Inside Nice's Ligue 1 title bid under Ratcliffe as Man Utd stuck in mid-table
Sir Jim Ratcliffe might've finally cracked it.
No, not his attempts to buy Manchester United, but in making Nice a force to be reckoned with in French football. Sitting second in the Ligue 1 table behind Riviera rivals Monaco heading into the international break, the INEOS -owned club are thriving under up-and-coming managerial hotshot Francesco Farioli.
Since Ratcliffe and co took over in August 2019, Nice supporters have had to remain patient after hearing grand promises from the ownership. Things couldn't be coming to fruition at a better time for INEOS, though, as they prepare to launch a fresh bid in the hope of acquiring Premier League giants United - and like in the league table with Paris Saint-Germain - get one over on Qatar.
But how exactly have Nice done it this season? Let's take a look.
Finding Francesco
Since INEOS became Nice's principal owners more than four years ago, they've been through six managers. Having inherited Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, he was soon sacked and replaced by former Nice assistant Adrian Ursea, who only lasted six months.
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They then managed to pluck title-winning boss Christophe Galtier from Lille, only for PSG to swoop in after a somewhat disappointing campaign. Lucien Favre came in as his successor, once again another short-lived stint which only brought scrutiny on INEOS.
So despite interim boss Didier Digard doing a decent job at the back end of last season, the Nice hierarchy wanted a fresh start. Couple together INEOS' petrochemical riches with a stunning location on the south coast of France and you'd think the job had big-name manager written all over it.
That wasn't the case, though, far from it. Ratcliffe and the INEOS team went for the little-known Francesco Farioli, a 34-year-old Italian who never played football professionally and got his big break in coaching working alongside Roberto De Zerbi at Sassuolo.
Nice made a bold appointment with 34-year-old Italian manager Francesco Farioli (Jean-Marc Ponte/OGCNice/Icon Sport via Getty Images)After flying off from under De Zerbi's wing in 2020, Farioli spent the next three years in the Turkish Super Lig with Fatih Karagumruk and Alanyaspor, where his slick style of football quickly garnered praise. Also boasting a win ratio of just under 42 per cent, it was enough to convince Nice that Farioli was the man to entrust with the next stage of the INEOS era.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere declared that his club were "getting back to basics" with Farioli's appointment, as well as declaring that INEOS' potential ownership of United wouldn't directly affect things at the Allianz Riviera. "We've made sure to build a project that is completely independent of the outcome of that, which we don't know," Rivere told a press conference.
"The project that we've built at Nice absolutely does not depend on Manchester United. What the club's owners, INEOS, want is to keep working smoothly with OGC Nice on the project as we've defined it and built it, and I think that we have all the right foundations on which to work."
While there was quiet confidence following Farioli's appointment - in part credited to sporting director Florent Ghisolfi, himself only 38 - it's gone better than anyone could've expected. Les Aiglons were handed a testing start to the season with games against Lille, Lorient and Lyon in their opening three fixtures.
Francesco Farioli's style of football was criticised at first (Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport via Getty Images)That brought a trio of draws and criticism of over-playing around the penalty area which led to a lack of goals. Nice accumulated 50 shots but only scored twice.
In the five games since, however, they've managed to collect four wins and even beat PSG away from home. Their unbeaten start to campaign, as well as conceding a division-best four goals, has got everyone in French football talking about Farioli.
And no wonder, his philosophy is infectious. "I saw one team of warriors with the ball, without the ball," the Italian said after beating Strasbourg 2-0 on matchday four. "We try to do our things, to propose our ideas, but really the thing that has made me more happy than all the tactical aspects has been the spirit. I think we start to believe more every day in what we are doing with the ball and without."
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Francesco Fariolo is highly demanding of his players (Philippe Lecoeur/FEP/Icon Sport via Getty Images)Ripping up the Riviera
Although there's so much talk around how impressive Farioli's start to life in France has been, his players deserve equal credit. With Leicester legend Kasper Schmeichel seeing his contract terminated by Nice on deadline day and Tottenham outcast Hugo Lloris snubbing a transfer, the gloves were given to ex-Chelsea and PSG goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.
The Poland international, 24, has grabbed the chance to be No.1 with both hands and already boasts five clean sheets - even saving two penalties in last month's statement victory over Monaco. First signed in 2021, Bulka's slow route into the first team at Nice perhaps personifies the INEOS regime, with deep-rooted changes to the club's infrastructure now paying dividends.
Centre-back and club captain Dante - who's five years older than his boss - is now in his eighth season with Nice since leaving Wolfsburg in 2016. The Brazilian continues to be a stalwart at the heart of their defence, rarely missing a game over the past three campaigns.
Nice have built their good form on an excellent defensive foundation (Daniel Derajinski/Icon Sport via Getty Images)Next to him is Jean-Clair Todibo, a name who Manchester United fans will also be familiar with after links of a transfer in the summer. The Frenchman came through at Toulouse before earning a move to Barcelona, where it didn't work out amid a tumultuous period at the Camp Nou.
Still only 23, Todibo has come on leaps and bounds this calendar year and during Saturday's 1-0 win away to Metz completed a remarkable 164 passes. Rumoured Liverpool target Khephren Thuram helps form a fluid midfield three which makes up for its lack of experience (all of the starters against Metz were 24 or younger) by demonstrating excellent technical ability.
Then there's the formidable forward line. 29-year-old Gaetan Laborde is a powerhouse on the right flank but able to operate in various roles in attack. That's not unlike left winger Jeremie Boga - another Chelsea youth product - who worked under Farioli and De Zerbi at Sassoulo, later making his name with Atalanta.
Terem Moffi has been Nice's talisman this season, scoring three goals and registering two assists (Hugo Pfeiffer/Icon Sport via Getty Images)But Les Aiglons' main man is without doubt striker Terem Moffi, who joined from Lorient in January amid interest from West Ham. The 24-year-old Nigerian scored twice and registered an assist in September's 3-2 victory over PSG, outshining Kylian Mbappe, who he relied up while celebrating.
Moffi spoke eloquently after the match, telling the Ligue 1 Show when asked about Farioli's first few months in charge: "Good things take time, so…the past two games we scored, what, five goals? So, it's signs of good things coming.
"He's young, he understands players, because he's really young. Tactically he's sound, so we love this, we love working with him and we enjoy playing his style of football."
Jim's joy
Where's Ratcliffe been in all this, then? Well, with INEOS becoming a global conglomerate since the Manchester-born mogul founded the company in 1998, it's safe to say he's a busy man.
Still, the 70-year-old billionaire - who also presides over Swiss Super League side Lausanne and works with partner club Racing Club Abidjan in the Ivory Coast - managed to watch the derby clash with Monaco and was delighted with what he saw. Ratcliffe sat alongside Sir David Brailsford, INEOS' director of sport, to watch Farioli's men record a dramatic 1-0 win thanks to new signing Boga's 91st-minute strike.
Have your say! Would Sir Jim Ratcliffe be the right owner for Manchester United? Let us know in the comments section.
Sir David Brailsford (centre left) and Sir Jim Ratcliffe enjoyed watching Nice beat Monaco (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)But still his desire to buy United persists, with INEOS now mulling over the prospect of buying a 25 per cent stake in the Red Devils rather than an immediately full takeover. Ratcliffe would reportedly want guarantees that his initial investment will lead to a majoirty acquisition, while Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani wants 100 per cent right ownership now.
The decision will be down to the Glazers, but one thing's for sure, the operation which INEOS are running at Nice is going far more smoothly than the one at Old Trafford.
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