There is a Marcelino paradox.

The short-lived OM coach left Marseille undefeated in the league and yet he is almost unanimously hated by the club's supporters, who should give him a barrage of whistles on Thursday March 7 whose intensity could break decibel records , during the round of 16 first leg of the Europa League

The Spaniard left the club in the wake of the now famous meeting between representatives of supporters groups and club managers in September.

His first weeks had been average, surrounded by a certain skepticism around his playing principles and his immutable 4-4-2.

But that's not what Marseille blames him for, nor the elimination in the preliminary round of the Champions League, nor even his hasty departure in the face of what he deemed to be unacceptable threats against the entire management team. of the club.

What Marseille did not forgive were the statements that followed.

Pablo Longoria:



“I think the reception given to Marcelino will not be very pleasant.”



(@diarioas) #OMVillarreal #TeamOM pic.twitter.com/1QH6CBsWGE

— Infos OM (@InfosOM_) March 7, 2024

"There are limits"

“These deplorable events demonstrate that it is not as big a club as it would like to be. Some radical supporters who want to permanently influence events prevent it from being a big club,” he said. thus declared a few weeks later in an interview with L’Équipe.

“It’s a way of proceeding which is very far from what the reality must be, in 2023, in a civilized country. Football is passion, okay, but there are limits,” had -he adds.

“My very short experience makes me think that this is a club where creating a project is absolutely impossible,” he also said.

This weekend, after a clear victory against Granada (5-1) which confirms the good state of form of the "Yellow Submarine", the Spanish technician returned with a smile on his upcoming reunion with the Vélodrome.

“For me, there is nothing special. All matches are the same,” he assured.

"I have no regrets. I look at the past from a positive perspective and with a focus on the present. I am very happy to be at Villarreal. There is not much more to say. I would have liked to go at the end of my contract but circumstances prevented it. Now we have to look at the present,” he said again on Wednesday to the Marseille press.

“There are no regrets about what happened and our conscience is completely clear,” he added.

“We never talk about it”

But in Marseille, the feeling is a little more ambivalent.

"We know it's going to be hot, especially in relation to the recent statements he may have made. Honestly, that made us want to have a big match on Thursday even more," Amine Harit declared on Sunday in Téléfoot.

On Wednesday at the press conference, the speech was more polite, or better learned, on the side of Quentin Merlin, who in any case had not yet arrived when the Spaniard left.

"We don't talk about it too much. We don't play against Marcelino but against Villarreal. That's not an additional motivation, we just want to qualify and take a good option from the first leg", simply explained the new Marseille left side.

Also read Close to the players, often No. 2... Who is Jean-Louis Gasset, the new OM coach?

Same speech for Jean-Louis Gasset, who managed to restore smiles, confidence and efficiency to his players in three matches and as many victories, against Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1), Montpellier (4-1) and Clermont (5- 1).

“Marcelino? We never talk about it. In any case, personally, I never talk about it,” assured the new OM coach.

"We're playing against Villarreal, we're watching how they play and I know he's a respectable person. He's done things in football, he has a method and he has a well-organized team."

And on Thursday, he will also have ringing ears.

With AFP

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