Yes, Pablo Longoria made mistakes, but he also learned from them. The president of Olympique de Marseille spoke at length to the Team about the changes made this summer, after a failed season, also because of some of his choices. “It would be populism to only point the finger at the players,” he admits.
His first error resulted from the sudden departures of Sampaoli, and Tudor, whom Pablo Longoria would have liked to see extended to Marseille, and from his inexperience in the role of president. “Perhaps the biggest was putting too short-term goals in our heads compared to what is necessary to become a good manager of a football club,” he explains.
“You are losing lucidity”
Like in the summer of 2022, when Pablo Longoria chose to replace Sampaoli with the Croatian Igor Tudor and his very vertical game to exist in the Champions League. “This Tudor turn, with a very radical idea, which I love, mind you, cost us time. He penalized us, not during Igor’s season, but the following one,” recognizes Pablo Longoria.
Igor Tudor’s season at the head of OM ended with a good third place, but with a squad running out of steam. It’s therefore difficult to move on, ask Marcelino, Gattuso and Gasset, the three coaches who took part last season. But here too, Longoria recognizes a lack of discernment. “We absolutely had to get through the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. So I was looking for more experienced players. As a result, we increased the average age of the workforce. We also had to finish in the top three to qualify for the Champions League, we had to be there, we had to be there. And at that moment, you lose lucidity,” he admits.
“This type of coach allows you to see further”
Hence a necessary step back, and made possible with the arrival of Medhi Benatia. Until this unexpected opportunity to attract Roberto De Zerbi this summer. “One day, a friend called me and told me a scoop, a week before it came out in the press: ‘Don’t say anything, but De Zerbi is in the process of terminating his contract with Brighton.’ We talk about it with Medhi and decide to call her. Why not try? », relates Pablo Longoria.
The deal is tied up and Longoria is pleased to have attracted a coach with a style that makes it “much easier to promote young players, makes them grow around knowledge of the game”, and with the ability to fit into duration: “he is a young coach, who has already led medium-term projects, like at Sassuolo, he has the capacity to build a team, an identity. This type of modern trainer, in innovation, allows you to see further.”
Enough to fuel lofty ambitions, those of “establishing ourselves in the twenty-four best European clubs with the new format of the Champions League”.
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