Francesco Farioli praised his side’s defensive display as OGC Nice continued their unbeaten run thanks to a 1-0 victory over Toulouse FC at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday.
Les Aiglons haven’t conceded in their last eight matches and are unbeaten since Farioli’s arrival as manager in the summer. Despite maintaining those two streaks, which are the best in Europe’s top five leagues, the Italian manager acknowledged that it wasn’t his side’s best performance of the season. It does, however, lift them to within just one point of Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
“We’ll do everything to retain our invincibility.”
– Morgan Sanson
“Our solidity is a question of team spirit and organisation. The biggest strength in defensive phases is everyone’s mindset. We concede very few goals and when we do, we put our heart and soul into defending. The rest is a question of organisation,” said Farioli in a press conference, attended by Get French Football News.
Nice have now created a five-point gap to third-placed AS Monaco, and as Farioli anticipates difficulties as the season progresses, he wants to extend that gap as much as possible. “It is nice to have a bit of a gap. But we don’t work for statistics. The most important thing is to accumulate points because difficulties will come, notably after the winter break (with AFCON in January). We will take the time to celebrate, hug each other and then focus on Nantes,” said Farioli.
He added, “We didn’t have our best match of the season […] We showed our team spirit against a team that scored five goals against Liverpool (two of which were disallowed.” Morgan Sanson, on loan at Nice from Aston Villa, exemplifies the mindset of the dressing room. “We’re already thinking about FC Nantes. We will do everything to retain our invincibility. How long that will last, we don’t know, but not conceding goals helps,” said the Frenchman.
