At the Vélodrome stadium,
An eternity, on the OM scale, since we had heard them. And the truth is that we don’t miss them, those “wet your swimsuit or take it off.” Olympique de Marseille’s sad draw against Toulouse this Sunday afternoon marked the return of one of the most famous critics of Stade Vélodrome corners. First with the South Winners, who sometimes abuse, a little with the Ultras, and even the northern curve.
The Olympique de Marseille players even remained for several minutes in front of the south curve, to listen to the reprimands of the Ultras boss. Beyond wetting their swimsuits, he asked them above all to give everything so he could make them dream a little during these next few weeks. Before being eliminated from the European Cup and returning to daily Ligue 1, in summary.
“He missed many things, but no intensity”
Anger only after the 5th day of Ligue 1 and the elimination in the Champions League, which burns due to the poor performances of the Marcelino version of OM. More than because of the results, although the Marseillais have a second draw, after the one they suffered against Nantes by 11 against 10 for almost the entire match. And what inevitably irritated the fans. “In Nantes yes, everything was missing. But not today. But today I don’t want to talk about intensity, he lacked many things, but not intensity,” Pau López wanted to defend himself this time.
Even constant on the part of his coach, Marcelino. “We have an extraordinary audience, who supported us at all times. 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 asks of us”
But what is missing from this Marcelino version of OM, whose results are not catastrophic with two wins to three draws, but the performances are much more worrying? “We have to be more efficient, we are having difficulties 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 as 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 admitted however.
It is true that, for both fans and followers, you have to get your neck wet when you see the differences between Igor Tudor’s game and Marcelino’s. And the instructions of the Spanish coach, a friend of Longoria, seem to have difficulty being understood by his players. As Pau López himself admits:
“He needs to better understand what the coach asks of us. Defensively and offensively. He understands the game better, each situation, and we will play much better. It’s a question of play more than intensity. With the Tudors, 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. There are many things to improve. There’s still a little time left. »
But OM no longer has time. After a fairly lenient start to the season in terms of calendar, 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 that the fans will be happy with their team. Ajax, PSG and Monaco are very difficult games. But I think we will be competitive. We are in the learning phase, we must improve tactically and technically,” promises Marcelino. In any case, he no longer has many options, after just three months in Marseille.
