In an interview with RMC Sport, Pablo Longoria spoke of the departure of Marcelino, who remained only two months in his position as OM coach. The manager understands the technician’s choice to have left the club after the stormy meeting with the supporters last September.
On September 20, Marcelino left his post as OM coach, a few weeks after his appointment at the start of the season. In an interview with RMC Sport this Tuesday, November 14, Olympian President Pablo Longoria returned to the departure of the Spanish technician, who left after a stormy meeting with the supporters – a meeting at which Marcelino was not present.
>>> Discover here the full interview with Pablo Longoria for RMC Sport
Longoria “discussed a lot” with Marcelino
During these exchanges between management and fan leaders, threats – but not death threats – were made. “What happened in this meeting was completely unacceptable. A situation that we cannot accept in the world of football, whoever the leaders are. I conveyed to Marcelino the content of this meeting”, explains Longoria .
“I also conveyed to him the general feeling of the management team, what we had suffered during this meeting. Afterwards, he made his decision in complete freedom, and I understand it perfectly.”
Pablo Longoria claims to have “discussed a lot” with Marcelino after this meeting. The two men made a different decision since the president of the Marseille club is still in his post. For the manager, his former coach encountered a cultural difference.
Accustomed to La Liga, Marcelino had his first experience abroad in Marseille. “I believe that there is a very particular relationship and way of operating with the supporters here,” said Longoria. “These are not the same types of relationships, nor the same types of behavior from leaders towards supporters’ associations in Italy or Spain. I understand that there are different types of visions of these relationships. What we must always do , it’s adapting this type of relationship to the local environment.”
Longoria does not regret having adapted recruitment to Marcelino
Pablo Longoria and his teams had adapted their recruitment to Marcelino’s style of play. For the boss of OM, with hindsight, this decision was nevertheless the right one: “I believe that, to be successful and create a form of osmosis, we must build the squad with a very particular, adapted to the mentality of the coach.”
“There is a very famous phrase from Benitez in Spain, which dates back to the 2000s when he was in Valencia: ‘I needed a sofa, and they bought me a lamp'”, added Longoria, returning on this summer where the club responded to Marcelino’s needs. “It’s a phrase that had a big impact on me when I started in football. I really believe in working together with the coach to build a squad.”
“Marseille cannot be learned in a week”
Ultimately, Marcelino only managed seven matches with his group, before the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso. The Spanish technician was undefeated in the league but was eliminated in the third preliminary round of the Champions League. The coach’s style of play also didn’t really seem to suit the group and the supporters.
Two months after his departure, Marcelino finally found a job, being appointed to Villarreal this Monday, a team he had already coached in the past. “He adapted to Marseille, but he stayed two months at the club. And Marseille, you can’t learn that in a week,” Longoria commented again after this short experience.
“But what is true is that the situation we experienced is unacceptable in the world of normal football, it crossed a lot of limits. It’s a type of situation in which I can perfectly understand the decision that “he took, as an actor totally focused on the sportsman”, concluded Longoria on Marcelino. “I’m not asking everyone to think like a club president.”
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2023-11-14 16:47:11
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