, have made Nice a force to be reckoned with and, most importantly, a team that can tough out wins, even when they’re not playing well. If they can keep their wits about them moving forward (and adjust successfully when Rémy comes back), they’re going to make this interesting.

And, finally, while digging through ASSE forums yesterday, in amidst the “OMG NICE PLAY ANTIFOOTBALL!11!!!” rants and debates on whether they should moon over how much they want Antontetti back or just move on, I found this post, which I thought was a pretty perceptive summary of where Nice stand and how they play (forgive the Google translate garbling, I think you can still get the gist):

Nice still lost 4 best players in the offseason (Balmont, Kone, Lloris, Ederson) does not have a staff of Cador championship (an attack Mouloungui-Bamogo-Modeste, we saw more impressive) and was moving last night without his main striker (Remy). One can therefore understand that this team has not proposed football-champagne, outside what is more, and also in a relegation (kind of wounded beast that must be wary because it is always susceptible to rebel) .

Nice done with its resources and for now that they succeeded fairly well. They seek to maintain them as soon as possible and once the first goal achieved, they will seek the highest possible. They are not flamboyant in the game (how many teams are in France?), They know very well that they will be very difficult to maintain their current pace of 38 days but offset by a state of mind of combatants and not drop anything. And the points made are no longer taken.

Finally, Antonetti yells perhaps on the edge of the button, but he is at the root of this desire that we see on the ground and that made her a commando team on which many training just break your teeth (when they appear above Nice on paper). If Etienne had half the commitment and willingness shown by the people of Nice on the first 15 games, it would not be the 20th this morning.

(I’m generally a pretty cynical, irritable football fan, but having Nice described that way by an opposing supporter made me feel almost embarrassingly proud.)

Report the First

Alright, so, the Lorient game. Ugh. Fantastic to play like that and get three points, but still — ugh. The goal was a stroke of luck, a failed clearance that ended up at Chouf’s feet with the keeper down, and which he rolled in to the near corner of the net as he was falling down. In reality, Nice rarely looked threatening (and seemed to be in more of a 4-5-1 than the 4-4-2 it looked on paper, so deep was Bamogo playing), and the few chances they created were squandered badly by Mouloungui. If this is life without Rémy, I don’t want to think about what will happen if he ever picks up a long-term injury. (Happily, he said on 100% Aiglons this week that he’ll be back for Sunday, so hopefully we can stick our heads in the sand about the possible striking problems a bit longer.)

In addition to the lack of threats going forward, I lost count of the giveaways even before half time — the match was just sloppy, and was played with a strange lack of urgency. Probably because of the slow pace things seemed to perk up a bit when Modeste went on late in the match — he may be artless, but he’s fast and wants to prove himself, so he doesn’t give up on anything and was involved with Nice’s most threatening moves of the second half.

In good news, though, the defense as a group were awfully good. Apam, in particular, was head and shoulders above everyone around him — every time there was a sloppy giveaway and Lorient were putting together an attack, he was there to clean up the mess, be it with a perfectly timed tackle or a smart interception. He really looked like a man among boys at times, it was a truly impressive performance. Cyril #1, also, was impressive, apart from the few times he caught the sloppy disease. He won everything that came his way in the air, and his distribution, for the most part, was quite good. (And that’s not just my biased heart talking — he made L’Equipe’s team of the week and everything.)

Additionally, Letizi was solid. He didn’t have much to do, but made a massive save early with his leg when he’d already committed in the other direction — it was the sort of save that looks lucky but, when you see the replay, is absolutely intentional, and just good goal keeping. Yeah, the old man’s still got.

* * *

Report the Second (such as it is)

I’ve not seen yesterday’s match and probably won’t be able to find it, so I can only rely on cheerful forum posts that indicate the 3-0 victory was deserved and well-played. So woo hoo! And well done to the team for not taking Créteil lightly.

Ben Saada scored his first goal for Nice (from the penalty spot) and reportedly had a really good match, Bamogo was threatening, Ospina made a couple big saves, Modeste scored, and Quansah played in his first professional match. Were it not for the injury suffered by Cyril #2 (coming right after he played a solid game against Lorient), there’d be nothing but smiles at Nice HQ this morning.

