OM’s Albanian midfielder Lorik Cana has big ambitions for the coming season. “When you start a league season, you’re in it to win,” he announces.

Due to national team duty in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Lorik Cana returned to training a week later than his team-mates. Nonetheless he was quickly brought into the side for practice matches, coming on at the end of the match against Libourne along with Samir Nasri and Bostjan Cesar. 20 minutes against Libourne, 90 against Bordeaux and another 90 against Montpellier. The Albanian midfielder attacked his pre-season at full tilt, even scoring the equaliser at the death against Montpellier. “This year, we’ve had some good preparation time. We’ve put our basic frameworks together and now we need to concentrate on the season ahead.”

OM remains undefeated in the pre-season. But results aside, Lorik Cana appreciates the team’s comportment. “Friendly matches are always tough. I liked our attitude though, and that’s what we have to bring to the league season. We have a strong foundation, we’re a coherent team. There were highlights and lowlights, but our attitude was good. Everyone is prepared to do their best.”

Against Bordeaux and Montpellier, Lorik Cana inaugurated his midfield pairing with Benoît Cheyrou, an OM off-season recruit. A pairing of ball-winning midfielders who are just beginning their association. “I didn’t know him personally but I knew his game from playing against him. He is more attacking than I am and has a great left foot, like all our left-sided players this season, which is great. He is good from set pieces and he can run with the ball. He has good vision and a good attitude.”
So the former Auxerrois is a fine player, but so are the other new recruits. “They will all bring something. Gaël Givet for example was captain at Monaco and he played in the Champions League. With them, we will have more cohesion and stability. Last year we had an up and down season, but with our new players, I think we can be much more stable.”

Barring unforseen circumstances, OM can aim high this season. “Our primary goal is to finish the season in 1st place. When you start a league season, you’re in it to win. If we get a good start, we can vie for the title. A good season for us will be a top-3 finish, like last year. But we should be ambitious, we should shoot for the title. The recruiting was done with this goal in mind. We’ll fight it out with title favourites Lyon, who have a very strong squad.”