Italian Farioli, who coached Fatih Karagümrük and Alanyaspor in the Super League before taking charge of Nice, has an unusual career. The coach, who graduated from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florence, comes from his background as a goalkeeper coach and analyst, not a football player.
There is a surprise team in Ligue 1 every season. This season it is Nice's turn. An intrepid small team story? We cannot say exactly like that. Nice, which was acquired by INEOS company owned by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe in 2019, is spending its 22nd consecutive season in Ligue 1. Moreover, they have been finishing in the top nine of the league for eight years. However, so far they have not been able to compete for a serious championship and have not achieved success in Europe.
Nice, on the French Riviera on the Mediterranean coast, is mentioned together with Marseille and Monaco, which have a deeper history and greater success, both in the French league and in Europe.
Francesco Farioli (born 10 April 1989) is an Italian professional football manager who is the manager of Ligue 1 club Nice. Farioli studied philosophy and later sports science in university. He began his career in football as a goalkeepers coach with Margine Coperta from 2009 to 2011.
But things may change this season. They are in second place, just behind Paris Saint-Germain. As of the first 12 games, they were the best defensive team in Europe's big five leagues. They conceded just four goals and finished nine matches without conceding a goal. In Ligue 1, they are the team that least allows the opponent to play the ball in their penalty area. They did not even fall behind in the first 13 matches.
Koch makes a difference
The Italian coach, who coached Alanyaspor and Fatih Karagümrük in the Super League before coming to Nice, started his professional career as De Zerbi's goalkeeper coach and tactical analyst in Sassuolo. Farioli never played professional football. Graduated from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florence. His graduation thesis is “Philosophy of football. It was titled "Football Aesthetics and the Role of the Goalkeeper".
Nice is one of the 18 teams in Europe's five major leagues that take at most one-third of their goal kicks long (kicking 40 meters or beyond). 23-year-old Marcin Bulka, who played for Chelsea and PSG, is the first goalkeeper for the first time in his career, but Farioli trusts him a lot to establish play from the back.
Farioli has created a team that plays the important moments very well.
However, if you are a goal lover, Nice is not the team for you.
The goal average in the first 12 matches is only 1.4, and both teams scored in only three of them.
On the other hand, Nice is a team that plays cautiously rather than defensively. They have more possession of the ball than the opposition in most matches and are second only to PSG in making more than 10 passes in a row. Their matches often resemble knockout matches in major tournaments: Both teams hold the ball for long periods and the game is only opened by a turnover, a mistake, or a line-breaking pass.
Innovative defense
Teams normally lined up in 4-3-3 turn to 4-5-1 by moving the wings back in defense. Since it is easier to start the press from the midfield, Nice can be expected to adopt an asymmetrical 4-4-2 shape. However, Farioli instead provides extra protection by pulling the defensive midfielder, usually Youssouf Ndayishimiye, into the defensive line and the team's formation turns to 5-4-1.
In this way, they have an extra player to defend the opponent's crosses in positions where the defensive line is deep. One of the center-backs can also play close to the center-forward, who is likely to receive the ball. Thanks to the defensive midfielder turning into a third center-back, there is no space left for the opponent midfielder to make runs.