FM21: OGC Nice — Les Aiglons (Introduction)
It’s time for the return of Magnus Steinkelsson in FM21, the Swede who has previously managed Borussia Dortmund (FM19) and Salernitana (FM20) has decided to take the reigns of the French Riviera based side OGC Nice.
Les Aiglons
The eagles, the eagle is the most striking symbol of the city of Nice, which has been present on the cities coat of arms since the 1400s. The presence of the eagle, an imperial emblem, stems from the House of Savoy, a royal dynasty which expanded its territories, acquiring Nice to gain access to the Mediterranean sea.
Why OGC Nice?
OGC Nice nearly have it all: the history, being one of the founding members of the first division of French football. The side based on the Côte d'Azur remain one of France’s most decorated clubs, but their four league titles came in a rash in a glorious decade of the 1950s.
During this period the club challenged Stade de Reims for domestic dominance, completing France’s first back-to-back league title wins in 1951 and ’52. For good measure, they also became the first club to do the League-Coupe de France double in a ground-breaking 1951–52 season.
The last of the four league titles in 1959 marked the end of an era.
The fans, Nice has a population of around one million people which offers the club growth potential in relation to its fanbase and financial markets.
The Stadium, OGC Nice play their football in the state of the art Allianz Riviera, which opened in 2013. The stadium has a capacity of 35,624 and was selected to be one of stadiums used for the 2016 UEFA European Championships hosted in France.
The owner, in 2019 Britains richest man Jim Ratcliffe expanded his sporting portfolio with his purchase of OGC Nice via his multinational chemical and oil company Ineos.
The businessman viewed the acquisition of Nice as a great opportunity given the clubs great location, a busy airport, a lovely stadium, as well as a brand new training centre and a passionate fanbase.
While Ineos is currently bankrolling the club, the vision is to ensure the club is self-sustaining in the near future.
However in the 2018–19 financial year, PSG brought in total revenues of €640 million and secured overall profits of €27.6 million, while at Nice revenue stood at €54 million, and net profit of €6.7.
If Nice are to join the elite they will need to do better commercially, be clever in terms of developing players and then trading them. Through developing players who end up at some of the biggest European clubs, that will improve the clubs stature.
Il Sistema
Inspired by the summers reading surrounding the great Ernõ Egri Erbstein, I will look to implement Il Sistema into my save with Nice. Il Sistema, a tactic implemented by Erbstein’s Torino draws similarities with the brand of Dutch total football of the 1970s.
Taking inspiration from Herbert Chapman’s Arsenal, Erbstein began to implement a W-M system in which his Torino side played an intense attacking game, fusing the central European short passing game with Italian Guile and the solidarity of the English W-M shape, this became to be known as il Sistema.
Erbstein was obsessed with technique, intelligence and movement in his players. He looked to make his wing-halves the hub of the team, asking them to create and destroy in equal measure — closing down their opponents to win the ball and then look to launch swift counter-attacks.
Il Sistema often lead to leaving opponents overran, overpowered and overwhelmed, implementing this system will be one of the biggest challenges to date and one which I have no doubts will either make or break me!
Aims of the save
I have set myself the goal to achieve the following aims over a ten year period, allowing sufficient time to develop a brand of football which will lead to Nice returning to the pinnacle
- Become a regular competitor in European competitions
- Become the French Riviera’s leading club (Marseille, Monaco & Toulon)
- Bring Champions League Football to Nice.
- Win back to back league titles.
- Win a league and cup double.
- Successfully implement il Sistema.
- Use the scouting system to find the best U23 players from undervalued markets.
- Utilise existing links with Racing Club Abidjan to create a smooth pathway for some of west Africa’s brightest young talents to make the switch to Europe.
Thanks for reading and I hope you get to follow Magnus as we look to share our FM21 experiences together.
