A World Cup winner as a player, Patrick Vieira is tipped to scale the heights as a coach. With Nice currently sitting sixth, there's a chance for Les Aiglons to improve on the seventh of Vieira's debut season.
Back story:
Vieira won over 100 caps for France and won the World Cup in 1998 and the EURO in 2000. As a formidable midfielder he shone for the likes of Arsenal, Juventus and Inter Milan before finishing his playing days at Manchester City where he began his coaching career by taking on the club's reserve team.
A number one position followed at New York City from January 2016 before Vieira had hit his 40th birthday and in the summer of 2018 he was persuaded to return to France to coach Nice, just 30 kilometres away from where he started his playing career at Cannes. Season one was a success as Vieira's defensively minded side conceded 35 goals, the same as champions Paris Saint-Germain, as they finished seventh on 56 points. The problem was in attack as Nice managed only 30 goals compared to PSG's 105.
Style:
In his short coaching career Vieira has proved himself adaptable. In his first season in charge Nice concentrated on defending well and their main attacking threat was provided by pacy raids from deep from the likes of Youcef Atal and Allan Saint-Maximin. The Ineos takeover ahead of the 2019-2020 season led to the arrivals of class players such as Kasper Dolberg and Adam Ounas but Les Aiglons have not been helped by the sale of Saint-Maximin and the long-term injury sustained by Atal.
Vieira has essayed a variety of systems in a bid to tighten the defence and give top scorer Dolberg the best possible service. It's hard to pin down his preferred system though for much of the season he's operated with a back four, occasionally using three centre-halves.
Current campaign:
The summer recruitment was done late in the window as it took time for the Ineos takeover to be concluded. That led to an inevitable bedding in period and Nice have not been able to put together the sort of winning run that would propel them up a condensed table. That said, ahead of going to PSG on Sunday, Vieira's side are on their best run of the season, having lost only one of their last 12 games. The trouble is that there have been six draws in that sequence. Nice have put the accent on signing young players and at times their inexperience has cost them.
Vieira is finally starting to see the best of his high-profile summer signings. Ounas, on loan from Napoli with an option to buy, has contributed to five of Nice's last seven goals, scoring two and setting up three. Dolberg, the former Ajax striker, isn't a player who needs many touches and two classy finishes in Round 28 saw Nice win the derby against Monaco 2-1, taking Dolberg to a handy 11 goals in 23 games.
An improvement on last season's seventh would represent success for Nice and sixth place will be a European finish should PSG win both domestic Cups. Les Aiglons should bolster their squad over the summer and next season should be in the mix to finish in the top four.
What he said:
"My objective is to play in Europe. The objective is to finish as high in the table as possible in order to play in the Champions League but it will take the time it takes. The club will invest but it won't be willy nilly the way some people seem to think."
Speaking to Canal Football Club in December 2019
What they said:
"I like Nice because they have a coach who is doing good work, with a good playing style. I hope we'll have more quality than they do. But they have a good coach and a good team."
Monaco coach Robert Moreno speaking ahead of the derby in Round 28 of the 2019-2020 season. Nice won 2-1 at Allianz Rivieira.
