What a difference a summer makes. For Marseille, last season’s great underachievers in Ligue 1 (although a Coupe de la Ligue win did provide some cheer), the new campaign could not have started any better. In fact, it has never started as well as this one. For the first time since professional football in France began, Marseille began the season with four successive victories. With their sixth win a row, against Evian, Les Phoceens became the first team since Monaco over half a century ago to achieve that particular feat. They may have lost 4-1 to Valenciennes since, bringing a shuddering end to their start to the season, but after ‘Le Classique’ against Paris Saint-Germain, they still remain three points clear of their bitter rivals from the capital.
It is a remarkable turnaround under coach Elie Baup, appointed as the successor to new national team boss Didier Deschamps during the summer. This year was supposed to see PSG surge to an easy Ligue 1 title triumph, given their lavish spending over the summer and the comparative austerity restricting rivals such as Lyon and of course Marseille.
The southern team have little right to be where they are now. Just six months ago, Marseille had lost their seventh match in a row and would go on to win just one of their next nine. The club was paralysed by a dispute at the very top between Deschamps and sporting director Jose Anigo.
But despite the crisis that enveloped the Stade Velodrome, Marseille could at least take comfort in the fact that they still possessed a fine squad of players, particularly going forward, with Loic Remy, the Ayew brothers Jordan and Andre, Morgan Amalfitano, Benoit Cheyrou and Mathieu Valbuena, the jewel in the crown.
The main concerns before the season began for Marseille were defensive. Deschamps’ teams adopted a safety first approach, but were still remarkably leaky last year and the departures of Alou Diarra and Stephane Mbia this summer left the side short in the critical defensive midfield position. With finances tight, only Joey Barton arrived (on loan from QPR), but he has not played yet in the league because of a ban carried over from the last game of the Premier League season, when he was suspended for 12 games for violent conduct against Manchester City.
Instead, Baup has turned to an 18-year-old to steady the ship in the middle of the pitch, giving Rafidine Abdullah the chance to cement a place in the team alongside Charles Kabore in central midfield. The pair have provided a solid platform in the engine room for Les Phoceens, giving a shield to the defence, which had conceded just one goal domestically during a fine start to the season before the Valenciennes defeat.
Another intriguing aspect of Marseille’s upturn in fortunes is the case of striker Andre-Pierre Gignac. The 26-year-old was brought to the club by Anigo in 2010 against the wishes of Deschamps, who made little use of the former Toulouse man. As a result, the powerful forward never really made an impression, had issues with his weight and scored few goals. Anigo refused to let the player leave and after a row with Deschamps it seemed as though Gignac’s Marseille career was going nowhere fast.
This season however, Gignac has been used throughout by Baup, scoring five times to help Marseille top the league. The only other season in Ligue 1 he scored this many at this stage was when he finished top scorer with Toulouse. For Baup, the most important thing so far has been the spirit and unity within the team.
“In my eyes, the most important thing is that the dressing room is a happy place", said the Marseille coach. "There is a good atmosphere right now; the players enjoy being together. They are also serious and professional when they have to be. If the dressing room is happy there is every chance the results will follow. We have to try to keep this togetherness and make sure the players are happy and want to keep on working hard for one another. We have the quality here – the important thing is that the players want to do well.”
Unity is certainly a key factor behind the Marseille resurgence. During their dreadful run last season, Marseille seemed to collapse with little resistance. Crumbling to teams such as third tier Quevilly in the French Cup appeared to be the symptom of a collective loss of unity, belief and fight. That fragility re-emerged in the defeat to Valenciennes, but Marseille responded well against PSG to illustrate that they have more character this year. The south coast club demonstrated that they can bounce back immediately from a setback and show spirit. There should now be optimism that the team have not just improved technically, but also mentally.
However, what the heavy loss against Valenciennes did reveal is that Marseille can be vulnerable when pressed high, while they also met a physically imposing team in the air. It was a game to which Baup’s men were not well suited or well enough prepared, but Valenciennes cause many a team problems at home and the new campaign is in its infancy. Marseille can still take comfort in a highly impressive start which has enabled them to forget the misery of last season much quicker than they may have expected. On current form, they will be hopeful of tasting success this year – and not just in the Coupe de la Ligue.
