EXCLUSIVE: Jeremie Boga discusses his season with Nice, his playing style & winning AFCON
Flashscore: Jeremie, Nice drew 2-2 down at the Velodrome on Wednesday. What are the team's ambitions for the end of the season?
Jeremie Boga: "We came away from Marseille with a draw, which was a bit frustrating given the way the game went (Nice had a player more throughout the second half, editor's note).
"It's still a good away point. We're still fifth, so we mustn't get carried away and must keep our sights set on the top six, finishing the season well, taking maximum points from the last four matches and then we'll see where we stand."
With four goals and three assists, how would you sum up your return to Ligue 1, seven years after your loan spell at Rennes from Chelsea ended?
"I wasn't surprised by the level because I follow Ligue 1, even if it's not the same to see it on TV as it is to experience it on the pitch. When I arrived, I was made to feel very welcome and I'm happy with my first season, even though it's not over yet and I think I can do a lot better."
You're one of the best dribblers in the league. That style of player is tending to disappear. What does being a dribbler mean to you?
"First of all, I'm going to say thank God! Because it's a gift to have that talent! Ever since I was very young, when I was playing down the street or at school with my friends, I've always dribbled, tried to win my one-on-one duels and enjoyed myself on the pitch. That's what I'm trying to do now: eliminate and be effective."
You used to play on tarmac. Has the new generation lost that habit and have players like you become rarer?
"Yes, and that's a shame. Before, we were often outside, playing on tarmac or even clay at club level. That's getting a bit lost and I think we need to rediscover it because that's where you make progress, you improve, you try things out.
"You try and even if you don't succeed, you enjoy yourself and you learn about your personality because you can play against bigger, stronger and smaller players. It's an environment you lose."
And that's without mentioning the strength you gain in your ankles!
"That's for sure, and that's why I've got good support! When you're a kid, on tarmac, you have to accelerate and stop, and you acquire habits without realising it that will help you in the future and that have helped me so far."
Nice appreciate dribblers, as Mohamed Ali Cho joined the club this winter. Francesco Farioli appreciates your abilities.
"Yes, he likes that profile, but there are several in the team, including Gaetan Laborde, Aliou Balde, Terem Moffi and Evann Guessand. We complement each other well. Everyone brings their own special touch and that's our strength."
'Nice don't pass for passing's sake'
Francesco Farioli arrived in Ligue 1 this season with a system of repeated passes between the two central defenders. We had the impression that it could be complicated for the strikers to wait for the ball because these patterns are very specific. Was it difficult to assimilate?
"It's new for a lot of people, but I worked with him at Sassuolo under Roberto de Zerbi, so I already knew the style of play and what he expected from attacking players.
"It's true that it takes patience. But Nice don't pass for passing's sake! It's a system that suits us well and, so far, it's brought us results, even if we've had a complicated period. We need to keep working at it and it's going to get better every day."
You've put together some incredible team moves, with numerous chances created after about fifteen passes.
"These are things we often work on in training. That's why we have to work even harder to be even more demanding and make the coach's system of play work even better."
It's also a project that's only in its first year, and the results are still good.
"Yes, for a first season, it's very interesting and it's not over yet, we're going to try to finish as high as possible to end on a high. Next season, with the players who have only started with this system and will have more connections and reference points, it can only get better."
If we had to single out just one moment from your season, would it be the last-minute winner against Monaco?
"Yes, because it was my first goal, and in an away derby at that. It gave us the win and we went top. It was a great win and a great image of me this year."
'An emotion that will last a lifetime'
On Wednesday, you met up again with Jean-Louis Gasset, who selected you for AFCON with Ivory Coast before resigning after the third match of the group phase. Did you get a chance to talk?
"I'd already thanked him for selecting me back in November. We didn't get to talk at length, but he was very happy with what I was doing at Nice and he congratulated me on the Africa Cup of Nations."
It was extraordinary from every point of view, from the wait to see if you would qualify for the quarter-finals to the victory in front of your home fans.
"It was incredible. Even today, I can't explain those emotions. We spent two or three days after the 4-0 defeat (to Equatorial Guinea, editor's note) in the hotel doing nothing, barely speaking to each other, waiting for the matches to decide whether we'd qualify or not.
"After that, the matches ended with us scoring at the end, finishing with 10 men and winning. It was a crazy experience! And then to see the joy on the faces of all the people, that's an emotion that will last a lifetime."
It's an extremely high-level competition, with a lot of teams arriving with the bit between their teeth, with tried and tested systems and players who don't play in Europe. Winning such a competition is very difficult, as we saw again this year.
"Winning an African Cup of Nations is very, very hard. I was lucky enough to win my first one before this one. There were a lot of surprises at the last Africa Cup of Nations, like Cape Verde, Mauritania and South Africa, who for me were one of the best teams, with a great style of play and players who knew each other because most of them played for the same club. It was interesting to see that level of play."
Between the competition and the return to Nice, was it difficult to cope with mentally?
"It was very hard during the competition, but there was some relief when we got back to Nice because we'd won. I quickly got back into the swing of things and it didn't affect me. Things were going in the right direction and it gave me a burst of energy to finish the season well."
You were born in Marseille, and Atalanta face OM in the Europa League semi-finals. Have your former Atalanta teammates called you for any tips?
(Smiles) "No, to be honest, I haven't had any phone calls. I'm going to watch the match like everyone else, I don't have any favourites. May the best team win!"
