Highs and lows.
This is the lot of all players, but even more so for some.
For example Dimitri Payet.
Taulier of a private OM from Florian Thauvin last season, the international tricolor (38 caps, 8 goals) has been blowing hot and cold in recent months.
So much so that he was sent to the bench here and there, as against Manchester City.
And again since the start of the year, against Montpellier (3-1) and Dijon (0-0).
Except that there, it was also a sanction of André Villas-Boas.
Delayed recovery, overweight, lack of involvement?
The reasons are unclear.
One thing is certain: Nemanja Radonjic took the opportunity to show off.
“He can be a holder, said Villas-Boas before the Champions Trophy, this Wednesday (9 p.m.), in Lens, against PSG.
He has worked a lot and he is trying to regain his level.
We have that possibility.
We'll see how we put the team in place. "
The Portuguese coach could however bet on the speed of Radonjic rather than the left paw of Payet to Bollaert.
"When I score, I lose weight"
Dimitri Payet
The latter had in any case not wanted his coach to relegate him to the bench at the end of the year.
“It's logical and he even left me a long time holder when I was not efficient, he said in an interview with
L'Equipe
.
When you're not good, you go to the bench, that's how it is.
I didn't have the level. ”
However, do not talk to him about a potential overweight ... "When I score, I actually lose weight," he quipped.
I know that there are no worries there.
Of course I had less juice.
But it was also in the head.
It will come back. ”
But it had not come back fast enough or strong enough to prevent OM from setting a new "record" in C1, with 13 consecutive losses.
However, it was the Reunionese who scored the only two goals for Olympians in “Champions” in 2020-21, from the penalty spot.
Little consolation at the heart of this XXL fiasco ...
"
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Nevertheless, Payet has always been able to respond present in the storm.
Often anyway.
He had also been decisive against the MHSC, taking the opportunity to scratch his coach when celebrating his goal.
All supported by an enigmatic message on social networks, highlighting its statistics since the arrival of Villas-Boas in Provence.
“AVB”… had fun with the press and liked this message.
Bickering that could disturb the group?
"I do not think so.
I especially believe that a coach will always play the players who will make him win matches, notes Sidney Govou, consultant
Canal +
.
If Villas-Boas does not play Payet, it is because he has reasons.
But I don't think it can destabilize a group.
Afterwards, it is the technical leader of OM, the player who can make the differences.
But he's not done them for a while. "
And as if by chance, Marseille is coughing at the moment.
“Even when things were going well, it's a team that often won 1-0, 2-1 ... There were rarely successful matches.
So when things go on the right side, all the better.
But sometimes that's not the case ... And lately, it was often bad.
Last year, it was the same: they often won by the smallest of scores, without any real big domination.
When you are at the limit, from time to time, it is not enough to make things worse, ”Govou analyzes.
Brilliant at Parc des Princes
It can also quickly smile again.
Especially with a good Payet.
We remember the electric first PSG-OM of the season (0-1), with an excellent Payet, decisive passer on the victorious goal of Florian Thauvin.
And this while the former future-Parisian had set fire to the powder by making fun of the defeat of PSG in the Champions League final… He had quite a bit of pressure on his shoulders.
He had put it himself in fact ... "It was hard, we suffered a lot.
They had good opportunities too, remembers André Villas-Boas.
We had been very efficient and we had defended well.
We know it will be a hot match. ”
All with the idea of offering OM its first title since 2012, in the Coupe de la Ligue.
“OM have not won a title since PSG changed the face of French football.
It's not OM's fault, it's the reality of the most unbalanced championship in the world.
The norm is that PSG wins all the national cups.
It's an opportunity.
We will see if we are able to seize it.
But we don't have this pressure to win (a trophy) because there is a billion and a half difference between the two clubs. "
»
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Except that the pressure, Olympique de Marseille still has it.
Especially against the Parisian rival.
To see if Payet and company, who have won only one of their last five matches in Ligue 1, are doing as well as they were four months ago at the Parc des Princes.
"Impatient" to do battle, dixit Radonjic, they will in any case go to Lens "to play football", as opposed to the first duel of the season between the two teams.
Note that Parisians and Marseillais will meet again from February 7, at the Vélodrome this time, and within the framework of the French championship.
Despite its current poor shape, OM is not so far from the top three in the standings.
By winning its two late matches, the Marseille club would return to one point from Paris and Lille, two behind the Lyon leader.
Like what, anything is possible, even if the podium is already frozen for many ...
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