Speaking of the hottest team in Ligue 1, it is not Paris led by Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, nor Marseille with a bunch of former Arsenal players, nor the super black shop Monaco with a very spicy eye, but last season's big dark manis.
After Favre left class, the team achieved an astonishing record of 5 wins and 1 draw in 6 Ligue 1 games. In particular, successive away wins over second-placed league teams Marseille and Lens have reduced their once-leading Paris, and after Messi's two consecutive wins, they have once again established an eight-point advantage.
01. Ligue 1 best coach moves to Paris: Nice got bogged down in the first half of the season
a. Galti to Paris: Nice misses Pochettino
Nice was the biggest dark horse in Ligue 1 last season, ranking second in the league for a long time, and even went unbeaten in three head-to-head conversations with Paris Saint-Germain.
Unfortunately, the team fell short in the French Cup final, and unfortunately dropped out of the top three in the last two rounds of the league, and finally only qualified for the European Cup.
Before the start of the new season, Galti became the new manager of Paris and Favre took over Nice, but the team's results were unsatisfactory due to the conflict in the dressing room (conflict between the coach and the players).
It wasn't until Favre left class and assistant coach Digar temporarily led the team that there was a sudden winning streak and an explosion. It is worth mentioning that Nice was once close to signing Pochettino, who was fired from Paris, but unfortunately did not negotiate in the end.
After the change of manager, the team has won 5 wins and 1 draw in the last 6 Ligue 1 games, scored 14 goals and conceded only 2 goals, and has moved from the middle and lower reaches to 7th place in the table.
What is even more rare is that this wave of consecutive wins, including a 1-0 away win over Lens (then second in Ligue 1) and a 3-1 away win over Marseille (which was also second in Ligue 1 at the time), also shrunk the original points advantage of Paris, which has opened the second place by 8 points.
b. A central axis named to the Ligue 1 best team: two players worth paying attention to
In the last round away to Marseille, who won 1-0 away at Marseille, Nice was selected in the Ligue 1 single-round best team, from goalkeeper, central defender, midfielder to striker.
Schomeichel Jr., Todibo, Kevlaren Thuram and Laborod were an entire central axis of Nice in the first half of the season.
Within Nice, the most noteworthy are centre-back Todibo and midfielder Kevlen Thuram, who were also named in the Ligue 1 best squad in the round of 18.
The poor record in the first half of the season is also related to the need for a two-line battle in the team's thin squad (the first place in the European Cup group advanced to the knockout stage), and they targeted reinforcements in the winter window, which also allowed the team to continue to improve.
02. Only 2 goals conceded in 6 Ligue 1 games! Nice defensively moves well
a. Defensive 451: Nice has a high frequency of backfield turnovers
As can be seen from the starting lineup of the latest round of Ligue 1, Nice, who uses a 433 formation, has introduced Lorient's ace striker Murphy in the forward line, allowing the team's top scorer Labode to gain more range of movement.
In the midfield, Nice players have good ball control ability, that is, passing is easier to miss. Fortunately, the two central defenders, Dent and Todibo, are very mobile and aware when changing defenses, and the self-remedy ability of the backfield is relatively strong.
Under the 433 formation, the retreat is 451, and Nice's overall movement is relatively fast, both offensive and defensive.
Even Nice's players love confrontation, the formation will be relatively scattered, and the backcourt players are also very decisive and resolute in making up for the move.
On the defensive end, Nice paid much attention to the oppression of individual soldiers and local numbers. Therefore, the position of the entire line of defense will be relatively high, leaving a certain space behind it.
The 40-year-old old centre-back Dent was very alert, and he predicted in advance that the opponent was going to play the top ball, so he turned around in time to protect the space behind the full-back and complete the solution.
This time it was a similar situation, with the opponent hitting the full-back behind the ball over the top and Dent moving sideways to protect. However, the old centre-back is older and turning around is a disadvantage.
