A Nice player for three years, Bakari Koné will be up against his former employers, on Saturday at the Vélodrome, in the Mediterranean derby with a place on the podium of the League at stake.
He’s not your typical guy and hasn’t had a typical career either. After debuting with ASEC Abidjan, one of the biggest clubs in the Ivory Coast, Baky then headed to Qatar. At 21 years of age, his choice would appear strange but clearly the little forward took a step back in order to better step up his career. After this, he arrived atLorient in the League 2 where he exploded onto the scene. In two seasons he scored, in the League, 34 goals in 68 matches. He put in a string of performnaces that did not leave the elite clubs indifferent, Nice in particular.
It was with Nice, that his profile really grew: 7 goals in the 2005/06 season, 8 the following year and 14 last season. So, just a few days before the match between OM and Nice the pressure is slowly but surely rising. For a Marseille side that considers thta «all matches are important», the game against their neighbours is doubly so, for more than one reason.
First of all, OM are on the back of two poor performances at home (3-2 defeat to Lorient and a 2-2 draw against Lille) and will want to win on their new pitch in the second to last game at the Vélodrome before the winter break.
Secondly, this is the Mediterranean derby. Even if the Nice supporters consider the game against Monaco as thje real derby, matches against OM are still very special.
This year, apart from south eastern supremacy, the stakes are high as both clubs are at the top end of the table (3rd and 4th) level on points (28). «When you look at all the work put in over the last few seasons, I knew that at one point it would pay off, states Baky Koné, Nice are having a great season and I hope that it will continue. They are a solid side that likes to play football. The squad has been together for over three years now and they have great automatisms».
«I always keep an eye on Baky, it’s going to be great to meet up again after having had three great seasons with him.
I see that he’s still in top form and just as quick as ever. But he’s not the only player with pace in their squad because apart from Koné, there is Valbuena, Ben Arfa, Niang, Ziani!».
The OM player still keeps an eye on his former colleagues. In three years he built up very strong ties with certain members of the squad, including the former OM player Olivier Echouafni. «I have great memories of my time at Nice. We took the mickey out of each other a lot in training with « Chouf ». He’s a good player who has great advice based on his experience. The youngsters listen to him and they are right to do so. He’s a great guy » Baky Koné says of him.
But these are feelings that will have to be forgotten as soon as the whistle blows. Something Nice didn’t go through last week, as their game against Grenoble was called off because of the bad weather. «On one hand it allows us to recuperate, on the other it’s not great to break your rhythm. But, whatever, it’s up to us to go out and take all three points » concludes Bakari Koné.
