Winner of Monaco this Sunday at the end of the thirteenth day of Ligue 1 (2-1), Roberto De Zerbi hopes that this victory will sign the “start of a great story at the Vélodrome”, after a series of poor results at home.
A victory to ward off fate. In a melting Vélodrome, Olympique de Marseille (finally) won at home, this Sunday against Monaco, at the end of the thirteenth day of Ligue 1 (2-1). After Aleksandr Golovin opened the score in the first period (41st), Luis Henrique sounded the revolt upon returning from the locker room (53rd), before Mason Greenwood, at the very end of the match, gave his team victory on penalty (89th). Enough to allow Roberto De Zerbi's men to return to success at home in a 2024-2025 season where receptions have often been missed events. As evidenced by these last three matches without a victory on the Vél' pitch: two defeats against Auxerre (1-3) and PSG (0-3), and a bland draw against Angers (1-1) at the beginning of October.
“I hope this is the start of an important story at the Vélodrome. It was a shame that we were unable to express ourselves at home,” commented the Marseille coach at a press conference, visibly relieved. “We had a mental block, which didn't allow us to play calmly and lucidly. There was a fear of doing wrong and it's difficult to play like that. It's hard to explain, but I think we was not ourselves”, continued De Zerbi while his team, second in Ligue 1, is in fourteenth place in the standings at home…
“I hope we found the key to playing here”
With players much more aggressive in pressing, “there was a big difference with the last home matches”, insisted De Zerbi who hopes to have “found the key to playing here (at the Vélodrome)”.
“This evening, I saw my players. They demonstrated what we work on every day in training. That is to say playing with courage, organization, fighting, running, trying, taking risks, press high I saw the team I coach,” said the Italian coach at a press conference.
“In Marseille, it's a different sport than other cities. It was a shame not to be able to break free. I felt happy to see my players express their qualities. I'm attached to my players. That saddened me not to see them perform at 100% of their abilities,” he concluded.
