The Ivory Coast international feels that OM's start of the season is «positive» and is preparing, alongside the rest of the squad, for the first game at the Vélodrome on Sunday against Auxerre (21h). He can't wait and is not feeling any pressure.

All smiles and a relaxed. «Life is good. In football, we already have a lot of pressure, there is no use putting extra pressure on ourselves » he says to the Press when asked about any apprehension before his first appearance at the Vélodrome on Sunday. Baky Koné is like a fish in water at Marseille. «As I’ve said before, we have a lot of good players here and we should have no worries. The atmosphere here is very good, I’m a bit of a joker though, but everything is going fine.»
Scoring a fantastic goal against Rennes and full of energy and percussion in Norway, the Ivory Coast international has brought to the squad what was expected of him, just like Hatem Ben Arfa. The change of surroundings compared to Nice hasn’t knocked him out of his stride. « Obviously it’s different but I am still the same. I won’t be changing my behaviour.» Holding forth, he objectively judges OM’s start to the season. «Rennes was a lesson for us, that’s for sure. There were a lot of errors but also some positive things as well. We’ve all spoken together so that we can become a much more solid group and go a long way together. Everything started there. Mentally, it’s going to help us on Sunday. There is positive and negative, but on the whole, it’s the positive stuff that wins out. We’ll carry on working with the coach to try and get better »
The good performance in Bergen, a less good one in Rennes, all these elements have to be digested before the match against Auxerre on Sunday at the Vélodrome. The forward is torn between impatience and prudence. «I don’t want to mess up my first game at home. I can’t wait for it but I shouldn’t put any extra pressure on myself. We have to take a maximum of points from our home games. That’s what we are looking to do before anything else. We can’t allow ourselves to get carried away looking for a goal, we need to be patient and wait for the right moment.»
His explosive raids forward will be precious aces up OM’s sleeves. Baky will once again be one of the attractions during this game. And this time it will be on home territory, at the Vélodrome where he has not played yet in an OM shirt. «Playing at the Vélodrome will be an extra motivation. It makes you want to give everything that you have.»