• Jorge Sampaoli will follow Sunday (1 p.m.) the match between OM and FC Metz from the stands after his suspension for too many yellow cards received. 

  • Jorge Sampaoli, believes that he must "more [s] 'used to better manage [his] emotions", especially in the league. 

  • But there is also a certain misunderstanding with the French arbitral body, due to the difference in languages. 

Jorge Sampaoli, king of the rusk.

The Argentine coach of Olympique de Marseille will not be able to pace his touchline on Sunday (1 p.m.) against FC Metz, for the 13th day of Ligue 1. He will be forced to attend this match from the stands of the Stade Vélodrome, after having received three yellow cards in less than 10 games, as provided for in the LFP regulations.

Height of the situation, Jorge Sampaoli was again warned during the match to be replayed against Nice (1-1), barely 10 minutes after the decision of the disciplinary committee of the LFP to suspend him against Metz.

"He's always been like that"

Often caricatured for his volcanic character - he had been sent off for his last match in Brazil with Atletico Mineiro - Jorge Sampaoli lives up to his reputation at Olympique de Marseille, where he landed last March. Since his first match against Rennes on March 10, El Pelado (the bald) has received seven cards, six yellows and one red. Only the Rennes midfielder, Benjamin André, and the Strasbourg defender, Alexandre Djiku, are doing “better”, with eight cards, according to the statistics site Opta.

Very often warned in Ligue 1, Jorge Sampaoli is not on the European scene, in the Europa League. “I think every place is different. Each competition leads to a different management, also depending on the arbitration. Maybe I have less tension in the Europa League than in the league. So it's a little different analysis maybe. Over time I have to get used to this championship better and get used to managing my emotions better, but it comes from the fact that I am more tense in the league than in the Europa League ”, explained Jorge Sampaoli when we had it. asked about this difference.

For his assistant, Jorge Desio, who will replace him on the bench on Sunday, difficult to change what has always characterized his compatriot.

“Jorge has his character, it's true, he's always been like that.

I don't think he does it on purpose, I've been around him for 30 years.

I'm not here to calm him down, even if we try to tell him to be careful.

It has become something normal, it is a mark of Jorge this character, ”he explained in a pre-match conference, replacing Sampaoli for“ personal reasons ”.

Language barrier

Warnings linked to the tension that inhabits Jorge Sampaoli, as he explains, but also visibly linked to a certain form of incomprehension between the coach and the referees. As in his first, and only, expulsion against Angers on May 16. He receives a second yellow card, the first one had been sent to him for a challenge, by Frank Schneider while he encouraged his team with the cry of "vale". "He said" vale ", that means" go ", he encourages his team", comes to his aid Valentin Rongier. "Let me explain to you that I said 'come on', why are you firing me? », Yells in reaction Jorge Sampaoli, in the direction of the referee, who does not want to know anything.

“Normally top referees should speak fluent English.

I did say should.

They could also be considered to know a few Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, or key phrases.

But it's also up to the coaches, or players, Italians, English, Argentines to make an effort.

If they had a better command of our language, it would be easier to explain things to them with a smile.

Because these situations can come from these misunderstandings ”, estimates the former international referee Bruno Derrien.

And indeed, Jorge Sampaoli has only jabbered a few words of French since his arrival in Marseille ...

The feeling more than the reputation

For Bruno Derrien, the men with the whistle cannot "arbitrate according to the reputation of a player or a referee", but more according to the feeling. “We integrate it, and we still anticipate what may happen. We are not going to release a card at the first fault of a player deemed hard, unless it is a gesture not at all controlled, "he tempers.

As when he had to referee the former Nice Cyril Rool, known for his rough play. “The strategy of the opposing team was to provoke him to get him out of his hinges. As a referee I couldn't be an accomplice to that. I managed to channel her the whole game by saying "we're good between us, right? So let's stay that way." I managed to maintain a dialogue with him throughout the match, and at the end he came to give me his jersey, saying "it's thanks to you that I finished the match". Even though I wasn't a swimsuit collector, it made me happy. Because as a referee, we do not sanction in order to sanction. We prefer to channel the match without getting out of the box, ”remembers Bruno Derrien. But for that, we come back to the understanding between the refereeing body and the coach,or the player. Which is not yet the case for Jorge Sampaoli.

But in the end, does this behavior serve his team more than it serves them?

Jorge Desio prefers to focus on the beneficial aspect of this volcanic character: “Jorge has been a trainer for a very long time.

He's always been like that.

Sometimes it can be good, it infects his team.

He's passionate about the sport, I don't think it's a big deal for him ”.

It remains to be seen if his absence from the sidelines becomes one for OM.

Sport

OM - Lazio Rome: "Justice in football does not exist", regrets Jorge Sampaoli

Sport

OM - Lazio Rome: An equalizer in the last minutes which allows the Marseillais to continue to hope… Relive this meeting with us

  • Marseilles

  • Jorge Sampaoli

  • Sport

  • FC Metz

  • League 1

  • OM

  • Soccer