A year ago, the Vélodrome vented its anger after a sad draw against Toulouse (0-0), booing both its players and its coach, three days before learning of Marcelino’s departure in response to a stormy meeting between ultras and Marseille leaders. The climate has changed at OM and the only whistles coming down from the stands on Saturday afternoon were for Jonathan Clauss.
Effective if not always attractive, Roberto De Zerbi’s protégés dominated Franck Haise’s OGC Nice (2-0) to extend their unbeaten run and confirm their solid start to the Ligue 1 season. They even took back the lead in the standings for a while, before being overtaken by PSG, the tormentors of Stade Brestois that evening (3-1). Sitting in second place, two points behind the Parisian leader, and tied on points with AS Monaco, do Mason Greenwood and his gang have what it takes to dream of a title fight?
“It would be a mistake not to believe it”
This is the clear opinion of Marion Bartoli. In Les Grandes Gueules du Sport this Sunday on RMC, the former world number 7, an avowed fan of the Marseille club, put forward her arguments. “It’s true that PSG is doing well at the moment. But if Bradley Barcola gets injured, if Ousmane Dembélé gets injured… It could become very complicated for Paris if they lose one of their attackers. They will have a lot of matches to manage, with a difficult table in the Champions League (Arsenal, Atlético, Bayern Munich, Manchester City…). It will be complicated for the organizations to last a full season,” she stressed.
“And then I don’t forget that they lost Kylian Mbappé. I’m not entering into the debate of whether they play better or not without him, but let’s stick to the stats: he was involved in 54 goals in all competitions last season. Besides that, OM has a real tactician on the bench this year, he was able to build his squad himself by leaving out certain key players. The recruitment was tailor-made according to what he wants to put in place. It’s extremely clear,” Bartoli added. For her, OM must take inspiration from Losc, the last team to have deprived PSG of the title, in 2021.
“I tell myself that if Lille was able to finish ahead of PSG, I don’t see why OM couldn’t believe it,” she concluded. “It would be a mistake not to believe it. They have the capacity to do so.”
- RMC Sport