So Nice move on to the last eight, and will face Le Havre in the new year; the draw to determine the host will be held next week.

If your club’s not buying or selling a superstar or sending players to Big Name European National Teams, international breaks are almost entirely bereft of items of interest. The Nice players not on international duty are busy training (there’s a very boring video proving this at the official site), and the rest are off with their national teams, training in such seclusion that no photo or news agencies can find them. (Well, either that or they don’t want to find them. But that’s can’t be it, right?)

The news, such as it is:

•Despite the absence of so many first-team players, Matt Moussilou, Patrick Baru and Joseph-Desire Job all remain in the reserve team, while babies from the youth team join the big kids for training. Supposedly Moussilou and Baru could be heading to Qatar sooner than later, Moussilou returning to the site of his goal-scoring explosion last year, while Baru will embark on a brand new adventure there (where someone other than Nice will be paying him).

•Traoré will be out two weeks with the thigh injury he picked up against Valenciennes, so thank goodness Ben Saada is back. Cyril #1, supposedly, will be back in full training this weekend. So they say, anyway — I realize we’ve heard this before.

•Lilian Laslandes, who was supposed to be patient this summer and wait for Nice to resign him, is still without a contract, and is regretting not signing the extension he was offered last winter. He’s apparently considering retiring, which is sad, but the man is ancient in footballing terms and, even with the pay cut to which he agreed last winter, still earns a pretty substantial salary. Nice may regret letting him go if there are awful striker injury problems later in the season (Excuse me for a second while I knock on wood and throw salt everywhere.), but at the moment it just seems like a good business decision not to keep him around.

•Even with the lofty place in the table (Fourth! FOURTH!), Antonetti’s keeping his wits about him, and is already thinking about next summer — he’s well aware of what happens to clubs who sell the top players every summer, and doesn’t want Nice to follow their examples and end up floundering in L2. Is there anything better than a coach who always sees the worst possible future? I don’t think so. (That’s sincere, by the way. I absolutely love his fierce refusal to get excited about anything.)

•Hellebuyck and Chouf have weighed in on the team’s progress this week, the former discussing new tactics (pushing further up the pitch and trying to attack more) and the latter (on 100% Aiglons, which is available on the official website in annoying flash video form) lauding the team’s “fabulous state of mind.”

Only nine days until Lyon.

Nice 2-0 Valenciennes
Buts: Bamogo (52è), Rémy (85è) pour Nice
Expulsion: Tiéné (31è) à Valenciennes

Nice: Letizi – Diakité, Apam, Kanté (Cid, 84è), Jeunechamp – Echouafni (c), Faé, Hellebuyck – Traoré (Ben Saada, 26è), Rémy, Bamogo (Modeste, 76è)

Valenciennes: Penneteau – Ducourtioux, Bisevac, Rafael (c), Tiéné – Saez, Sanchez, Mater (M. Traoré, 46è), Danic (Bangoura, 60è) – Audel, Pujol (Sebo, 80è)

[Post-match interviews here.]

* * *

Everyone acknowledges that Valenciennes were poor, even before they went down to 10 men, but that doesn’t do anything to take the shine off the three points, or the spot near the top of the table. Alright, so there was a missed PK and some wasteful attacks, but the team are playing with urgency and confidence, and getting points in spite of their own screw ups.

As always, Antonetti’s keeping his wits about him and refusing to get overly excited, but Captain Chouf and Bamogo — who finally got his goal — were thrilled with both the result and the nine points from a possible 12 in the month. No matter the quality of the opponents, this August has been a great launching pad for the trip to Lyon after the international break — no one could have asked for anything more than to be within a point of the top going into that match. (A match which it’s actually going to be possible to see, for once. Huzzah!)

