Nîmes Olympique: a surge of pride against Valenciennes and some reasons to believe in it

Devant Julien Masson et Valenciennes, Jonathan Mexique, El Hamri et les Crocos sont restés muets pour la huitième fois de la saison. Midi Libre – Alexis Bethune

He missed a goal once again but the Crocodiles' successful performance against the Northerners on Friday evening, for the 19th day of the National, is a source of hope. Provided it is repeated.

“People might think I'm crazy when I keep saying we're going to get through this. But whoever tells me I have a team that can finish 16th should go watch some curling!” Adil Hermach was on the offensive at a press conference on Friday night.

The 19th day and the National ranking

His team didn't win against Valenciennes (0-0) – eighth match without a win, 5 losses, 3 draws – but it was “valiant, solid and combative, there's nothing wrong with it reproach, appreciates the sports director Sébastien Larcier. With the virtues and values ​​displayed, those that are absolutely necessary to achieve the objective, we can have good hope for staying up and getting back on the wagon above very quickly.”

A “consistent and complete” match

“It was our most accomplished, most consistent, most complete performancee, continues Adil Hermach. We showed character in the game, in the pressing. The energy expended by everyone allowed us to maintain the intensity from the first to the last minute. Tonight's “victory” is having found an extra soul, a state of mind. We were at the level, we produced something that resembles Nîmes Olympique and what I want my team to resemble.”

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A “one shot” or the start of something ?

“We had to have a proud reaction to stop the bleeding. It's done, and without conceding a goal, which will give us strength for the future, continues defender Waly Diouf. We showed that we could play on an equal footing or even better against a team that had just beaten Nancy and Orléans in quick succession. This should help us for the next matches because it must not be a “one shot”, we must repeat this kind of performance.”

Lack of skill and confidence

It remains to find the key, the keys to finally score. In front of VA, the fault in particular of a Mathieu Michel who had a great match, Nîmes Olympique remained silent for the eighth time of the season, the third at the Antonins. Nîmes has nevertheless done a lot.

“We tried to build our match, Diouf analyses. We didn't rush, we played behind when it was necessary, we tried to score when it was necessary. Unfortunately, there wasn't that little goal, that little bit of luck.” “We should have been more skillful, had more confidence”, notes Larcier.

No goals scored, the story of the crocodile season

“It's the story of our season”, sums up Adil Hermach, who points out “still unmissable, an offside goal, three against three (poorly played), errors in the last pass…”, markers of a team “sick”. But who maintains having the “weapons”sufficient to maintain, evoking for example the beautiful first half of a Beneddine playing a notch higher to “be able to free him offensively” and take advantage of his ability to be “destabilizing”.

The interesting match of El Hamri

Also evoking El Hamri whose second start in National was “very interesting. He got into tune and saw that he was capable of doing it. He needs to gain consistency but he is a very skillful player in front of the but”.

“I used twenty-nine players, I can count on everyone”, assures the crocodile coach who will welcome Aaron Malouda on Monday, 19 years old, “a kid” on loan from Lille until the end of the season, who will bring “his qualities of speed and dribbling” to “try to feed a little more” Abdeldjelil.

“I really believe in it, it's going to “to do”, insists Hermach who, if he doesn't succeed, will have nothing more to do than take up curling…

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