Last Sunday's defeat against Paris SG (3-0) once again highlighted some of the recurring problems of the Marseille defense since the start of the season.
On the sides, the full-backs have suffered a lot, whether they are by trade like Amir Murillo on the right, or by fortune like Lilian Brassier on the left. But the axis struggled even more, with an own goal from Leonardo Balerdi, falling back into his mistakes, and difficulties for Geoffrey Kondogbia, placed a notch lower by De Zerbi.
Ultimately, OM are only the sixth best defense in the championship, having already conceded 11 goals and while their goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli has achieved some feats, notably repelling two penalties.
Return of Merlin
Of course, De Zerbi was penalized by the long injury of Quentin Merlin, who should make his return to Nantes on Sunday, and by the suspensions of Balerdi or Derek Cornelius.
But above all he still seems in search of the best balance in this somewhat catch-all sector, which has not really been strengthened this summer and where recruits of uncertain status rub shoulders, like Brassier, midfielders who have come to help out in the hinge like Kondogbia or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, players returning on loan like Pol Lirola or loft survivors like Ulisses Garcia.
In any case, the Italian technician has never fielded the same defense twice in a row and going back through the match sheets, we only find traces of two matches where the defensive quartet (Murillo, Balerdi, Kondogbia, Brassier) is identical: last Sunday's Classic against PSG and the trip to Lyon, an evening where Balerdi only stayed on the field for four minutes before being sent off.
“We can do better”
“Defensively, we can do better, that’s clear. But I think we don't defend that badly either. If you look at the goals we conceded, there were some that we created on our own, in fairly innocuous situations. The absences and the boxes didn’t help us either,” said De Zerbi, when asked about the subject on Friday.
True to himself, the ambitious Marseille coach especially recalled that he expected his defenders to do more than just defend. “I want more personality in the construction of the game and with the ball. That’s my goal, for the defenders to take charge of the match and not suffer it,” he explained.
“We have very strong central defenders who can be even better in the game, in the way they lead the team. If I chose +Kondo+ against Paris, it's because he gives us more quality in the ball output. We didn’t do it well, but that was the idea,” he added.
Against Nantes, a team which should press less and with less quality than PSG, the experience could be repeated. And the return of Merlin, after a month and a half of absence, will offer more quality to De Zerbi. But again, perhaps more on the playing side than on the purely defensive aspect.
“He can play part of the match. We'll see if it's better to bring him in or make him start. His absence weighed on us. It has quality and we can place it higher more easily. He has midfield technique,” said De Zerbi.
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