In Marseille, nothing is ever set in stone. Neither the squads, nor the coaches, nor the dynamics. Change is often experienced as a curse, an eternal beginning preventing any lasting stability. However, this Saturday evening against Lens, this chronic instability presented a different face. Almost virtuous. As if, for once, the permanent movement no longer suffered from the context, but exploited it.
Who would have imagined, just a few seasons ago, seeing an Arsenal gem arrive in the heart of winter and electrify the Vélodrome in a quarter of an hour? The appearance of Ethan Nwaneri, who scored in the 13th minute for his first start, is not a simple fact of the game. It tells something deeper about Marseille culture: here, we don’t delay for long. We’re trying. We exhibit. We assume. Whether in the Commanderie offices or on the blackboard at the Vélodrome when putting together the team.
Three days earlier, OM left the Vélodrome with a dry defeat and a feeling of helplessness. Against Liverpool, Roberto De Zerbi failed to transmit to his players this ability to dare more, to break out of the imposed framework. It is never the coach who is on the pitch, but it is he who shapes the state of mind, who conditions collective behavior. After the match, the Italian chose to publicly point out his team’s shortcomings. An often risky strategy. Because exposing your players can weaken a locker room. But De Zerbi took this risk with one certainty: he knew that the next day he would have immediate leverage to bounce back.
Establishing Nwaneri as soon as he arrived was already a gamble. But the strongest choice remains elsewhere: leaving Mason Greenwood on the bench. Afterwards, we talk about intelligent management, medium-term vision, 100% Greenwood expected in Bruges. But how many Ligue 1 coaches would really have had the courage to deprive themselves of their top scorer in such a context? How many would have resisted the immediate pressure of the rankings and the public?
In Marseille, the movement is permanent. It won’t stop tomorrow. But that evening, against Lens, he finally gave a clear idea. And a coach capable of carrying her to the end.
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