Training started again this week with all eyes on the match against Lens on Sunday. After a long break, the Olympiens will take on a harrowing schedule of 7 matches in 3 weeks.

A big physical session and several laps kicked training off on Tuesday morning, followed by a technical session in the afternoon. The Olympiens are back at the Commanderie. “We’ve begun pretty much the same way we did last week. This weekend’s match is on Sunday at 21:00, that gives us some time to work,” commented Boudewijn Zenden. The international break was beginning to drag on but this week, the smell of competition is back in the air, with Lens set to make their way to the Vélodrome.
And the match will in effect be the kickoff for three weeks stuffed full of competitive matches: 7 in L1, Champions League and Coupe de la Ligue combined. “Big-stakes matches that we have to win,” said Steve Mandanda, “it’ll probably be tough psychologically but we’re professionals and we have to be able to do it.”

After the win in the friendly against Bastia on Saturday, which showed that there is a chance of game time for every player in the squad – “a manager should give the same chances to every player who wears the OM shirt” as Gerets explains it – places in the first team will be hotly contested. An appetite for success the Belgian appreciates infinitely: “Everyone’s hungry and feels bad about our current ranking; somewhere we shouldn’t be. They’re aware of that and there are no shirkers at training.”
Now with a better idea of his squad as a whole, more than 2 weeks after taking the reins, the OM manager can say what areas need improvement.
“All I have to do is get it through to them that they can do in matches what they can do in training. And I know the fans give us that extra bit of support we need to get out of this difficult situation,” said Gerets before the reunion at the Vélodrome.

With OM 18th on the table, Sunday’s match could easily take on a make-or-break aspect for the Olympiens, but they are taking it calmly. “It’s an important match, like every other match we play,” says Mandanda. “Putting all our eggs in this basket, I certainly won’t do that. I’ll take the pressure on my shoulders and any criticism we receive will be my responsibility, not the players’. I’m confident they’ll play a good match. If I say that, it’s because I believe it and it’s true. I’m no Don Quixote,” warns Gerets.