Successor to Paulo Fonseca, Bruno Genesio had an exciting first part of the season at the head of LOSC. When drawing up an initial assessment, on the spot, he nevertheless could not hide certain sources of frustration.
Far from its bases, in Marseille, LOSC took to the field for the twenty-fifth time this season and recorded a draw (1-1) after a tough battle. During this, the Mastiffs showed a conquering face, despite the fatigue that was plaguing them: “I’m not lying to you, it was personally very hard at the end”admitted Bafodé Diakité, scorer (87′) at the final whistle, he who has been playing a series of matches since the beginning of August and the preliminary rounds of the Champions League.
The results (in 25 matches):
- 13 victories
- 8 draws
- 4 defeats
- 41 goals scored – 26 goals conceded
A few moments later, far from the pitch, Bruno Genesio had to maneuver between different subjects at a press conference, from his tactics to his choices, including the contested refereeing decisions. At the end of all these journalistic questions, he took a breath, took a step back and was invited to take stock of this first part of the season. LOSC, during its weekly adventures, recorded a defeat against Paris Saint-Germain (1st) and conceded a draw against Monaco (0-0), OL (1-1) and OM (1- 1). Fourth in Ligue 1, are his men in their place?
“It’s difficult to answer this question.replied Bruno Genesio instinctively, racking his brains.
I think we could have done even better. There are matches during which we lost points. I’m not thinking about the Saint-Etienne match (1-0), because we didn’t deserve to do better, but if we come back to Nice (2-2) and Montpellier (2-2), we could be even better ranked than what we currently are. That said, we played our 25th match this evening, ten more than our opponent. We are fourth, on an unbeaten streak of sixteen games. We are, at least, qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League…”he quotes, overall very satisfied with his first months in the North, despite a few hiccups.
From Marseille to Rouen
Still inside the Orange Vélodrome, where his men had just scored an additional point, Bruno Genesio was already turning towards the Coupe de France: “Now we have one last match before the end of the year, in Rouen. It’s a difficult match, in a difficult context, against a coach experienced in this competitionhe judged.
I will be very vigilant this week to ensure that my group continues with the same dynamic”launched the Lille technician, who will appear at a press conference this Thursday at 1 p.m. to introduce it in more detail.
