the confessions Of Jean-Louis Gasset on the thunderous awakening Of Pape Gueye

“Of course (he’s available). I spoke with management. If you give me a mission, I would like to have all the assets. He’s a player that I really like. What happened yesterday is not my problem. And everyone agreed. He will be in the group tomorrow (against Montpellier, editor’s note)”. This is what Jean-Louis Gasset said, a few hours after his induction onto the bench of Olympique de Marseille. Aware of the busy schedule that awaited the Marseille team, the former Ivory Coast coach did not hesitate to recall Pape Gueye, suspended for 4 months and put on the shelf during the Gennaro Gattuso era. A strong choice ultimately paying off.

The rest after this ad

Back against Montpellier during the 23rd day of Ligue 1, the native of Montreuil has continued his tenure in the Marseille midfield, at a time when the current seventh in the French championship has to deal with several injuries. Not qualified for the European Cup, the Senegalese international (17 caps) can therefore fully concentrate on the club’s objectives in L1. Sunday evening, against RC Lens, the 1m89 left-hander really stood out. In a decisive shock for the race for Europe, OM number 22, credited with an 8.5 and elected man of the match by the FM editorial team, simply shone in this sentry role.

To read
OM – Lens: Jean-Louis Gasset still believes in Europe

Pape Gueye thanks Jean-Louis Gasset…

During the first act, he first showed great authority, regularly getting the better of Franck Haise’s players. Very close to doubling the lead after a header from Murillo (10th), he constantly used his physical power to curb Lens’ enthusiasm (9 duels won out of 14 contested, 8 balls recovered, 1 interception). Sometimes a little too much, like this yellow card received just before the break (42nd). Inspired on certain openings, essential in the collective balance and with a few decisive interventions, he finally exploded the Vélodrome in the last moments by perfectly crossing his left shot (85th). Hero of the evening and at the heart of an eventful season, the person concerned could only enjoy the final whistle.

The rest after this ad

“We were keen to win this evening before playing Europe, we will give everything now, recover well, I am not playing Europe but the team will give everything. We are in the final sprint, I give everything for the team, I take this opportunity to thank coach Gasset who put me back in the group upon his arrival, I dedicate my goal to the coach, I try to give everything, to help the team as much as possible and we’ll see what I do next.”. Asked in turn about the performance of his protégé, Jean-Louis Gasset also appreciated the rise in power of the Marseille environment. “He is a player that I really like and when I saw the number of games that we had left, I knew that I was not going to play with Kondogbia and Veretout only, I knew that he could bring us for this end of season ».

And to add: “he is not qualified for the European Cup but he can help us in the championship, the whole thing is that we had to get him back into the circuit, he had fallen asleep a little so we had to shake him up a little and today it’s better”. Strong words for those who see their contract end next June. If the Marseille technician admits “not knowing” concerning the future of Pape Gueye and that the latter preferred to procrastinate, the Spanish press announced, for its part, that the defensive midfielder could sign up with Villarreal next season, where he would reunite with Marcelino. As a reminder, this winter, and while he had been shelved by OM in the fall after refusing to extend with the Marseille club as we revealed, Gueye had been courted by Cadiz and Sevilla, interested by a possible return of the 2021 African champion…