What’s behind Francesco Farioli’s great moment with Nice?

The richest man in the United Kingdom does not like to squander his assets. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, The man behind petrochemical giant Ineos knows well the importance of sport as a vehicle for its activities: From Formula 1 to cycling, from sailing to football. Ratcliffe’s footballing adventure, which insiders now believe is on the verge of landing at Manchester United, is based in Nice, a club he bought in August 2019. Thus, behind the prosperity of the current French league leaders, there is no ‘it’ alone. Francesco FarioliThe Italian coach chosen in the summer blackboard What was supposed to be a medium-term re-establishment, instead proved to be a very fruitful investment even in the short term.

Farioli’s story is certainly interesting: his practically non-existent past as a footballer, his entry into Roberto De Zerbi’s staff as goalkeeping coach, and then the two excellent spells in Turkey between Karagumruk and Alanyaspor. But it was Nice’s entire philosophy that changed most profoundly. After searching for prominent names, both on the pitch and on the bench, the course followed was changed early in the summer of 2022: Ineos asked for and received justification for a wage bill that was burdened by cumbersome profiles and questionable returns (from Ramsey to Schmeichel, From Barkley to Pepe) to transform into younger and more efficient players Football thoughts from Farioli, a less homogeneous coach than has been portrayed in recent weeksand by Florent Gisolvi, The sporting director, very young (born 1985), also has a past as a coachAfter serving as deputy in both Reims and Lorient. The two began working side by side, after an initial meeting, which then opened the doors of Nice to Farioli, which lasted about six hours. Listening to the plans of the little-known Farioli, as well as Ghisolfi, and also Sir Dave Brailsford, a Ratcliffe loyalist, and director of Ineos’ sporting arm after being the architect of British cycling’s explosion at Olympic level (and beyond). Hence “Team Sky”.

Ghisolfi spoke often about the importance of… enlistmentfor the first team and the youth staff, for the concept of the big team instead of individual players: a kind of transfer to the world of football of the theory Marginal gains Dear to Brailsford. Working on the small details to achieve big gains in performance: “The more skills we have within our club, the greater the chances of success,” said Ghisolfi, who unsurprisingly did not let the coach go. Temporarily Didier Digard, who finished the season at the helm of the first team, was entrusted with the role of coach of the under-21 team. It was a wonderful job, and now he is about to obtain his license, and I think he is the best. The ideal man to develop our youth: Our idea is to work with Francesco to develop these boys who are added to the first team even without playing. Our reserve team in Zone 1: It is an excellent opportunity for the boys to grow,” he said at the beginning of the season, when there were questions in France about the possibility of not continuing with Digard, the author of a very good second part of the season to focus on Farioli.

The Italian coach won not only because of his technical profile, but also in light of the analysis of his personality and how that would have allowed him to better immerse himself in the reality of Nice. Then his footballing DNA did the rest: “We were looking for a coach capable of delivering attacking football based on controlling the game.” But the numbers are within reach Nice is the team that closed the door (conceding 4 goals) and scored the minimum, 11 goals in 10 matches. A record of 6 wins and 4 draws in 10 days: ahead of everyone, even the millions of Paris Saint-Germain. If necessary, Farioli’s side leaves possession to their opponents, especially when they realize that they have a quality gap: this was the case in the matches against Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Lille, all of whom are in the top five in the tournament. Thus, there is a combination of factors, and not just one man, however good and destined for a very successful career, at the helm.