This Tuesday evening on Canal+ Foot, Samir Nasri returns to his role as consultant to analyze OM-Newcastle. The former Marseille midfielder (2004-2008) never minces his words. After the defeat against Atalanta (0-1), he pointed out the attitude of the players: “They started playing ten minutes from time, they were behind on everything. » This evening, he is expecting a completely different team.
Passivity no longer passes
The defeat against Bergamo was not an accident, it was a symptom. Marseille was apathetic, slow, timid in the first half. Behavior incompatible with the requirements of the Champions League. De Zerbi’s system alternates between 3-2-5 and 3-1-6, an offensive structure that requires total defensive commitment. When players aren’t running, everything falls apart.
Newcastle arrive in brilliant form after beating Manchester City in the Premier League. De Zerbi recognized it himself: the midfielder made up of Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali is “top European level”. A trio which dictates the tempo and imposes its transitions. Marseille cannot afford to start sluggishly like against Atalanta.
OM are 25th with three points in four games, virtually eliminated. The following calendar sends shivers down your spine: Union Saint-Gilloise, Liverpool, Club Bruges. According to Opta’s projections, Marseille would only pick up four points over these last four matches. However, it takes between 9 and 11 to catch the dams. This Tuesday is therefore not a management match. It’s a crossroads. Newcastle will serve as a revealer: either Marseille has understood that passivity no longer pays, or it confirms that it does not have the European level.
What Nasri will scrutinize
The former international knows what he is looking for. He won two Premier Leagues with Manchester City, he knows the caliber of Newcastle. He will observe if the commitment is immediate from the first minute, if Mason Greenwood and Aubameyang feel that they are being asked to dance, not to walk.
He will also see if Angel Gomes, who swears “play every match like a final”transforms his words into actions. And above all, it will measure the intensity of counter-pressing that De Zerbi obsessively teaches: the mechanics which, if it works, crush opponents; if she falters, exposes the team.
Nasri wants to see a transformed team. Not just winning, but showing that she has learned. That she understood that at this level, hesitation kills. This is what the consultant will be waiting for this evening: a team aware that Tuesday is a pivotal point in its season.
