The international break for Jean-Louis Gasset?
"Very good. I have good health
,” smiled the Marseille coach this Friday at a press conference. This is not the case for everyone at OM after a truce which indeed brought its share of problems to a team which did not need that. Former assistant to Luis Fernandez and Laurent Blanc in Paris, Gasset recorded four packages for the reception of PSG on Sunday (8:45 p.m.), during the 27th day of Ligue 1: Meité, Sarr, Clauss and Onana.
“For the rest, we live day by day. Between tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) and Sunday morning we will see who can start
,” he explained, adding that the uncertain ones are Balerdi, Gigot, Garcia and Gueye. As for Murillo and Rongier,
“it's going well, it's progressing, it's not for tomorrow, but no setbacks, and Murillo is even ahead of what I was told. We hope that we will, for once, be let down by bad luck
.
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
Ligue 1 ranking
One thing is certain: the Marseille staff will not take any risks.
“We will not intentionally injure a player, impossible, we have been taking it step by step for eight days. They are in the hands of the medical staff, some will take the final step tomorrow. If there is the slightest doubt, the player will not play
,” says Gasset, adding that this is not the time to
“lament
. ”
“If there was only one unknown factor I would be happy… We have already played without Clauss, Meité, Sarr… Some will have their chance. In a famous match, we can have the added value of a player who explodes. When we have the results of the doctors, the risk-taking and the group, I will tell you that, but we are still in the unknown,”
swears the experienced coach, who admits to having explored within the reserve or the U19s. in order to
“see if there is a nugget. We try to compensate for these absences by having a genius idea, if it exists, finding a pearl
. At 29, Sparagna is no longer a young leader. He also arrived at OM to play with the reserves but he could well help out.
“He is with us”
, confirms Gasset, praising his
“wonderful mentality”
.
In the meantime, hope keeps us alive:
“We can have an experienced defense if out of the four players undergoing rehabilitation, we recover two. We would have a defense that holds up
. ”
And otherwise, we would have to tinker.
“These are the hazards of the job… Since we arrived, we have been adapting. We have to adapt to each match to the available squad, we lose or gain players each time, the job is like that
,” notes Jean-Louis Gasset.
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An anti-Mbappé plan?
The Marseille coach also took the opportunity to torpedo these international friendly matches in March.
“I saw tired players. When we come out of a series like ours, put two friendly matches on… I saw people who managed their physicality
,” he complains, referring to the France team and Clauss’ injury against Chile (3 -2). A match during which the Marseille public whistled Kylian Mbappé. Will the latter want to take out his nerves on OM this Sunday?
“I don't think so... I don't have an answer to Mbappé's annoyance
,” breathes Gasset, who also doesn't know if the person concerned will start on Sunday.
“It’s impossible to get into the head of Luis Enrique, who has important deadlines (Rennes in the Coupe de France, Barça in C1, Editor’s note). He built a squad to win everything, I say bravo
,” he salutes. And added, on a possible anti-Mbappé plan from OM:
“I don’t know if there is a plan for a player like that… We will realize when he leaves that he is one of the three best in the world. And I don't know if he's going to play and what position he would play if he does.
We will adapt when the time comes .
”
Still, Mbappé does not represent the only danger for OM in the Parisian ranks. Jean-Louis Gasset knows this well, he who remembers in passing
“very involved matches in a stadium in turmoil”
while talking about the Classics during which he was on the bench for Paris Saint-Germain.
“They are good memories in terms of atmosphere, it is spectacular, it is like a European Cup match. I have known him since my arrival in Marseille against Villarreal (4-0 victory in the 8th of C3, Editor's note), I felt something exceptional, and on Sunday, it will be the same atmosphere.
Read alsoOM-PSG: a historic attendance record will be broken at the Vélodrome with the Classique
When you have more talent in front of you, if you want to achieve something, you have to find solutions in other places, we're talking about collective here.
Jean-Louis Gasset
It will be necessary at least that against the Parisian ogre:
“When you have more talent in front of you, if you want to achieve an exploit, you have to find solutions in other places, we are talking about collective here. Be much more focused, aggressive, skillful with the ball, hold the ball and make the opponent run at certain times and above all be efficient. You almost have to make the perfect match, but we've already done it. We have played four matches at the Vélodrome since I have been there, we have always been able to adapt to the situation, with the Villarreal match as a reference, the peak so far. We have to do even better than against Villarreal to achieve the feat. But we will be expected, we have the responsibility, it's THE match, these are the two most successful clubs in France. There is a gap in the rankings. It's already decided for the title. But in a match, unlike other sports, there is this hope. That’s why the profession is magnificent.”
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