OGC Nice – 2012/13 Season Review

Anyone who tells you they expected this from Nice is lying.

There were reasons for hope, yes – a Coupe Gambardella title, a new coach with a track record of success, and some young promise amid the usual flurry of bargain basement transfers – but no one could have guessed what the season had in store. And, indeed, it took some time for the quality to shine through. An opening loss against 10-man Ajaccio was unimpressive at best and, despite securing some solid draws along the way, Nice didn’t get their first win until week five, a 4-2 defeat of Brest. By the end of week 10, Les Aiglons still had only one victory and were resting in their usual home, just above the drop zone.

From that point on, though, Nice were at times the best team in France – had the season started with week 11, they’d have finished in second place, behind only PSG. What changed? Darío Cvitanich happened. Éric Bauthéac happened. Neal Maupay happened. But, most importantly, Claude Puel happened. The new coach brought forth a cultural change at Nice within a remarkably short period of time, persuading the team to play proper football rather than the hit-and-hope desperation that had been their bread and butter for the last several seasons. In place of desperate defending, frantic running and the prayer of hitting teams on the counter through the pace of players like Anthony Mounier and Loïc Rémy, Puel offered possession, composure on the ball, and lovely, creative buildup.

It wasn’t easy – as shown by those first ten weeks of the season, the transition took time. Players had to learn to trust Puel, to trust one another and, just as importantly, to trust themselves. After spending years believing their job in matches was essentially to survive, it was difficult at first for the veterans in the side to adjust not only to keeping the ball, but also to trying things with it. Veteran defender Renato Civelli is perhaps the best example of this transition. Puel himself has said that he didn’t expect Civelli – a rugged, hit first, ask questions later sort of centre back – to be able to fit into his new Nice. But Civelli adjusted, surprising his coach with a new willingness to play with patience, looking for feet out of the back rather than just hoofing the ball as far away from goal as possible.

Eventually, it all came together, most spectacularly in January’s 5-0 dismantling of a very respectable Valenciennes team, a team with whom Nice had played out a 0-0 draw in the second week of the season. At the end of the first half in that second meeting, the score was in fact 0-0, but Puel’s squad showed their new confidence, continuing to drive forward and utterly destroying VAFC in the second half. It had been a long, long time since Nice dominated a team so completely, breaking an opponent’s spirit the same way they had themselves so frequently been broken in the past.  It was glorious: five goals at home in front of frenzied support, the ultras exploding over and over and over again with a desperate passion born of too many seasons of punctured hope.

Nice have always been a team for which passion lies very close to the surface and at which, for better or for worse, the supporters are a part of club. It’s very, very difficult to succeed at Nice without a close relationship with the fans, and if a player offends those fans, they can find things going downhill very quickly. Look at Alexy Bosetti: he grew up an ultra, has an eagle tattooed on his chest, and travels with a BSN (Brigade Sud Nice, the largest ultra group) flag, taping it to his wall at Clairefontaine during national team duty. If a new arrival failed to understand the closeness between the club and its fans, one look at Bosetti would clear any confusion up right away. And, to their great credit, the new arrivals got it, almost immediately. They have been open with fans, unceasingly appreciative and gracious even in defeat, none more so than Éric Bauthéac who, even more than the extraordinary Darío Cvitanich, symbolizes the club’s season.

Bauthéac led the team in assists with seven and also scored nine goals, a return that left him second only to Cvitanich’s 19. Bauthéac ran his legs off week after week, showing not only passion and work rate, but also skill, and the spark of creativity that had been missing from the Nice attack for so long. His ferocious desire was clear from the start and supporters immediately responded, adopting the winger as one of their own. He fit in the with the team, too – not a vocal leader so much as the friendly, easygoing glue that held this youngest team in the league together. Bauthéac formed fast friendships with fellow new arrivals Jérémy Pied and Joris Delle, while also fitting in immediately with the squad’s core, as well as the brash Bosetti. Cvitanich was magic in front of goal, but in many ways Bauthéac was the engine of this magical season, both on and off the pitch.

As wonderful as this season was for Nice, it’s worth remembering that the project is just beginning. The Allianz Riviera opens next season, and both Puel and club president Jean-Pierre Rivère are well aware that there is a long way to go. One day, maybe, Europe will be the expectation rather than the miracle, and players will see Nice as a destination, not a launching pad to greater things. 2012-2013 was an important first step, but if Puel can hold onto the core of his team and persuade others to believe in what’s to come, there’s a great future ahead.

FINAL POSITION: 4th

Review by @NiceAllez