The intriguing preview of Ligue 1 will be tomorrow Marseille-Auxerrematch valid for the eleventh day of the championship. The crew of Roberto De Zerbi is incredibly in second place and tied with Monaco, but PSG is 6 points away and half the distance with the Phoceens it was set in the direct clash won by the Parisians.
Results in hand anyway Olympique Marseille travels stronger away from home compared to home matches and the Italian coach – former Sassuolo and Brighton – knows this well: “We are different away from home, but the objective is to be equal at home. In the match against Reims we should have been ahead by 4- 0 at halftime, but in the end we couldn’t win. Against Nice it didn’t go very well, but the victory was deserved. Against Angers we should have done more and against PSG we didn’t play well for the first 20 minutes and then the match was decided by the numerical disadvantage, we are a different team, but the objective is always to play well and give our best both at home and away same as we did in Toulouse, Nantes and Brest”.
On the possible competition between Maupay and Wahi: “Maupay feels very good, but there is no competition with Wahi. They have different ages, backgrounds and experience. Maupay is older and more experienced, and is in good shape, but I have no doubts about Wahi, who has played a good match in Montpellier. The hierarchy remains the same. My duty to make the choices beforehand because you judge after the match, it’s a bit simple to do it afterwards, what you have to do is note before the match who you prefer and who should play, It’s not always easy. From game to game I have to see who is in the best physical and mental condition, but I’m still in love with Wahi as a player players have to be able to score, but they also have to know how to play and press better, and that’s something I don’t always like. I don’t think we’re consistent enough or intense enough when we press for 90 minutes.”
Lirola’s rediscovery after his time at Sassuolo: “I found Lirola a bit dull, demoralized at the beginning because perhaps he was thinking of leaving. I always try to give everyone a chance. Compared to the player I knew 5-6 years ago, he is more mature, but sometimes you have to give him a chance push. I’m happy with what he’s doing at the moment, and I’m also happy that a player who has been forgotten is managing to find his place again. This is one of the beautiful things about football, that the last ones manage to find their place on the pitch. Maybe he was one of the last and today he deserves that place.”
Finally, a summary at this point of the season: “As for results, you know that I am a perfectionist, I am not satisfied with anything. We are doing well in the standings and 2nd place is important. I would have liked to have more points, but given the teams behind us like Lille, Brest and Monaco, who are doing very well in the Champions League, is satisfactory. What we need to improve is the quality of our game, the results come with strong players, and we have them, but also through our performances in the match.”
Continuing: “If you ask me today if I’m happy, my answer is no, but I also say it to the players. It’s my responsibility and I don’t necessarily sleep at night. Of these 23 goals, I would like us to have 46, so we there are things to improve, but I remain positive because I know the quality of the team, they are good people who listen to me and who have passion for what they do. We have to change our football habits because they are used to different things from what we do now, but there It takes time. Maybe we needed a spark, and I think it could have happened against PSG, so I was disappointed and sad. If we had won, it would have been a turning point for our season.”
Commenting: “After Nantes I did a 10-minute monologue to talk about what we are doing in a balanced and lucid way. 20 points in 10 games, we are second. If you look at Brest and Monaco who have 10 points in the Champions League, to Lille who beat Real and Atlético, to Nice who are very strong, to Lyon who have invested a lot we see that we are second in front of these teams, we have to be realistic and we can say we are satisfied. After that, you can think what you want , it’s always my opinion: I’m not 20 years old, I know what I’m doing and it will be difficult to change my mind.”