Regularly aligned by Jorge Sampaoli, Valentin Rongier (26 years old, 12 games in L1 this season) doubted during the summer preparation. The Olympique de Marseille midfielder understood that the Argentine coach was not counting on him.
“What marked me the most, I’ll be honest, it was during the preparation. The coach spoke about midfielders and he mentioned everyone except me, said the former Nantes player on BFM Marseille There I was like, ‘There’s a problem. In his head, maybe I’m in the squad but he’s not going to fit me into the rotation.’ I interpreted it as a message to me. “
“Maybe it was something else and I made some movies for myself, but from then on I was like, ‘Wait, he’s not counting on me, he’s going to see.’ I asked the coach if my efforts could pay off or if it was useless and if it was better that I leave “, continued Rongier, reassured by Sampaoli who uses him in a hybrid role between the middle and the position right side.
