Patrick Vieira in crisis at Nice as he labels 4-0 home defeat to Dijon ‘catastrophic’

PATRICK VIEIRA'S start to his Nice career goes from bad to worse after his side were thumped 4-0 at home by Dijon.

The former Arsenal captain was identified as the man to move Nice up the Ligue 1 table this season after Lucien Favre left to join Borussia Dortmund.

But the France World Cup winner, who was tipped to replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal before the appointment of Unai Emery, has delivered just one point out of nine so far this campaign.

The latest defeat was described by Vieira as a ‘catastrophic scenario’ as one of the league’s early pace setters overpowered his troops.

Naif Aguerd put the visitors ahead in the 67^th minute before Vieira’s men collapsed late doors, shipping a further three goals from Oussama Haddadi and Jules Keita (2) in the closing stages.

Viera said: "This is a catastrophic scenario for us. Losing 4-0 at home is hard to accept. We have created many opportunities without scoring.

"We were shy. The message to the players at the end of the match was this: Playing well is not enough. We need more.

"Defeat is due to lack of success and aggression. We lack character, personality and aggressiveness.

"That's why this scenario has become catastrophic. We do not have enough players to carry the team up.”

Ex Manchester-City, Inter Milan and Juventus midfielder Vieira was in his third season as head coach of New York City before leaving to take over at Nice.

The French outfit finished last season eighth in the league, missing out on a Europa League place by a point.

But the four-time FA Cup winner still retains belief his players can turn things around with a visit to Lyon next up on Friday.

He added: "It is when one is in difficulty that you see the character of each one. It's a nice challenge to take up.

"This lack of rigour and aggressiveness summarises the first matches. We are in difficulty, but I believe in this group, in the players.

"We will work to react from the next match."