Pablo Longoria, the president of OM, half-heartedly admitted that he was wrong about Gennaro Gattuso.
Arriving in Marseille two months ago, Gennaro Gattuso has so far had a fairly average record as a coach. In 8 matches managed, he has only had three victories, including only one in Ligue 1 (against Le Havre). And in terms of points gleaned, his harvest is not much higher than that of his predecessor Marcelino (1.38 against 1.29).
Longoria is self-critical
The Italian technician therefore struggles to convince in this role. And this is an observation also made by Pablo Longoria, his hierarchical superior. Even if he is in favor of giving him time, the president of OM recognizes that it was not good to change coaches.
“I have to do some self-criticism. It was a mistake on my part to downplay the impact of one playstyle over another. My analysis was very superficial. It’s something we took lightly,” admitted the Spaniard this Tuesday evening on RMC Sport.
Gattuso is not threatened but…
For the moment, “Rino” is not threatened in his position. But he would still do very quickly to redress the situation if he does not want to risk experiencing the same fate as his predecessors. As a reminder, since Longoria has been at OM, there have been six different coaches: Villas-Boas, Sampaoli, Tudor, Marcelino, Abardonado and therefore Gattuso.
“In a moment of great instability, he was a person who had the character and the strength to understand the moment, the city, the passions. He is an intelligent person. I think he gave us a direction, a lot of positivity and that’s why I remain very optimistic and sure that we are on the right track. We must insist on the principles that the coach seeks to put in place,” Longoria added about Gattuso.
While talking about his management errors, Longoria still assured that there was no question of him throwing in the towel. “ From the moment I made the decision to continue, it was a long-term thing. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and a lack of respect for the institution.” He thus denies the rumors circulating about him and which indicate a future resignation.
