Failed again. After Ferencvaros, Twente and Rangers, OGC Nice once again missed out on a Europa League meeting against Union St-Gilloise.
Zero points in the victory column on the continental scene hurt. It even stands out in the mid-season balance sheet of a team which wants to extend its subscription to the European Cup with a final place in the top 6 of Ligue 1.
The ambition is concrete, given the Gym's current place in the national ranking (6e) but is it legitimate given the nightmare course in the Europa League?
Difficult to say what Franck Haise's squad is really worth as it is capable of the best and the worst. His shortcomings result from numerous absences, those of the injured but also those present.
Guessand beams when Moukoko worries
Evann Guessand's seventh achievement in all competitions in Brussels remains anecdotal in the final result. Not in the mid-season report.
The club's child, 23, has already scored as many goals as last year and his market value has climbed to 20 million euros on the specialist site Transfermarkt.
Moukoko had the same estimate when he arrived but the German striker lost credit (-2 million on Transfermarkt) and interest over his failed performances (2 goals, 2 assists in 13 appearances).
And as if his bad patch on the field wasn't enough, the German-Cameroonian is also caught offside by a complicated life story and a truncated marital status.
“Whether he is 20 or 24, it doesn’t change anything for OGC Nice, slides an internal source. His performances are more worrying, and it's not this kind of articles in the press that will help him mentally.”
Loaned for a year by Borussia Dortmund, the German international (2 caps) is not yet on his way back to the Rühr despite the approach of the winter transfer window.
“I am committed, the club is committed, and so is the player, decided Franck Haise yesterday. The thinking isn't there, it's more about how to make the player more incisive, more decisive.”
The Bombito-Rosario duo seeks their reference match
The Nice coach is banking more on the return from injury than on a winter market that is difficult to understand in order to bounce back in 2025.
In the meantime, Franck Haise has lost Boga for several months (see sentence) and recovered Bard to have a defensive solution during the match on Sunday afternoon in Montpellier, and perhaps from the kick-off next week in the Coupe de France.
Before the N3 of Corte, it is the red lantern and 3e worst attack in the championship (13 goals in 14 days) which must be beaten to leave the hiccups and regrets on the European table alone.
The Bombito-Rosario hinge is still looking for its benchmark match after two mediocre performances, Clauss must demonstrate that he also knows how to perform well in a four-defender pattern. The honor of the ugly duckling of French football depends on it.
