Quentin Merlin had been called up to the French junior team for the matches against Italy and Germany. Ultimately the OM side should not go there…
Indeed, the French Football Federation has officially announced its package for the gathering. It would be an injury without further details.
As a reminder, the former Nantes player was just making his return to De Zerbi's group after an injury contracted during the last meeting with the Bleuets. Established on Friday, he left at half-time of the Marseille/Auxerre match (1-3).
This absence could allow him to rest and come back better to finish the calendar year strong. If the injury in question is not too serious, of course…
Merlin was really the gondola head of the De Zerbi system
Present on the DFM set a few weeks ago, the tiktoker Johan Toutseul gave his feelings about the injury and therefore the absence of Quentin Merlin at the time. “For me Merlin was really the gondola head of the De Zerbi system. we saw it from the first preparation matches with this somewhat hybrid role of full-back which fits a little inside, this is what created the gap. His injury came at the worst time for De Zerbi and for OM. (…) When Merlin was injured, it was Luis Henrique who played this role inside. Merlin is a professional, he has technical ease, he plays quickly with one or two touches of the ball, he often makes the right choices, I long for him to come back…”
Read: Mercato OM: This possible De Zerbi holder leaving in January?
Roberto DeZerbi also spoke about the absence of his left side at a press conference: “I’m not looking for an alibi. We recently lost a very important player. we also have Luis Henrique who suffers from his absence (…) It's hard to find the fluidity of the game when there are so many changes. There are variables to take into consideration. We didn't lose in Strasbourg because of the absence of Balerdi or Merlin. We need to do better both in terms of play and behavior.”
Here is the replay of the last Marseille Foot Debate
