Olympique de Marseille should announce big changes to its organization chart. Which coach will succeed Marcelino?
A change was requested by a section of Olympique de Marseille supporters on Monday during a high-tension meeting with the club’s management. We must believe that these supporters have been heard. The Marseille club is at the dawn of a small revolution which could completely shake up its strategy in the short and medium term. The team announced this Tuesday that coach Marcelino had announced his departure to his players this Tuesday. And the Spanish technician will not be the only one to pack his bags since Pablo Longoria could also leave the ship after receiving death threats.
It is in this context that Olympique de Marseille will have to create a new organizational chart to face a very busy schedule in the weeks to come. The identity of the next coach will be crucial. Who can take on such a difficult challenge? Here are 5 possible avenues for OM.
The list of free coaches includes quite varied profiles. Three French technicians make it up: Christophe Galtier, Laurent Blanc and… Zinédine Zidane. The former Paris Saint-Germain coach was weakened by a very chaotic season in the capital, between a disappointing sporting record and heavy extra-sporting affairs.
Galtier, a big risk after PSG
Born in Marseille, Galtier has never hidden his love for OM, a club he represented in his first life as a player and at the start of his coaching career as an assistant. However, it would be difficult to imagine that the 57-year-old technician, who says to himself “ combative“, plunged directly back into the enemy after a year in Paris.
White has lost credit
Laurent Blanc, for his part, has just left Olympique Lyonnais after a start to the season which considerably damaged his rating on the coaching market. In difficulty in his management and his communication, the 1998 world champion knows the Marseille context since he also passed through the club during his football career. Not sure he would be inclined to take on such a difficult challenge after having been cooled by the Lyon environment…
Zidane, the absolute fantasy
His former friend from France 98 Zinédine Zidane is akin to a fantasy in the current period. Target of PSG, the former coach of Real Madrid has always rejected the advances of the capital club. But from there to taking control of OM during the season, with a squad that he did not choose, there is a step that the native of Marseille will not be ready to take…
Gattuso and Flick, 2 strangers with very distinct profiles
There remains another option for Olympique de Marseille: appoint a foreign coach. With his powerful network, Pablo Longoria had always found his coaches outside France, first by hiring Jorge Sampaoli, then by betting on Igor Tudor and Marcelino. The possible departure of the president will change the situation, but OM may have no other choice than to turn to a foreign technician.
Gennaro Gattuso, who has just had his hair done by Fabio Grosso in Lyon, presents an interesting profile as a leader of men but the Italian is announced in Saudi Arabia, at Al-Shabab. Former Germany coach Hansi Flick, just sidelined by his Federation, has an even more extensive CV after his successful stint at Bayern Munich.
Beye, the big surprise?
Finally, technicians like Graham Potter, Philippe Clement, Tite or even Lucien Favre, free, seem very far from Marseille. On the other hand, a name could emerge more quickly: Habib Beye. After a remarkable start to his coaching career on the Red Star bench, the former Senegalese international has maintained a real popularity rating among supporters after his time in the 2000s. A respected figure in the landscape of French football, ambitious and methodical, Beye will clearly have a card to play.
