At the end of a week marked by the announcement of the departure of Erik Gerets, the final run-in has to be brought back to the fore on Saturday night, with the reception of Toulouse at the Vélodrome.
Saturday at 21h00
Stade Vélodrome
Referee: Anthony Gautier
Live on Orange Sport
« The OM story, is a never ending story ». A story full of twists and turns, which never stops. This has been said on a number of occasions this week and it was particularly appropriate. It was said by a, now, expert on Marseille … Erik Gerets.
With the announce of the departure of the Belgian coach, a new chapter has been started in the OM storybook, even if another one will open on Saturday night. We hope that this one will be full events to remember. That of an eventual title which has been out of OM’s reach for 16 years.
This little historical reminder was enough to set straight the priorities of the moment. In front of a forest of microphones, Pape Diouf and Erik Gerets, with one voice, put the future of the latter in the background. « We are heading in to the home stretch and that is the only important thing for the moment », resumed the Belgian.
« We’re not far away from a major title today, and we all have to focus on that », said the president, calling for « a united front ».
Impervious to this football context that has been theirs since the end of their adolescence, and focused on the objective, as all professionals are, the players have confirmed that they are 100% focused on their play and the objective of the title. « If we manage to win, we will thank the coach but if we fall short, the announce that he is leaving at the end of the season cannot be used as an excuse », stated Mamadou Niang.
Woe betide the loser
OM Squad
Goalkeepers
Mandanda, Riou
Defence
Civelli, Hilton, Mears, Rodriguez, Zubar, Kaboré
Midfield
Cana, Cheyrou, M'Bami, Zenden, Ziani, Ben Arfa, Valbuena
Strikers
Niang, Wiltord, Brandao
« I can guarantee you that the motivation and adrenaline are still there », observed Erik Gerets, who also says that the behaviour of his troops has not changed in the slightest since his announcement earlier in the week. « I’m not worried and I can assure you that my players aren’t either. They aren’t dwelling on it, on the contrary », he added, lifting a little bit of the veil which covered the state of the spirit within the squad.
So much the better, as the two point lead that OM have is slim. Too slim for them to kick back and relax. We will have to remain focused during the final run-in and hope that we see the tape before everyone else. « The title is still far from ours. We will have to fight for it », esteems Niang.
At the start of April OM.net headlined that the team needed win all of their remaining matches. That is still the case, one month later. Up until now OM have managed not to slip up and have taken advantage of the misadventures of their opponents to build up a bit of a lead. With Bordeaux at home to Sochaux on Sunday night, the first objective of the week-end will be to at least maintain the gap between the two clubs. Who knows what more might come …
Gignac is in form (especially) at home
Top scorer in the Ligue 1, with 19 goals, ahead of Hoarau (17), André-Pierre Gignac has been in much better form at the Stadium as opposed to trips away from home. The Toulouse player has only scored 4 of his 19 goals away from home.
Only Lyon play before them
OM kick-off at 21h00, so they will already be aware of the result from the match between Lyon and Valenciennes (19h). On the other hand, they will have to wait until the next day in order to see how the table looks, as Paris play on Sunday at 17h00 against Rennes, Bordeaux at home to Sochaux at 21h00.
Brandao, OM player of the month for April
20895 of you voted Brandao the OM player of the month for April, through the survey organised by OM.net. He succeeds Bolo Zenden, elected in March. He received 51% of the vote. This is a just reward for his goals, but also the amount of work he does on the pitch.
On the podium can be found, “el fenomeno” Mandanda, author of a decisive penalty save against Lille, and Benoît Cheyrou goalscorer in the same match. In total, 41000 votes were registered.
Alain Casanova will be without a number of players: Blondel, Sirieix (in treatment), M'Bengue (suspended), Larsen (knee injury), Capoue (suspended), Mansaré (in treatment).
7If they win against Toulouse, OM would sign their 7th consecutive victory in the L1. The would equal the record from the 1970-71 season, and just be one game behind the record (8) achieved in 1936-37 and 1998-99.
If we manage to win the title, the heroes would be the players! It is they that go out and do the work on the pitch, and they have done extraordinary work up until now ".
