For Nîmes Olympique, waste is constant

Les matches s’enchaînent et les problèmes d’efficacité perdurent pour Ismaël Camara, empêtré ici dans la défense du Mans, et les Crocos. Midi Libre – Archives Mikaël Anisset

Les Crocos ont montré deux visages vendredi à Paris 13 Atletico et ils ont encore laissé filer des points précieux, faute de réalisme.

“Against us, I have the impression that the opposing goalkeepers don't need to make extraordinary saves.” This lucid observation, in the form of helplessness, was made by a dejected Adil Hermach on Friday, December 13, after the 1-1 draw against Paris 13 Atletico. The matches follow one after the other and the efficiency problems persist.

The 15th day and the National ranking

When he thinks back to the duel lost by Camara or to this recovery by Marcel, ideally placed, flying over the protective nets, when he sees again the volley in pivot executed by Abdeljelil, the hardest move of the three, hitting the target (with the involuntary help of Diarra), the crocodile coach evokes “the mysteries of football” and emphasizes: “These are things over which the coach has little leverage… “

The steamroller effect

On the synthetic pitch of the Pelé stadium, far from the standards of the professional Ligue 3 claimed by the National clubs, Waly Diouf is right, Nîmes has “never been so close” to its first away victory of the season. The central defender multiplied the adjectives: “It's infuriating, distressing, frustrating… When you're leading in the 88th minute, you can't help but see yourself winning. We didn't win a point, we lost two.”

In the second half, Nîmes did what it took to win. “We took control of the game, we defended, we won the duels, we were sharper up front and we created more chances than usual”, sums up Diouf.

“We had total control. What I'm looking for with my team is this steamroller effect, adds Adil Hermach. The Parisians couldn't get the ball out anymore, we were cornering them.”

The famous ketchup bottle theory

They finally gave in, but only once. “We're going to work on the last pass, the last race, it will end up turning in our favor”, assured the crocodile coach again, who repeated: “I know that some people don't like it but we are closer to the truth than to the wrong path.”

“It's not a quality problem, Diouf adds. I've already said it, there are a lot of profiles in the team, powerful players, fast players, technical players. We need to improve all of that, have an offensive trigger to unlock everything. It's the ketchup bottle theory (at first, you squeeze but nothing comes out, then everything comes out at once, editor's note) which says that once you start scoring, it doesn't stop.”

Succeeding in playing full matches

To score and win, the Crocos would also have an interest in playing full matches. In Paris, they only played one half. In the first half, after a good five minutes, they inexplicably disappeared from circulation and can consider themselves lucky not to have conceded a goal. but.

“We can quickly lead 1 or 2-0, rewinds Adil Hermach.But when you don't score, you feed your opponent, you allow him to regain energy.”

From there to being moved like Nîmes (rarely) was… “Their strong period was too long. Paris hurt us and we didn't know how to get our heads above water. It's a shame that we only started the match in the 46th minute”, regrets Diouf.

The results are not good

With two more points, NO would be four points ahead of the relegation zone and not two. With two games left in the first leg (reception of Nancy and trip to Aubagne), the results are not good.

“By not picking up a win away from home and being sluggish at home, we are in our place. Men lie but not numbers, concludes Waly Diouf. We must not take ourselves for others, we must return to humility, ask ourselves the right questions, correct the shot and hope that 2025 will be more productive in points than 2024.”

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