In terms of individual performances, Hellebuyck recovered from a couple quiet weeks to be the unanimous MOTM — he hit the post twice and was a lively presence in the midfield. Ben Saada made his return from injury (coming on for an injured Traoré, which is no good at all) and was impressive, as well — he assisted on Bamogo’s goal and is once again being optimistically seen as the eventual replacement for Ederson in the middle of the pitch. And, finally, Letizi wasn’t scary, Apam made his return from the Olympics and was his usual, rock-like self, and Rémy, despite missing a PK, was one again good.

As players trickle back in, the team really seems to be coming together. If all goes well they’ll get the last piece (Cyril #1) back for Week 5, and can make a good accounting of themselves in Lyon.

* * *

In other news:

•Yahia is heading to Lens today for a year-long loan with the option to buy; quite understandably, he’d rather go to Lens and help them return to L1 than sit on the bench week-in and week-out in Nice. Hopefully this won’t come to bite Nice in the ass if there are injury problems, and Cid or Gace is forced into the back.

•Baky is a hero in Marseille. *sniffle*

•The video section of the official website is getting all fancy, with schedules and everything. Coming up this week are an interview with Chouf, the usual behind-the-scenes look at last weekend’s match, and a visit to training.

[Photo by LSN]

•Sports.fr just ran a short but typically positive interview with Chouf, who admits he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about the transfer market, but is matter-of-fact about how things work at Nice. Also, he compares his old man self to fine wine, suggesting that he’s improved with age. Damn right.

•After Sportsboy asked about it in the comments, I’m working on getting a post together about the stadium situation in Nice. Until then, though, maybe Maurice Cohen’s comments can tide us over: He’s blaming the “infrastructure” for the club’s inability to land the desperately needed strikers, claiming that two or three players from “big European clubs” turned down transfers for that reason. Presumably part of the idea here is to put pressure on the new mayor of Nice to help push the new stadium plans through, but it’s also handy for Cohen to have an external scapegoat on which to place all responsibility for his failure to land players — if the ground is the problem, he’s not done a thing wrong. (He also says Tenorio — thought to cost about €5 million — is too rich for Nice’s blood, which other sources have been saying lately, as well. Whether this is true or not is anyone’s guess.)

•Cedric Kanté’s contract runs out at the end of this season, and so far the club — lousy with central defenders, no matter what you think of their quality — have thus far shown no interest in keeping him around beyond that time. As a result, he’s already thinking about moving on to “a more upscale club.” Alrighty then. I wonder where he thinks he’ll find more playing time. (He’s not, of course, focusing on it — right now the season is the priority: His goals are a)to stay up, and b)not to get hurt.)

•Also, for the French-reading detail fiends among you, the financial tally sheet from 2006-2007 was recently posted in a Nice forum — at the end, the club were in the red by about €2600. It’ll be interesting to see last season’s when it comes out, one hopes there will have been some sort of positive financial impact of challenging for Europe, rather than fighting for survival.

Friendly against ASSE tonight; will report on that tomorrow.

It’s a been a nice, quiet weekend so far — apart from the rumors that Baky pulled out of training yesterday, there’s been no news.* So, in lieu of transfer drama, here are a few Nice links I’ve come across this week. And, also a completely ridiculous picture of picture Cyril Rool (from this point to be known as Cyril #1), just because I can.

•Football365.fr did an interview with Nicolas Dyon, Nice’s athletic trainer, about how he approaches pre-season training, and what the team will go through over the next several weeks. It’s actually pretty interesting for the anoraks among us, and there’s more on Dyon’s approach (as well as fairly hilarious pictures of him in Working!poses) on his website.

•Olivier Echouafni, the man Google translate calls “the oldest eaglet,” has such a great attitude about the upcoming season that it’s hard not to catch his optimism. (Reason #231 he wears the armband.)

•And, finally, because letting go is hard, here’s a recent interview with our dear, departed Ederson about his role at Lyon, how happy is it to still be playing with a certain keeper (Aw!), and his hopes for getting into the Brazilian nation team. Sigh.

*If it really happened, whether you think it was to show how much he really wants to join Marsellie or because of a niggling ankle injury that’s been bothering him for a while obviously depends on your perspective on Baky and his Situation. Me, I’m going to be naive and hope it was the latter.