Nîmes Olympique: Adil Hermach, nine hours flat to keep the Crocos in National

Appointed on Monday, Adil Hermach, active at the time of hosting his first session, has several areas of work to straighten out the crocodile team. Midi Libre – MiKAël ANISSET

Adil Hermach, the new coach of the Crocos, who are two points behind the first non-relegation team, has six matches ahead of him to get his team back on the right path.

He placed his hand on the shoulders of a few players. He chatted aside with a few others. He talked and explained a lot, with supporting gestures and without raising his voice. He did not hesitate to interrupt the exercises to clarify a little more what he was expecting. Monday afternoon, Adil Hermach literally took possession of the Nîmes team of which he is the new coach after the ouster of Frédéric Bompard.

This was the ultimate limit for creating an electroshock. New speech, new approach, the child of Pissevin trained at the club, pushed to join Lens in 2004 when Nîmes Olympique lost its professional status, has only six matches ahead of him to save the Crocos from relegation in National 2. He will have to act quickly, at least on three points, intertwined with each other.

Strengthen the game and assert the character of the team

The ex-Moroccan international (24 caps), 37 years old, cannot recover a team in ruins. Nîmes Olympique has collected 16 points (4 wins, 4 draws, 3 defeats) since the start of the return phase. This is the 7th best record, tied with Le Mans. Except that the Crocs, inconsistent, have only recorded one success in the last seven days (3 defeats, 3 draws).

The 29th day and the National ranking

This team knows how to play football, this team has sometimes known, in recent weeks, to pull away to avoid the worst as against Marignane-Gignac (1-1), Cholet (2-1) and Villefranche (1-1 ). But, overall, she is singularly lacking in resilience and character, she is subject to events too much, she does not have a warrior's soul, the one that prevails in National.

This is significant: Nîmes has only won once, in the Championship, after conceding the first goal (2-1 at the Antonins against Cholet, 24th day), conceding 8 defeats and 5 draws.
Further proof of a mentality and fighting spirit that is not always up to par: 13 goals were conceded after the 75th minute, including 4 in added time, i.e. 34.2 goals. % of total.

One of the first projects of Adil Hermach, who knows the Nîmes mentality, will be to encourage his players to strengthen and harden their game, to find the words so that they really do it. badly and surpass themselves.

Quatre joueurs manquent à l’appel : Burner (adducteurs), Doukansy (genou), Labonne (cheville) et Paviot (cuisse). Les jeunes Khalid et Lamgahez complètent le groupe. pic.twitter.com/xkz9lfWETQ

— Midi Libre Sports (@MidiLibreSports) April 8, 2024

Gain defensive efficiency

Nîmes Olympique has managed eight clean sheets since the start of the season, all eight with young Tao Paradowski, 19, in goal. But it's been seven days now since the Crocos, who have the 12th defense in the National, have not kept a clean sheet (12 goals conceded).

Captain Formose Mendy, suspended for Friday evening's reception at Versailles, regularly notes this: "We concede few opportunities overall but it’s enough to be punished ."

The Echoes of the Crocos

The calendar. Nîmes Olympique (14th) has six matches to save its lead in the National. The mission will begin on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Les Antonins facing Versailles (11th). In the first leg, the Crocos took a loss: 6-0 + 2 red cards! If they are not vengeful there, they never will be. They will then travel to Orléans, currently 9th, will host the leader Red Star (match postponed to Monday April 29 at 9 p.m.), will go and discover the Ludovic Giuly stadium in Chasselay where Goal FC (15th) plays, will welcome Sochaux (7th and guaranteed to stay). The last match, perhaps decisive, will send them to Martigues, who will perhaps play their way into Ligue 2 immediately…

The absent ones. For the reception at Versailles, Nîmes will be deprived of Mendy, suspended. Not sure Paviot can replace him. Starting last Friday in Épinal, the former Palois did not finish the match, having felt pain behind his thigh. Yesterday, just like Monday, he did not train. This is also the case for Labonne, victim of a sprained ankle. Packaged in Épinal (knee), Doukansy has not yet returned to the field. Also forfeited for the trip to the Vosges, because suffering from adductor muscles, Burner resumed training but solo Monday and Tuesday, working under the orders of physical trainer Alexandre Duclaux.

The reserves. Monday, two elements of the reserve were called in as reinforcements: central defender Zakary Lamgahez and attacking midfielder Marowane Khalid, often present during the first part of the season but who had “disappeared” since the start of the year. Yesterday, for the closed session, they were joined by midfielder Abdellah Lemaangr.

Communication, concentration, rigor, determination, aggressiveness, accountability, in all these areas, the demands must be higher, and Adil Hermach will absolutely have to give the keys to his players so that the collective gains in defensive efficiency.

This applies to opposing placed attacks, it also applies to set pieces. Despite the 1.92 m of Diouf and Doukansy, the 1.89 m of Paviot (who played very little) and the 1.85 m of Mendy, Nîmes is crumbly in these phases- there. In Épinal (2-1), last Friday, a fifth goal following a free kick was conceded, which was added to the four conceded after a corner. 5+4 = 9, or 23.7% of the total goals taken. With the seven converted penalties, the percentage rises to 42.10%.

Find the trigger offensively

This is the big black spot. The recurring problem this season. Often clumsy, sometimes unlucky (11 shots repelled by the posts), the Crocos do not know how to score. Even though they only remained silent on six occasions, they only found the net 28 times, thus presenting the 17th attack in the Championship, having never scored more than two goals (6 times) in the same match…

It is not surprising if, on Monday, Adil Hermach spoke in particular with Mbina and Doucouré and if he often gave advice to the latter during the session. To reverse the trend and (finally) energize an offensive sector at half mast, the former coach of the reserve and the U19 Crocos Nationals will certainly have to cuddle his offensive elements, instill confidence and motivation in them, tell them to take risks and don't hesitate to try their luck.

Will he call on left-hander Selmane El Hamri, 13 goals in reserve, who often trained with the pro group at the start of the season? A priori, no .

It is rather in the animation of the game that the successor of Frédéric Bompard, who "has an important tactical culture and a good reading of the opposing game", says Salim Fiorentino, coach of the U17 Nationals Nîmes, will endeavor to influence and bring its touch.
If Hermach is a fan of the 3-5-2, "he is not fixed and knows how to adapt", notes Fiorentino. And it’s moreover in 4-4-2 that he changed the two teams set up on Monday in training, with a Sané-Mbina duo of one side, Mbemba-Doucouré on the other.

Nîmes Olympique has still not officially announced the ousting of Frédéric Bompard and his replacement by Adil Hermach. In a press release on Tuesday afternoon, the crocodile club simply mentioned the organization of a press conference (today at 1 p.m.) for comment on the news » (sic). I subscribe to read more