He “didn’t hesitate” when OGC Nice presented itself as an option for the rest of his career. The former, and now officially new coach of the club, Lucien Favre does not hide his “great pleasure” to return to Nice. A broad smile did not leave his face during the holding of the press conference this Monday afternoon at the training center of the OGC.
Alongside President Jean-Pierre Rivère, with whom he has always kept in touch, he then presented his ambitions for the team. “Within two years, Nice must make sure to progress, to do great things, and must regularly finish in the top three of the classification. And even more ! “, he announced.
“Be part of the galaxy”
Achievable plans according to him thanks to the support of Ineos, owner of the club since 2019, whose project “is to be efficient without having big names”, according to the president of the club. The British petrochemical group has other teams in other sports that are part of “a galaxy” by being first, such as cycling, Formula 1 or sailing.
Jean-Pierre Rivère affirmed his desire to see “the OGC in this galaxy”. “We were not in the dark [peu de communication a été faite depuis les discussions entre Christophe Galtier et le PSG] , we knew we wanted to find the DNA of the club, to have a good game, to have fun. That the team is recognizable beyond its jersey. We have fond memories of Lucien. We are going to have a very beautiful path together. During his first stint, the coach had managed 99 games and reached 3rd place with 78 points in 2016-2017.
The transfer window, “the most important thing” for Lucien Favre
Dismissed from Borussia Dortmund in December 2020, the 64-year-old Swiss technician returns after “five years of work” and “a break”, which he had already taken after other successions of experiences. “I’m always trying to improve and that’s what I continue to do. There are a lot of things to do to progress. You have to analyze, you have to adapt to football which is constantly changing, ”he recalled. As a coach, he also intends to adapt to his players to find the best game tactics.
And to achieve these objectives, the Swiss coach wants to work in a “collegial” way, “discuss ideas” to “make the right decision”, especially regarding recruitment. He believes that “it must be intuitive” but that it is necessary “to involve others”, in particular his staff made up of Arjan Peço and Christophe Moulin but also Jean-Pierre Rivère, with whom he regularly exchanged glances of complicity during of the press conference.
This Monday afternoon, no announcement on the transfer window was made. Lucien Favre nevertheless underlined that it was “the most important thing” quoting Arsène Wenger when he was at Arsenal and specifying that he thought so too. The team will therefore be “remodeled”.