Tagliafico admits “a drop in motivation” after the World Cup

Nicolas Tagliafico (OL) and Musa Al-Taarami (Montpellier) (Photo by JEFF PACHOUD / AFP)

Between the project presented and the world champion title, Nicolas Tagliafico had difficulty getting back into the swing of things with OL. However, the Argentinian now claims to have a big desire to help the Lyon club.

He stopped French lessons “to my great regret” but Nicholas Tagliafico is not the type to be held back by the language barrier. Present at a press conference this Thursday, the left-back did not use language when it came to describing the two seasons spent atOL. Arriving in the summer of 2022, the Argentinian has experienced five different coaches, as many turbulences and even finds himself having to play for maintenance this season.

Not really the project sold by Jean-Michel Classes and Peter Bosz when going to pick it up at theajax Amsterdam. “I was presented with objectives which ultimately did not have those today. We had to build a team to play in the European Cup and unfortunately, that was not the reality. It was hard to see that, regretted the Argentinian. This experience is not only in my career, but also in my life. It allows you to prove to yourself that you can overcome everything. We have to go back to what we thought we should do and move forward.”

“I am driven by a great desire for OL to come out of this“

Announced in the departure rumors during the last two transfer windows, Nicolas Tagliafico is ultimately still an OL player. For how much longer when he is under contract until June 2025? By claiming to now want “open up more to French life, to communicate a little more”, the world champion suggests the long term. However, the situation over the past two years has been far from working in favor of the Lyon club.

The checkered results and especially the world title with Argentina created “a big drop in motivation” in the player. This was felt in his performances after having been one of the big satisfactions of the first part of last season. “Today, it’s completely different, I’m driven by a great desire for the club to get through this.” Even if he is less sharp, Nicolas Tagliafico will always bring “his grinta, his professionalism” to the Pierre Sage group.