Silent in Nice’s win at Angers (2-0), Elye Wahi now has six goals in nine Ligue 1 matches. Coach Olivier Pantaloni wants more efficiency from his striker, who he believes is capable of much better.
Elye Wahi came through Sunday’s match without scoring. The OGC Nice striker drew a blank in his team’s victory at Angers (2-0), a result that lifted the club to 5th place in Ligue 1, according to Footafrica.net. The player was hardly inactive, though: according to his coach, he often ran in behind Kamara.
Olivier Pantaloni took the post-match opportunity to dwell on his player’s output. According to Maxifoot, the Nice coach lamented his striker’s lack of efficiency, while noting that it had drawn smiles at the end of the match.
« He should be on twelve »
The Nice coach elaborated. « I’m not going to take away all the goalkeeper’s qualities, but I think Elye has the ability to do much better and to finish his moves. It’s true that he wasn’t offside, he often ran in behind Kamara. Now, we smiled about it at the end, but he has six goals since the start of the season and I think he should be on twelve, in my view. And he knows it, » said Olivier Pantaloni, quoted by Maxifoot.
The message is meant to be demanding rather than confrontational: the coach stresses his striker’s potential and what he sees as a lack of finishing. Before aiming at his striker, he first praises the opposing goalkeeper’s qualities.
The figure he puts forward shows the scale of his expectations: double Wahi’s current total of six goals to reach twelve.
Six goals in nine matches
The stats confirm that the Nice striker is not short of goals. Elye Wahi has six goals in nine Ligue 1 matches this season, according to Maxifoot. That total puts him 5th in the league’s scoring charts, according to Ligue1.com.
According to Pantaloni, the chances are there: converting them remains the challenge.
A fixture after the break
Nice’s next Ligue 1 match is scheduled after the international break, though the exact date was not given in the sources consulted.
According to Pantaloni, his striker knows where he stands. The subject was raised with a smile at the end of the Angers match.