Obsessive, eruptive, intense and passionate for some, unmanageable for others, the new Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli, on the bench Saturday for the reception in Brest, is an ambitious tactician and a strong personality, whose marriage to the very unstable Provencal club started less explosively than expected.
Last week at the Commanderie training center, huge cypress trees were planted to replace those which burned during the intrusion of supporters at the end of January.
"That's perfect for Sampaoli," joked a club follower.
The joke refers to the most famous image of the new Marseille coach, taken in the mid-90s when he was coaching an Argentinian team.
T-shirt and dark glasses, the technician then guided his team posed on the branch of a tree overlooking the field after being kicked from the sidelines.
"Sampaoli, it's the grinta and the tactic (...) It's the bomb this guy"
Samir nasri
The anecdote joins others, such as that of jogging run walkman in hand, with in the ears the lectures and speeches of his claimed mentor Marcelo Bielsa, to draw the image of a feverish and extreme technician, almost also " Loco ”(editor's note: crazy in Spanish) as the absolute idol of the Vélodrome and Marseille supporters.
"Sampaoli is grinta and tactics", summarized Samir Nasri in a live Instagram with journalist Walid Acherchour.
“You see a trainer, short, shaved, tattoos, in a tracksuit.
He's just walking on the sidelines.
It's a bomb this guy, it's a bomb, ”explained the Marseillais, who rubbed shoulders with Sampaoli in Seville.
Adil Rami, another former OM player also coached by the Argentinian in Andalusia, for his part assured
La Provence
that the former coach of Chile was pushing "to be a pit bull".
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There are idols impossible to imitate ”
But beyond this fury to live football, symbolized by the memorable anger against the referee which earned him a new expulsion during his penultimate match in Brazil, Sampaoli is also a recognized tactician, carried towards the offensive. and domination.
“He is hot during matches, and behind the scenes it is said that he is difficult to manage, that he can have complicated relationships with the players, the managers or the journalists.
But for me, he is also one of the coaches most ahead of his time, in terms of tactics, ideas about football, ”Brazilian journalist from ESPN Gustavo Hofman, who followed, explained to AFP. the South American career of Sampaoli and in particular the last seasons lived in Santos or Atlético Mineiro.
"I believe that some idols, in some places, are impossible to imitate"
Jorge Sampaoli
His first match on the Marseille bench, won Wednesday against Rennes (1-0), has already revealed some elements of his reflection, with a three-way defense, side freed by the refocusing of the wingers and a more marked pressing than under its predecessors.
"The first objective, the first message, is that it was necessary to attack", explained the technician in a press conference, closed face, calm and didactic tone, far from the image of sweet nut that accompanies it.
“He's a coach that every player likes to have because he likes to attack and score.
He has been working with us for three days and he has been able to re-motivate us and give us back the desire ”, for his part told the striker Cuisance, out of the closet by the Argentinian.
Basically, the messages like the mission assigned to the Argentine are clear.
In the midst of a season of crises and disillusionment, a little madness, at least on the pitch, can't hurt.
"He has a lot of passion, energy, a playing philosophy that suits what the city, the supporters and the club need," acknowledged the new club president Pablo Longoria on Tuesday.
This full communion with a coach, OM has been waiting for it since Bielsa and the 2014-15 season.
Sampaoli knows the procedure, but he warned: "I believe that some idols, in some places, are impossible to imitate".
Not so crazy.
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