Nobody saw it coming. At the same time, who could have predicted at the start of the 2023-24 season that Jean-Louis Gasset would take his place on the Olympique de Marseille bench? A place that was first occupied by Marcelino. The Spaniard was chosen by Pablo Longoria to take over from Igor Tudor. But he took to his heels on September 20 after the conflict between the management and certain groups of supporters. After the short-lived interim of Jacques Abardonado, Gennaro Gattuso also tried his luck before throwing in the towel, helpless. It was at that moment that Marseille’s thinking heads decided to bet on Jean-Louis Gasset.
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“Olympique de Marseille announces the appointment of Jean-Louis Gasset as first team coach. An experienced coach both at club and national level, Jean-Louis Gasset has spent more than 30 years on various benches in the French championship and abroad. His experiences as assistant or head coach of Girondins de Bordeaux, AS Saint-Etienne, Montpellier HSC and PSG have made him one of the most experienced French coaches and notably enabled him to win 4 French Championships, 2 French Cups and 4 League Cups »we could read in the press release published by the residents of the Orange Vélodrome.
Read EL: Marcelino already warns OM
Full box for OM de Gasset
In the process, the former assistant of Laurent Blanc discussed his objectives with a sick team. “My work has already started this morning. I saw the group with the president and said why I was there. I said what I had achieved with less strong groups. The mind is 80% of performance. I said everyone had to do a little more. Let everyone look at themselves in the mirror. When you concede goals like those Marseille conceded, they are individual errors and the system is not the cause. It’s a mental problem when you concede goals after the 90th minute.” Launched into his commando mission with Ghislain Printant, Gasset was nevertheless at the center of debates from his arrival.
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Indeed, this choice by the management of OM surprised more than one. The age of the French technician, namely 70 years old, was singled out. Others felt that he did not have the shoulders to lead a club such as OM or that a more well-known “name” was needed to take up the torch. But in the end, only the truth on the ground matters. And on this point, Jean-Louis Gasset is off to a dream start. When he arrived, OM were 8th in Ligue 1 and had 7 matches without success in all competitions (5 draws and 2 defeats). With him, Marseille won everything. Indeed, he began his adventure on February 22 with a 3-1 success against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League.
A method that pleases
Then, his OM followed up with two victories in L1. The first on February 25 against Montpellier (4-1). The second on March 2 against Clermont (5-1). Last Thursday (March 7), he struck a big blow by crushing Marcelino’s Villarreal in C3 (4-0). Despite fatigue, his team continued its harvest of success last night against Nantes in the championship (2-0). In addition to the results, the way of playing and especially the state of mind have changed. More conquering, the OM is ultra efficient. Indeed, the Marseille team scored 18 goals in all competitions (2 opponents’ goals) in the 5 matches played under Gasset’s orders. With Gattuso, the Olympians were fishing at precisely this level.
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JLG knew how to restart the machine. Aubameyang, author of 8 goals since the change of coach, symbolizes this renewal. Same thing for Iliman Ndiaye, who scored 2 goals. As explained on our site, the Senegalese spoke with Gasset upon his arrival. And the 70-year-old technician knew how to find the right words and give him the confidence to evolve at his best level. This is somewhat the case with the whole group. Jean-Louis Gasset, who was described to us as a paternalistic personality among the players, was able to unite his group and make himself appreciated by everyone. He also favors group life. As explained The team last week, he invested in board games during the green days to bring his men together.
A future to settle
His assistant, Ghislain Printant, is also very important, he who interacts with those who play less. In short, everything seems to be going well for OM, who are currently seventh in the standings and in a good position before facing Villarreal in the return leg of C3. In sporting success, Gasset is getting everyone to agree in Marseille. Which is no small feat. But his case risks giving management headaches. In fact, he only signed until the end of the season as he recalled. “One phrase I like: enjoy the moment. I signed for 100 days, they asked me if I was capable, I said: I’m coming and I’m doing the mission.” And after ? OM will have to ask themselves the right questions.
The rest after this ad Should OM extend Jean-Louis Gasset?
Indeed, if Gasset continues at this pace, we will have to think about his future. In addition to the results, he is unanimous in the locker room. Finding a coach who will be capable of doing the same will not be easy and above all will Marseille want to start from scratch? This is, basically, the OM plan. The Olympians want to give themselves time to find a coach for next year and start a new cycle, while saving the furniture with Gasset. The plan is going smoothly so far. But Gasset is proving that he has the shoulders to be much more than a simple firefighter on duty and that we should definitely not talk to him about age. OM will have to resolve this puzzle by the summer if Gasset’s troops continue to have a string of successes. The next matches (Villarreal, Rennes, PSG, Lille and Nice) will perhaps allow us to see things more clearly.
Pub. 03/11/2024 12:45 Updated 03/11/2024 1:12 p.m.
2024-03-11 11:45:10
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