At the Vélodrome stadium,
An eternity, on the scale of OM, since we had not heard them. And we honestly didn’t miss them, these “wet your swimsuit or get out of it”. The sad draw of Olympique de Marseille against Toulouse this Sunday afternoon marked the return of one of the most famous criticisms of the corners of the Stade Vélodrome. First with the South Winners, who sometimes abuse it, a little with the Ultras, and up to the northern bend.
The Olympique de Marseille players even stayed several minutes in front of the south turn, to listen to the reprimands of the Ultras capo. Beyond getting their swimsuits wet, he above all asked them to give everything in order to make them dream a little during these coming weeks. Before being eliminated from the European Cup and returning to daily Ligue 1, to summarize.
“He missed a lot of things, but no intensity”
Anger only after the 5th day of Ligue 1, and the elimination in the Champions League, which is smoldering in the face of the poor performances of OM’s Marcelino version. More than for the results, even if the Marseillais have a second draw, after the one conceded to Nantes at 11 against 10 for almost the entire match. And which inevitably irritated the supporters. “In Nantes, yes, he lacked everything. But not today. But today I don’t want to talk about intensity, he missed a lot of things, but not intensity,” Pau Lopez wanted to defend himself this time.
Even constant from his trainer, Marcelino. “We have an extraordinary audience, who supported us throughout. Then they expressed their feelings. We all want to win and I have nothing to reproach my players, they gave everything. Of course, the game could be better and with more continuity. But I repeat that the players gave everything and that this is the right path,” he in turn defended his players.
“Better understand what the coach is asking of us”
But what is missing from this Marcelino version of OM, whose results are not catastrophic with two wins for three draws, but the performances are much more worrying? “We have to be more efficient, we are having difficulty scoring goals at the moment,” says the Spanish coach. But also more team cohesion. “I believe in these footballers, we have good players, we must play more like a team. We would like more, me first, more continuity in the game, more offensive continuity and in the rhythm… This is the reality of today,” he nevertheless admitted.
It’s true that, for supporters, as for followers, we have to wet our necks when we see the differences between the game of Igor Tudor and that of Marcelino. And the instructions from the Spanish coach, and friend of Longoria, seem to have difficulty being understood by his players. By Pau Lopez’s own admission:
“He lacks a better understanding of what the coach is asking of us. Defensively and offensively. Understand the game better, each situation, and we will play much better. It’s a question of play more than intensity. With Tudor understanding was faster, we had to think less. Playing one on one, you take your player and it’s over. Marcelino works a lot on tactics, we have to understand what he asks of us, how to press, how to get each ball out. There are many things to improve. There’s still a little time left. »
But OM no longer has the time. After a rather lenient start to the season in terms of schedule, things will get worse for the Marseillais. With two trips to Amsterdam, in the Europa League, then to Paris, in Ligue 1, before going to Monaco and hosting Brighton. “We will improve and I am sure the supporters will be happy with their team. Ajax, PSG and Monaco are very difficult matches. But I think we will be competitive. We are in the learning phase, we must improve tactically and technically,” promises Marcelino. He already doesn’t have much choice anyway, after barely three months in Marseille.