behind the scenes of the extraordinary revolution by Roberto De Zerbi

With the arrival of a coach as coveted as Roberto De Zerbi and a very lucrative transfer window marked by the arrivals of Adrien Rabiot, Mason Greenwood, Geronimo Rulli and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, it was obvious that Olympique de Marseille was going to attract all the spotlights in France and Navarre this season, more than in previous seasons where recent campaigns lacked consistency and sometimes even spark. The first part of the season in Marseille was rather special: after a thunderous start with 4 victories in 5 matches (against Brest, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse), the Phocéens had slowed down, making a few missteps against Angers in particular ( 1-1) and Auxerre (1-3). And according to information from The Teamit was this last aforementioned slap inflicted by the residents of Abbé Deschamps which changed everything in the daily life of the Marseille club. At the same time, it is true that everything has been going well since this defeat against AJA on November 8.

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Apart from the setback against PSG in special conditions, OM took a point against Lille and overcame Monaco, Nantes and Lens, but also Montpellier, Saint-Etienne and more recently Le Havre, avoiding new unexpected disappointments : “I said it, I say it and I will say it again: the secret to continuing well is to remember the match against Auxerre. What I know is that if we don't forget Auxerre, we won't risk missing this match. That doesn't mean we're sure to win it, but we won't take it lightly. This is very, very important. It can allow us to consolidate second place and give continuity to what we do. Saint-Etienne and Montpellier also defended low and we won. It's different compared to teams that come and press you hard, but both are tough», Explained Roberto De Zerbi after the victory against Didier Digard's troops on Sunday (5-1). The former Sassuolo coach has quite simply found his magic recipe.

New hierarchy and local internship

The day after the victory in Lens (1-3) at the end of November, Roberto De Zerbi made a rather original decision, taking into account the calendar and the time of year, by organizing a four-day training course in Mallemort, in the Bouches-du-Rhône. On the program, the Marseille players got up at 5:00 a.m. for a first run on an empty stomach, before having breakfast all together. Two group training sessions were also planned, a first in the morning and a second in the afternoon. If the rhythm was very intense, the newspaper The Team specifies that these few days spent in the countryside strengthened the friendly ties in the group between several players. The young people, also present at this course, became closer to their elders. Several small, friendly and less intense moments also took place. The success of this internship led to a second trip in mid-December, this time to Copenhagen, Denmark, and was more focused on group cohesion. The other key point of the revolution under the leadership of Roberto De Zerbi is more tactical. Indeed, in recent weeks, OM has slightly modified its playing system.

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The Italian coach seems to have officially abandoned his 4-2-3-1 and its 4-3-3 variation to install a 3-4-2-1 (which took the form of a 3-5-2 against Lens). This unexpected turnaround led to several improvements in the Marseille collective, starting with a change of role for Luis Henrique who returned to right piston, for Adrien Rabiot who moved up a notch into a prototype of central attacking midfielder in support of Mason Greenwood who also abandoned his role as winger to play the role of creator and facilitator behind the point. Moreover, speaking of scorer, the hierarchy has also undergone big changes. Lilian Brassier has completely left the rotation, Neal Maupay seems to have become the number 1 striker ahead of Elye Wahi, while the return from injury of Valentin Rongier has definitively installed, through a domino effect, Geoffrey Kondogbia in the axis of the three-way defense. This last sector will also be strengthened by the arrival of Luiz Felipe, whose formalization is expected today. Hats off to Mr De Zerbi!