Kévin Beuzet has a sense of the opposite. This supporter of OM, passionate about tactics, found several reasons for hope in the heavy defeat of OM in Nice (0-3), before the international break. “After months of nothingness, OM was interesting in building the game,” smiles the bearded man, who runs the “The Work of the Shadow” website. Like all Marseille fans, he was irritated by the defensive mistakes of the Olympians. But Kévin Beuzet saw “the principles of the game take shape” during this beating: “Steve Mandanda was involved in the construction and was often at the start of dangerous actions. The three central defenders are also more involved in creation. And we see a desire to alternate short game and long game, to fix in the axis to reverse the game and to project in numbers. “
Jorge Sampaoli thinks that OM should attack with six and defend with four, without being surprised if the opponent recovers the ball. To instill this principle in his players, the Argentine coach makes them work in numerical superiority, insisting on the work of the side-pistons. He has so far often started in 5-3-2, before sometimes changing his system during the match. “He often changes system, decrypts a relative. If he has good off-center midfielders, he plays 3-4-3 or 4-3-3, but it can be 5-3-2 if he has defenders who project themselves well. “
In any case, Sampaoli wants his players to be “pragmatic without the ball to attack quickly. “However, speed is not the main quality of many Marseille players, especially defenders. “We are still unbalanced in terms of technique,” recognizes El Pelado (“the bald”), who hopes that faster players will be recruited in the summer transfer window. The workforce is sorely lacking in midfielders. In the meantime, he is asking the young people of the reserve, in particular the Italian midfielder Franco Tongya, 19, bought in January from Juventus Turin.
Thauvin converted into a relay medium
“I’m not going to change my philosophy at 61, smiles Jorge Sampaoli. I want to build relationships between players to produce exciting actions, trying to make them play differently from what they’re used to. Winger Florian Thauvin has thus been converted into a relay medium, with some success. “The players adhere to death,” assures a source close to the group. Another witness confirms: “There is a lot of information to digest, but the players feel that it will help them progress. “Even if the sessions are exhausting:” He really puts a lot of intensity, “concludes this source.
The André Villas-Boas volcano rarely erupted. Jorge Sampaoli seems, on the contrary, in a perpetual ferment. He yells his encouragement, even during a simple toro. The instructions are translated by his assistant Jacques Abardonado. Sometimes sign language is enough: Sampaoli is able to mimic a race to a player who is a little slow at the start. He also does not hesitate to interrupt an exercise when the instruction is not understood.
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“He makes them work a lot on tactics,” slips the agent of a Marseillais. “We try to understand all that, admits the middle Saîf-Eddine Khaoui. It asks for a lot of things but it remains simple in the end. He motivates us, he moves us. He frankly tells us when it’s good and when it’s not. »Will the Sampaoli effect be visible this Sunday, against the red lantern, Dijon? Not sure. “It takes more time to give a team its style,” blows a source high up at OM. It is still in the adaptation phase, we have to wait for the next season! “
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