Gym Tonic: "We all want the Champions League" says Melvin Bard

Melvin, what was missing against Rennes (2-0 defeat)?

A bit of efficiency, I think. We had quite a few chances at the start of the match, and in the end, we were punished for a stupid play. It hurt us a bit to concede that goal. However, we wanted to do well, we knew what was at stake. We were a little less in control of our game, but all the players gave their all, I think it's important to emphasize that. In our misfortune, we're a bit lucky because the teams behind us also lost. Now, there's one more game at home, we have to win it.

Is it a question of mental nervousness? Because we've already seen the Gym miss some important turns this season...

It's hard to explain. We missed games during the season that we should have won, it's true. We're a young team, learning, even if we have veterans with experience, like Dante. We all want to get to the Champions League. I don't think we're tense or afraid. We didn't do what we needed to, but neither did our direct competitors.

Offensive players are lacking in efficiency. How are they coping with this difficult period?

They're not worried. It's true that for a striker, it's frustrating not to score. They work hard in training, do good things. They stay after sessions to work in front of goal. A dip in form happens during the season. But they don't give up, quite the opposite. I hope it pays off in this last match.

Against Brest, is it victory or nothing?

We don't have much choice. There's no calculation to be made. Nor any pressure to put on ourselves either. Otherwise, that's when we'll do a bit of anything. We have to go in there calmly and give it our all to win this match.

If Nice finishes 4th, you'll have fewer holidays this summer with the preliminary round and the play-off to play...

Vacations are always good. But I could sacrifice some of them if it's to go and play in the Champions League (smiles). It's certainly not the easiest journey, but it can also end up being the most beautiful journey. Like Lille did, with an incredible adventure. We hope to experience the same... First of all, we have to win against Brest. We'll give everything to get into this Champions League, that's the goal.

At no point are you going to try to find out what Lille and Strasbourg are doing? At half-time, for example?

No, I don't think that's the coach's style. Anyway, they can lose at halftime and win at the end. No, we'll look at the scores at the end of the match. We're focusing on ourselves, and that's already good.

We're approaching the closed counter at Allianz. There was a call from Populaire Sud, with stickers everywhere...

I saw them yesterday (Wednesday) while filling up the gas tank. I was happy; it motivates us to play a great game. We need our supporters.

In recent years, Nice has missed out on qualifying for the Champions League several times. Should we reflect on this so that history doesn't repeat itself?

It's true that we missed a few opportunities to participate in this magnificent competition. We'll do everything we can to try and win it this time.

A more positive statistic is that Gym is also a club that has not suffered a defeat on the last day since 2018...

(Smile) And it will continue!

“Being consistent is the hardest part.”

Finishing as the best Niçois in the Nice-Matin ratings, what does that mean to you?

It's always nice. It means you've done some good things and that a lot of people have seen it. I was keen to follow up on last season, which was pretty good, and try to be as consistent as possible. For me, that's the hardest thing in football. I'm trying to do everything I can, working at home and in training. It's working, we have to keep it up.

A downside? My two expulsions in one month

A small downside though?

My sending-offs a month apart [against Le Havre and Auxerre, editor's note]. Those are the two low points of my season. That's why I was keen to give my all on my return against Strasbourg, to be able to erase my mistake a little.

You're now a manager. But your first season at Nice wasn't easy...

It was the first real full season of my career. There were some good things, but also a lot of bad things. I had to work hard and not give up, even if there was some criticism. That's how it is, that's football.

And even at the start of the season, your first performances were a little neutral in this role of piston...

That's for sure. You're discovering a new coach, who plays differently than you've been doing for the past three years. From a four-man defense, you go to five, and as a winger, you have to contribute offensively where you know it's a bit of a weakness. So, we had to raise the level a little more. In any case, I'm trying to do it as much as possible.

Ali Abdi started off very strong. How did you experience it?

I took it easy. Honestly! It gave me a boost to do even better. Ali had a very good start to the season, he was on fire. I thought, good for the team. Now it's up to you to show that you can do the same thing and that you're better so you can play as many matches as possible.

Were you surprised to be so successful at center?

No, because I had already played in that position, in Lyon, in the reserves.

It's a position I like because it suits my defensive qualities. I can read the trajectories well. It's a little easier because you run a little less than the piston, but you have to know how to anticipate and cover well. At the very beginning of the season, we talked about it in an interview with the coach and I told him that I knew the position well and that if he needed me, I was there.

At Nice, as at Lyon, your training club, you were never offered anything.

That's what I like. If you want to bring someone back, bring them back, great. It galvanizes me, it will make me progress because I need competition. If people don't believe in me, it doesn't matter, I believe in myself and I know what I'm worth. I'm keen to show that people should have confidence in me.

Do you realize that it is a rarity to have this mental strength?

I don't know if I have more strength than others. But it's true that I've had few moments where people trusted me enough, gave me things. I was the one who had to go and get them. So I learned little by little to be like that. I still am, and I think I will be until the end of my career.

How do you feel at OGC Nice today? Do you want to discover something new?

I feel very good here, it's the fourth season. We can do a fifth, a sixth, whatever. But it's certain that as a player, I would also like to see other things. Right now, we're going to try to play in the Champions League. If that's the case, why not also stay to be able to play it, face big clubs and try to put in some good performances again.

When we say that Nice, 35th out of 36 in the Europa League, has not been up to the standard of the other French clubs, does that hurt?

Just finishing 35th hurts as a player. If we qualified, it's because we were up to par. But there were a lot of problems at that time, a lot of injuries, and we played with a lot of young players. We players are determined to do our best to get back to the European Cup and do better.

If you could have chosen between a 4th place in Ligue 1 and qualifying for the Europa League final phase?

Reaching the Europa League finals and winning it (smile).

The elimination in Saint-Brieuc (in the French Cup) hurts even more than Europe?

Yes. We messed up in that match. We should never have lost. It was a mistake. Now we have to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them next year.

Can we sleep afterward?

Impossible, even after a victory. There's the adrenaline, you think back to everything that didn't happen.

Are you rewatching your matches?

Right away when I get home. My wife, she's fed up with it, by the way (smiles). Rennes? Yes, I watched it again. It's better to watch when you lose matches; it would be too easy to only watch the ones you win. I immediately noticed the mistakes we made, or even the ones I made, for example, on Rennes' first goal.

Is scoring more a personal ambition?

Make more assists too. When you play as a winger, you have to contribute offensively. I've made a lot of progress, but I have to keep working. We talk about it a lot with Jonathan (Clauss) and even more with Ali (Abdi), who plays on the same side as me. We discuss positioning and our experiences. It's enriching.