As a guest on Décrassage on OMtv, Salim Arrache discussed his first appearance at the Vélodrome in an OM shirt. In what he calls “the most beautiful stadium in the world”.
Salim Arrache made his first appearance at the Vélodrome in OM colours in Saturday night. A great comeback for OM’s new left-winger after months in the stands. “It made me really happy to wear the white shirt and to play at the Vélodrome. It’s a great honour,” said the ex-Strasbourg player.
“I was happy to play for three minutes. I would have been happy to only play for one. You never know what can happen in a few minutes. You can find yourself with a chance to score or set up a goal. I came on and tried to give my all. I only got a bit of the ball, but every touch counts, it’s experience gained for the future,” enthused the wide man who has been struck by misfortune since 2005.
The man who “would have liked to play with Zidane,” has been plagued by injury. The worst one came last summer when playing football on the beach. Diagnosis: ruptures cruciate ligament. He was at the time still under contract to Strasbourg: “I came each time to Marseille in different colours, but it’s true that wearing the OM shirt in the Vélodrome is really something else,” enthused the native of La Batarelle, to the north of Marseille.
At the club since January, Salim enjoys every day spent at the Commanderie, but without forgetting his main objective: getting back to his best form, a seemingly Herculean task: “When you’re injured for 6 months, it takes another 4 months to get back to your absolute best.” Arrache doesn’t want to rush things and remains cautious: “For my first match, in Lyon, I thought about my injury again, but I forgot quickly. I hope there will be other chances.”
Everyone remembers his luminous performance for Strasbourg against OM at the Vélodrome in 2004. The Marseillais eventually won 2-0. But Salim shone brightly, supplying his strikers with a plethora of chances.
We know that one of the last remaining true wingers in the game, according to Albert Emon, is on the comeback trail at OM, looking to deliver precise crosses once again for Mamadou Niang and Mickaël Pagis, but now in OM colours.
