In an interview with Marca, Marcelino looked back on his whirlwind stint at the head of Olympique de Marseille, between July and September 2023. Chosen to succeed Igor Tudor on the Marseille bench, the Spanish technician joined the club on the recommendation of Pablo Longoria, whom he already knew from having worked alongside him at Valencia.
But his Marseille adventure came to an end. After the Champions League elimination against Panathinaikos in the third preliminary round, the coach ended up leaving his position following a tense meeting between managers and representatives of supporter groups. A meeting which he had not attended, but whose outlines had been reported to him by management.
“A non-experience”
Looking back on this period, Marcelino does not hide his bitterness.
“Was my experience at OM traumatic? More than traumatic, it was practically a non-experience given the short time we spent there. This is something that is not common in football. But we see the constant conflicts that this generates and with which this institution must deal. And then, we were also talking earlier about making good decisions and sometimes, due to certain circumstances, we did not analyze the situation enough”he confided, quoted by Le10Sport.
The former Villarreal coach also looked back on the progress of these eventful weeks at OM. “What happened in Marseille is difficult to assess, because we only had four training sessions, we didn’t even have the squad yet. The team that was fourth drew against third and then it was chaos. Then the coach left with the president, who was getting ready to leave. “It’s completely illogical and contrary to what the coach always looks for, which is stability,” he added. Since then, Marcelino has returned to Villarreal, before leaving the club a few months later. Currently free, he is now looking for a new project.
