“It’s like an old love.” The Stade Rennes coach did not hide his nostalgia for Olympique de Marseille, where he successfully officiated from the end of February to the summer of 2022. If he wants the same popularity rating in Brittany, the Argentinian will have to find the right formula, which he is still looking for.
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System still perfectible, workforce expected to evolve, Jorge Sampaoli is still looking for the right formula with Rennes when receiving “his former love” Marseille, Saturday for the 17th day of Ligue 1.
”Olympique de Marseille, for me, is like an old love. It’s a place where I was loved a lot. I really liked this city, this club”admitted without false modesty the Argentine technician at a press conference on Thursday.
From the end of February 2021 to the summer of 2022, this sporting idyll brought OM to 2nd place in the championship and a semi-final of the Europa Conference League.
The unexpected breakup a year before the end of his contract, against a backdrop of divergent ambitions, has damaged neither his popularity with Marseille supporters nor the memory he has of this season and a half.
“Life goes on and today he is my opponent”however, he quickly brushed aside, aware that there will be no room for nostalgia on Saturday, facing the best away team in the championship with seven victories in eight away games.
LOON ”is one of the best teams in the championship, a team which was very well organized from the start of the season, with the work of the coach but also the president. A team that has ambitions for the coming years”underlined the Argentinian.
“It will certainly be an extremely demanding match” for the people of Rennes, he added.
Even if he was finally able to work over time with an almost full squad during the break, this match probably comes a little early for his liking.
During the defeat in Nice (3-2), largely due to individual errors, his team developed some good collective sequences.
”Of course there was a lot of time to prepare for Nice. I think it showed on certain things during the match”estimated Ludovic Blas.
-”There were a lot of movements during that match, up front. We managed to cause problems for this defense on the calls from +Kali+ (Arnaud Kalimuendo, editor’s note) in depth, on my stalls, so these are things (…) that we must keep”he detailed.
The equalizer at 1-1 came from a very nice opening from Blas for Kalimuendo, the 6th assist from the attacking midfielder, the best passer in the championship.
”Afterwards, the most difficult thing is to repeat these efforts (…) In matches against big teams like that, that’s where we have to repeat (them), even when we don’t have the ball, to create spaces and (be) dangerous”he continued.
The identity of the adversary is even completely secondary, according to Blas.
“The most important thing is us and our level of demands and our concentration, above all”he insisted.
And if Seko Fofana, the Bretons’ first winter recruit, had played his first half hour in Nice under his new colors, Brice Samba could reunite with his former Marseille teammates on Saturday if he starts with Rennes where he arrived on Wednesday.
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Sampaoli still recalled that Samba had not played for a month and was mixed about Fofana’s debut.
“If we made the decision to bring him in even though he doesn’t know the team very well, it’s because he brings something extra in terms of energy and he has this ability to transmit his energy”explained Sampaoli.
“But on this part (…) he moved a lot (on the field) and it’s not very good for us and for our defensive replacement”regretted the technician.
Ultimately, he plans to use Fofana near the opposing goal, or even as a second attacker.
“They are very good players”underlined the coach about Samba and Fofana. “I hope in the short term, but I am sure in the medium term, that they will be players who will bring us a lot”.
Frédérique Happe / AFP
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