At the Vélodrome stadium,
A new expulsion against Angers (1-1) Friday evening, after that already received against Lyon (2-3), and Nice (2-0), i.e. three in the last four matches. Olympique de Marseille made life even more complicated against Angers, during the first match of the 7th day of Ligue 1, once again suffering the wrath of the referee.
As usual we can always find things to say about the refereeing, as during the exit of Medhi Benatia after the victory against Lyon which earned him a three-match suspension, but the Marseillais display far too much nervous excitement to hope keep pace with PSG and Monaco, at the top of the ranking.
The stupid exclusion of Maupay
Like Neal Maupay, excluded before the 30th minute of play Friday evening. The referee, Romain Lissorgue, who was in charge of only his 4th Ligue 1 match, perhaps wanted to compensate for the expulsion of the Angevin full-back, Lilia Raolisoa, to whom he had first given a yellow before being overruled by the referee. VAR. The fact remains that the Englishman from OM left his teammates at 10 on a very slight footing, after having stupidly held the hand of goalkeeper Fofana a few minutes before.
It was from this moment that the Marseillais began to become disillusioned, even if the two teams were at 10. “At 11 against 11, we had control of the game,” underlined Roberto De Zerbi, joined on this point by his midfielder, Geoffrey Kondogbia: “There were 11 of us working in training. Until the expulsion, we had control of the match. Little by little, we arrived at their house quite quickly. »
OM in slow motion
The Italian coach even decided to make strong choices after the first defeat of the season, last Sunday in Strasbourg (1-0). By starting Neal Maupay in place of Wahi, and Carboni in place of Harit. But the first was sent off and the second was replaced at half-time.
Ultimately questionable choices by De Zerbi, and above all the frustration of not being able to measure the progress made by his team, due to individual errors. Even if we were able to observe some good collective sequences, with three Marseille players responsible for launching the offensives, until this famous expulsion.
“What is slowing us down is that Balerdi has only played three games out of seven [Blessure puis carton rouge]. Since Merlin has been absent for several matches, Luis Henrique suffers because he had found a good symbiosis with him. But even without them, we should have won these matches. You have to accept the compliments when you win, and also the criticism when you lose,” admitted Roberto De Zerbi.
“Learn to live with these kinds of results”
The first came directly from his own supporters, who accompanied the players’ lap of honor with whistles. After the defeat in Strasbourg and this draw against the red lantern, the disillusionment lives up to the hopes that the people of Marseille had placed in their new coach at the start of the season.
“ “At the offensive level, we are still the 2nd best attack. Yes, there were these two not very good matches, but there were also five good ones out of seven. What can I say to the supporters? That I’m sorry, that we’re all sorry. I’m not asking for time, I’m repeating what I said after the whistles against Wahi against Reims, when you’re in Marseille you have to expect that in such a hot place. There can be 2,000 supporters waiting for you at the airport like after Lyon, and whistles when they are not satisfied. But the best way will be to say it on the ground,” said Roberto De Zerbi. »
Except that he himself admitted that “change did not happen in the blink of an eye”, in “a construction phase to create an important OM”. Which will involve “learning to live with these kinds of results” and “difficult days”. And above all fewer red cards, just to stop shooting yourself in the feet.