With his incomparable Ligue 1 experience, Cyril Rool has perfectly integrated the Marseille squad.

Arriving on the 14th of July from Nice, Cyril Rool immediately threw himself into OM’s pre-season preparation. Even if his first stay at OM was very brief, it has allowed him to integrate quickly, especially that with a career as long as his, he has already played alongside some of his new team-mates and has crossed paths with the majority of the rest on the pitches of the Ligue 1. «I already knew Baky and Julien. I have had a great welcome from the players and staff. Everything has been great for me».
The OM squad is getting along just fine together, you can see that out on the pitch in training but also during the mathces. «We are working very hard, everything is dealt with very professionally. The friendly matches are a great way for us to get to know one another » states the former Nice player. Recruited as a back-up to Taye Taiwo who will be heading off to the African Nations Cup with Nigeria at the start of 2010, Cyril Rool is accumulating playing time, as is Didier Deschamps policy for all of the squad players. One half against Ajaccio, Bordeaux,Toulouse and nine minutes at the end of the match against Saint-Etienne. A match which saw OM get back to winning ways after a defeat at the hands of Laurent Blanc’s men and a draw against Toulouse FC. «The victory against Saint-Etienne did us a lot of good » says the left back.

With his tough reputationn, he didn’t feel out of place during the pre-season friendlies where the crunching tackles were legion, to such a point that certain OM players are now in the treatment room (Lucho, Bocaly…). «The matches are shown on television and everyone wants to stake his claim for a place in the side. It’s good that we progress gradually, everyone wants to win and that is why these matches are tough» he explains.
He will notbe feeling out of place on Saturday either, when OM visit the Bollaert stadium to play their final pre-season friendly against Lens, a club he knows well. «I spent five years there an dit is always a pleasure to go back ».
Eight days later, he will be starting his sixteenth season in a row in the first division …