So in the subsequent defense, full-back Lotomba switched directly behind Dante's back, destroying the pass to the ribs.
b. Only 2 goals conceded in 6 Ligue 1 games: not accidental
In the last six Ligue 1 games, Nice have conceded only two goals, and the defensive performance is praiseworthy.
It's not that Nice doesn't give their opponents a chance, they have a high error rate when attacking, and even give their opponents a one-way chance, but the team has done a good job of self-amending and has a good load-bearing ability.
Nice changes defensively very frequently, whether it is central and full-back, or between the left and right central defenders, can always complement each other.
This time, the opponent launched a continuous attack at the last moment, and Todibo went to Dent's defensive area to make up for the problem of slow movement after the veteran's physical fitness declined.
Todibo's one-on-one confrontation efficiency is very high, from last season to this season, one-on-one confrontation at the feet is basically guaranteed to win more than 70% (after all, he has a lot of aggressive upper grabs, even before the front top to the center circle, after defeat, he turns around and chases quickly, and there is no pressure to land for the second time).
This time, it was Todibo who broke the ball before the opponent, followed by a long pass to the front, and Barkley held the ball to relieve the pressure at the back.
Let's look at the defense of this round, because the full-back failed in the front-top confrontation, Todibo went to the right-back defense when the opponent counterattacked, and the retreating Mendy came to the right center back.
On the first break, Todibo returned to Mendy, who made a passing error, but changed positions in an instant, Todibo returned to the right centre-back and Mendy came to the wing.
The opponent's cross was cleared by Todibo, and the central defender then came out to control the ball, his protection and dribbling were so strong that the opponent could not easily break the ball.
03. Weak forward in the first half of the season: The current situation has improved
a. Nice's offensive and defensive transitions are fast
As can be seen from the statistics, an important reason for Nice's poor performance in the first half of the season is the efficiency deviation of the striker, who previously averaged only close to 1 goal per game.
The team's top scorers were two strikers Laborde and Del Rote, and Pepe also scored six goals, some of which were penalties.
Like this wave of offensive and defensive conversion, after central defender Todibo withstood the opponent and got the ball, Kevlen Thuram took the ball to tear open the opposing defense, and then sent a wonderful pass to Pepe on the flank, using a blitzkrieg to make the opposing defense lose.
Especially as Kevlen Thuram progressed, Nice became more threatening when switching offensive and defensive.
This time he took the ball directly to the wing, then cut forward at high speed into the box to meet the front, although the shot was blocked, but the rhythm was excellent.
b. After the change of front: multiple newcomers emerge
Summer Window sent away Guneri and Dorberg, Winter Window loaned Del Rote, got Lorient's striker Murphy (strong personal ability, good physical fitness and feet, with the ability to support the overall tactics), and a number of young people emerged, allowing Nice to steadily improve his attack.
The team will then face a two-line battle, but they will directly qualify for the last 16 of the European Cup without having to deal with the next play-offs.
Nice's current hottest scorer is 18-year-old Buannani, who has scored three goals in his last two Ligue 1 games, all of which are extremely difficult to shoot.
Facing Marseille away and pulling one back from home, Nice is under some pressure. As a result, Buannani cut inside and fired a surprising shot from the back corner to seal a 3-1 victory.
Against Ajaccio, Buanani scored twice. This long-range shot from the front of the penalty area is difficult to exert power in place, and it can also hit a dead corner.
Buanani, who fought more and more bravely, even hit another left-footed world wave in injury time.
The French-Algerian 18-year-old has a bright future and deserves more attention from the team.
Conclusion:
Nice's scouting system is very good, but because it is a foreign team, it is not very popular in Ligue 1.
The owner of the team once said that he would sign Messi when he was 45 years old and let the king destroy the city for Nice. But even if you want to do this, first of all, Nice needs to go to a higher level in terms of record, but as a dark horse specializing in Ligue 1, it is still not enough to impress Messi.