Nîmes Olympique: in the race to maintain, the obstacle is the path for the Crocos

Pour Formose Mendy et les Crocos, accrocher le maintien ne sera pas une mince affaire. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Faced with a Sochaux team in good form, Nîmes Olympique, which remains on five consecutive defeats in the Championship, will try to restart a positive dynamic, at the end of the 17th day of National, last of the first leg, this Monday, January 15 at 6:15 p.m.

It was his brother-in-law who recommended this book to him and he in turn is trying to encourage some of his partners to read it. Formose Mendy attacked the reading of “The obstacle is the path” by Ryan Holiday, "a great title", he said. The American author subtitled his work: "On the eternal art of transforming trials into victories" and he sticks throughout the 250 pages, to explain how to react to obstacles and manage to turn them into a strength, to take advantage of them to succeed.

The defender of Nîmes Olympique obviously saw an analogy with the situation of his team, pushed back to five points behind the non-relegation leader after the first matches of the 17th day. A team which will have to take at least 26 points by the end of the season to maintain itself. That is to say winning almost one match in two while to date she has only three victories…

The National ranking and the results of the 17th day

The obligation to react without delay

"It will be very hard, recognizes Formose Mendy, but we will come out stronger. The obstacles that await us should not stop us, we must use them as shields to continue moving forward despite everything. We are in a delicate position, not irremediable. But we have to react very quickly. It’s true, there are still a lot of matches left, but we must not let that lull us to sleep."

Cause luck, don't wait for it

"Luck, it provokes itself, you have to understand it", continues Captain Crocodile who, after asking "twice as much concentration and twice as much effort" ; to his partners, takes the example of Gauthier Laurens, never yet started in the Championship, scorer last week in Orléans, in the Coupe de France (2-1): "He’is the player who had the most shots on goal. He tried and he was rewarded. This is a message the group needs to hear."

We are not sinking, we should not be condemned straight away

While waiting for the upcoming arrival of two offensive elements, Nîmes, which remains on five consecutive defeats, must as a priority "find a positive dynamic in the Championship" ( Bompard). "The challenge is great, there are many points to be found but we are not sinking, we must not condemn ourselves straight away. We are there, very present, the matches are not played out much, insists Frédéric Bompard who recalls: "It’is factual but when Mbina scores against Épinal (the first of five losses, Editor's note), we are second (no, third) in the ranking. This should give us hope."

Sochaux, only one defeat in the last ten days

Not easy to believe it before facing a Sochaux team which has just eliminated Lorient (Ligue 1) in the Coupe de France (2-1), which has not yet won the match. rsquo;has only lost one match in the last ten days (5 wins, 4 draws) and is stacking up goals (29 in total, 2nd attack). "We have no margin. If we are at 99%, that will not be enough, warns Waly Diouf. "Under no circumstances should we lose confidence in ourselves, there is no need, insists the Nîmes coach who has opted for a more direct game. Players must enjoy playing football. I told them not to be afraid, to play with their qualities and those of their partners." The obstacle is the path.

Sochaux (5th, 25 pts) – Nîmes (15th, 16 pts), Monday January 15 at 6:15 p.m. at the Auguste-Bonal stadium in Montbéliard. Match to follow on midilibre.fr I subscribe to read more