Five days apart, after the defeats against Tottenham, Wednesday September 7 (0-2), then against Eintracht Frankfurt, Tuesday September 13 (0-1)Jordan Veretout will have served the same speech: “We showed a good face, but it’s not enough.” Defeated in their first two Champions League games, OM occupy last place in Group D and have failed to raise their level of play to be competitive in C1.
A few minutes after the defeat against Frankfurt on Tuesday, Jordan Veretout conceded to Canal + that OM are only touching the Champions League level. “We are not far“, tried to reassure the Marseille midfielder. Still, Marseille is not there yet. Against Tottenham, Igor Tudor’s players had known how to rise there, at least during the first period, before the exclusion of Chancel Mbemba does not change the course of the match.
“We can’t always be disappointed, we showed a beautiful face”
Do you agree with Jordan Veretout’s hot reaction? #OMSGE | #UCL pic.twitter.com/4ColXliwNV
– CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) September 13, 2022
“Tottenham’s defeat is pretty much over, but that one (against Frankfurt, editor’s note)hurts very, very badly”, launched Jonathan Clauss on beIN Sports, aware of OM’s shortcomings against the German club on Tuesday. At the microphone of RMC Sport, Valentin Rongier regretted that “The game plan didn’t work and we weren’t able to adapt.” The sign that OM are still looking for themselves in a competition that has only been played twice in the last nine seasons.
Lucid about the difficulties of his team at the start of the European campaign, Igor Tudor hid behind the status of OM in this C1. “We come from the fourth hat and we try to do the best we can”, explained the Marseille coach at a press conference after the match. Facing Frankfurt, certainly winner of the last edition of the Europa League, but which does not make a great start to the season, Marseille supporters could however expect better.
For an hour, against Frankfurt, Gerson and Dimitri Payet wandered the field, symbolizing the difficulties of OM to be sharp in the last thirty opposing meters at the start of C1. Brilliant since the start of the season in Ligue 1, gleaning six wins and a draw in seven games with a goal scored in each meeting, the Marseillais have not yet found the key in the Champions League, against more accustomed defenses at the high level.
“You have to score goals to exist in C1. Of course, we have the ball, we play well, but we have to do more and score this goal”, launched Veretout. What Alexis Sanchez failed to do, absent against Tottenham, who missed two chances against Frankfurt yesterday. Very experienced in the Champions League, the Chilean striker had to bring to OM that extra which it still lacks.
To show another face in the last four games of the group stage, Igor Tudor, who is playing his very first Champions League campaign, will also have to take another element into account: the element of surprise. That of his team, with a very intense game and which puts rhythm into each of its matches, will inevitably fade. “They put us in difficulty. The opponents see us, watch us on video”, conceded Veretout.
Sign that in addition to its current difficulties, OM will have to adapt, while maintaining Ingredients which have characterized the Marseille team since the start of the season – high pressing, aggressiveness, intensity. On the other hand, according to Clauss, there will not be much to remember from the match against Frankfurt: “We lacked energy, accuracy, far too many things for a Champions League match.“
OM will have to get up to speed quickly if they hope to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. After two days, Marseille are three points behind Tottenham and Frankfurt, and six behind Sporting Portugal. The Lisbon club will be OM’s next guest at the Stade Vélodrome on Tuesday 4 October. A match already decisive for the rest of the Marseille season.