Nîmes Olympique: with midfielder Salim Akkal, no worries!

Technicité, vision du jeu, qualité de passes : Salim Akkal est annoncé comme un milieu relayeur complet. Midi Libre - Mikaël Anisset

the essential Trained in Angers where he failed to break through, midfielder Salim Akkal, 24, one of the four recruits in the summer transfer window, will discover the National with the crocodile club, animated by a word of ;rsquo;order: treat yourself.

Salim Akkal has a simple philosophy of life: "You don't have to worry." For the defensive midfielder born on February 17, 2000, arrived from Puy (N2), "football is fun! You play, you let go, you give everything and, above all, you have fun"

This last notion is essential in the eyes of the native of Blanc-Mesnil where he kicked his first balls in the city club with a certain Pape Gueye – the two teenagers had passed a test together in Le Havre and only the former Marseillais had been taken.

In Algeria, money but not happiness

Pleasure, then. Despite a four-year contract and a salary of 6,000 euros, Salim Akkal did not stay forever at USM Algiers, joining at the end of 2020. Seven months, a few friendly matches but no official and then return to square one, in Angers, his training club.

"That didn't work, I quickly canceled, says the Franco-Algerian. I didn't like it there, there was too much politics, a way of being that I didn't like. I had a good salary, I lived well, I wasn't to be pitied but football is fun and he wasn't there. Money is not always enough."

He does not regret this youthful choice: "It made me move forward in my life", says the youngest of a family of five children (2 brothers, 2 sisters) who is one with Hassina, "a mother who is everything to me", especially since his father died when he was 15.

#football Proprioception, musculation, squat, gainage, etc., au menu de la séance de @nimesolympique ce vendredi matin. 26 joueurs dont 4 gardiens présents. Mexique (adducteurs) toujours à l’arrêt. pic.twitter.com/LuCgFNoF9W

— Midi Libre Sports (@MidiLibreSports) July 19, 2024

Salim Akkal does not regret the absence of a professional contract proposal from the SCO where he had a long-term stay (2016-2023), just interspersed by this short Algerian experience. In recent months, however, he had often trained with the pro group and had even made a bench in Ligue 1, in January 2023 in Brest.

"I learned a lot in Angers (38 N2 matches with the reserve, Editor's note) but if they didn't offer me anything, it was because it shouldn't have been done, because they felt that I was missing something. I accept it, it’s the rules of the game."

A full season at Le Puy

Last year, he bounced back superbly at Le Puy, in National 2, missing just one championship match.

"He is one of our two or three best players of the season, assures Stéphane Dief, the coach of the Ponot club. Salim is a complete player who can still go to the next level, I am convinced. He has a very above average technical quality. Under pressure, he never panics, he is very clean in small spaces. He has a quality and variety of passes, in the short game as well as the long game, which are very interesting. Thanks to good information acquisition, he also has the ability to play forward very quickly."

Adil Hermach : "A modern environment that can do everything"

"It’is a modern environment that can do everything", summarizes Adil Hermach who appreciates its versatility – "Salim can play in all positions, as a sentry, in an 8 or in a two-element midfielder" – and its volume of play (VMA of 17.5 km/h), and who considers it  "more complementary to Mexico and Picouleau than Doukansy& quot;.

Even though he is rather slender and not athletically dense (1.83 m, 72 kg), "he is extremely resistant and tough in the duel", further specifies Stéphane Dief.

The Echoes of the Crocos

Training. The Friday morning session, which lasted  almost a quarter past two o'clock, was very intense. The Crocos first refined their skills. their physique (squat, core, proprioception, muscle strengthening, etc.) before working on the ball. Faces were marked when the final whistle sounded and no players admitted to being tired. It is certainly for this reason that the technical staff, satisfied with everyone's involvement, canceled the game. training scheduled for the afternoon.

Transfer. Doukansy is still Nîmonth. In the case of his transfer, there is, says Sébastien Larcier, "no significant progress". So will the environment return à La Bastide ? "We'll see, I'll adapt", replies the crocodile sports director.

Istres.The preparation match against Istres, Wednesday July 24, will be played & Redessan à 7 p.m., at the G&rard-Moni stadium.

Ancients. After three seasons à Rodez where ù he was at the end of his contract, the former croc striker Clément Depres signed up for the team. for two years at Ratchaburi FC, a Thai club. Attacking midfielder Antonin Bobichon signed &agrav; Pau (L2) for the next two seasons.

Have more stats

The one who will wear the number 31 in Nîmes has "a big margin of progress" , does not hide the sports director Sébastien Larcier, who knew him in Angers. "He must learn to finish actions better, to be more accurate in the final gestures", points out the Puy coach. "Heading and scoring more goals, these are his areas for improvement", adds his counterpart from Nîmes.

"The coach spoke to me about it on the phone when Nîmes contacted me. He is right, I must improve my offensive stats by supporting the actions more", confirms Salim Akkal, whose role models are Iniesta and Rodri. Last season, he found the back of the net just once, "a headed goal…", he smiles.

When Nîmes, with whom he will discover the National, sounded him out, he said yes without waiting. He signed a two-year contract and he doesn't see any further. "I'm focused on my season. I'm here to play, to give my all, to help the team, and that's it!" With Salim Akkal, no headaches.

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