Olympique de Marseille announces this Monday, July 4 the Croatian Igor Tudor signed as coach. Free of any contract, the Croatian technician, aged 44, has signed up for two years with the Olympian club. He replaces Argentinian Jorge Sampaoli who decided, by mutual agreement with the Marseille club, to end his collaboration which began in February 2021. The two parties announced it on Friday July 1.
In a statement, OM owner Frank McCourt welcomes the recruitment of the Croatian coach: “I think we have found in Igor Tudor what we need, and I am happy to welcome him to our club. Igor is a fighting man, as he has demonstrated throughout his career, both as a coach only as a player.
A coach deeply marked by Italy
Italy was central to the career of the new OM coach: Igor Tudor notably evolved as a player for almost ten years at Juventus, and he had a remarkable last season as coach of Hellas Verona. He is a familiar figure in Calcio and Serie A, where he was first an impressive central defender, with an imposing physique (1.93m) and an already assertive character. At the start of his career, the great Croatian coach Tomislav Ivic, who worked for OM and Paris SG, who died in 2011, felt that Tudor could “become the new (Franz) Beckenbauer”.
The bar was set a little high, but with eight years at Juventus (including a season on loan at Siena), two scudetti and 55 selections with Croatia, with which he was 3rd in the Mondial-98Tudor was nonetheless a top player.
A body worn out too early, especially an ankle, forced him to hang up at barely 30 and quickly turn to coaching. The beginnings were lackluster at Hadjuk Split, the club of his birthplace and his first steps as a player, then at PAOK Salonika. A successful experience at Karabükspor then opened the doors to Galatasaray, his first big club, where he appeared too rigid and did not leave a great memory.
It was again in Italy that his qualities were revealed, as a confirmation of the weight of Serie A in the course of this discreet manfather of three children and nicknamed “Tuso” in his country. “Tudor loves Italian football. He learned a lot with great coaches like Marcello Lippi and Carlo Ancelotti”confirmed Robert Matteoni, respected signature of the Croatian sports press, to Agence France Presse.
After some beginnings at Udinese between 2017 and 2020, Tudor returned to Juventus, as Andrea Pirlo’s assistant, for the 2019-2020 season. But the results were disappointing and the role of second did not appeal to him. “I have decided on one thing: I will never be anyone’s assistant again”he then told the Croatian sports daily Sportske Novosti.
From the start of the following season, Hellas Verona called on him for help to save a badly started exercise with three defeats in three matches under the direction of Eusebio Di Francesco. This Verona season was enough to make him one of the coaches to follow in European football and which caught the attention of Pablo Longoria and Javier Ribalta, the very Italianophile leaders of OM.
A football of intensity and rhythm
In Verona, Igor Tudor developed a football of intensity and rhythm, marked by a very vertical game and by high and aggressive pressing, which earned him comparisons with Gasperini’s Atalanta Bergamo. Finally 9th in the championship with the 5th best attack, not very far from the European places, Hellas particularly impressed in the biggest matches, with victories against Juventus, Roma or Lazio.
“His basic tactic is the three-man defence. What he implemented in Verona, with a 3-4-1-2, is the system that best reflects his philosophy of play. After almost ten years as a that coach, Tudor has come a long waywhether tactically or in his maturity to guide a team”Judge Robert Matteoni. “Marseille is a passionate environment, it is also the case of Split, his hometown, and that corresponds to his character and his strong personality. It could be a winning choice”said the Croatian journalist.
For the daily Sportske Novosti, the arrival of Tudor at OM is in any case “career challenge“.
With AFP.