Lost Sailors: Navigating Olympique Marseille’s season through the words of Jean-Claude Izzo

“Marseille isn’t a city for tourists. There’s nothing to see. Its beauty cannot be photographed, it can only be shared” — Jean-Claude Izzo.

Prologue

A few months ago, I asked my good friend, Ismaila, if he had any book recommendations for me. To me, reading is something special. The nature of my work means I spend a lot of time looking at a screen so there’s something rather sacred about shutting down my laptop, putting my phone to one side and picking up a book of an evening. I’m often in awe of how a good book can completely transport you and the vivid imagery plays out almost like a movie inside your own head.

Isma suggested I try Jean-Claude Izzo’s Marseille trilogy, a series of books he read long ago that resonated with him. I absolutely loved them, they are a stunning set of books I would recommend to anyone.

Honestly, I won’t even try to explain the plot of each book because that would take me too long and this is most definitely a football-centred publication. I will keep it brief essentially ‘The Marseille trilogy’ consists of three books; Total Chaos, Chourmo and Solea. At the epicentre, we find Fabio Montale, a cop in the first book, turned private investigator in the last two. We follow Fabio as he navigates the murky waters of Marseille’s criminal underworld where the distinction between hero and villain becomes increasingly elusive.

Whilst the storyline was captivating, what I truly loved about them though, is Jean-Claude Izzo’s ability to take us on a mesmerising journey, right into the heart of France’s most rebellious and enigmatic city.

Marseille is more than just a setting though; it’s a character in its own right. Izzo’s lyrical prose describes a city pulsating with life and modernity while its ancient history is present on every street corner. From the vibrant markets of Le Panier to the rugged cliffs of Les Calanques, Izzo truly paints a vivid portrait of a city that is as beautiful as it is brutal.

Music plays a key role in Izzo’s writing — the books are named after songs. Total Chaos is a rap song by IAM, a group hailing from Marseille. Chourmo is a Provençal word derived from “chiourme”, meaning the rowers in a galley, it’s used like “We’re all screwed so, we’re in this together!” — It is also a song by Massilia Sound System, another group hailing from Marseille while Solea is a piece by the jazz legend, Miles Davis.

The city is steeped in history. The port situated on the Mediterranean Sea is France’s oldest city, founded in 600 BCE. When a group of Greek settlers from Phocaea, (a city nestled along the coast of modern-day Turkey), decided to embark on a journey westward. They landed on these shores and founded the city of “Massilia”, laying the foundations for what would become a melting pot of cultures and civilizations for centuries to come.

At the heart of the city is Olympique Marseille, often considered France’s wildest club. It’s not always the case that a football club is a true reflection of its city but with Marseille, that has never been truer. The Marseillais are fiercely proud, loyal to the core and some of the craziest fans in Europe. The best way to summarise it is through the quote below, from French football writer Philippe Auclair.

“A Marseillais is a Frenchman, true. But France will always come a distant second in the loyalty stakes.” — Philippe Auclair (2015)

It’s pretty well documented just how much power the Marseille Ultras weald over the running of their football club which often makes it a daunting prospect for any incoming manager.

The OM ultras have endured a tumultuous relationship with the ownership and hierarchy. When they disagree with a decision, they make sure their voices are heard, making Marseille a difficult place for managers to impart their tactical ideas onto the team.

This piece will walk us through the 2023/24 campaign and showcase the tactics of each manager. The thing with OM though, it’s never just about the club. The city and the people are all part of it and that’s why I feel Izzo’s writing is the ideal vehicle to carry us through this article.

Part One: Marcelino — Total Chaos

At the end of the 2022/23 campaign, Igor Tudor resigned from his managerial post saying “A season here is worth two or three seasons in another club”. Sporting Director Pablo Longoria who is in charge of all things financial and football turned to Marcelino as the man to lead OM in the 2023/24 season.

I wasn’t sure about the Spaniard’s appointment given the other names linked with the job, personally, I thought Marcelo Gallardo would have been the ideal candidate in terms of tactical identity and temperament.

Whilst not entirely sold on the choice of manager, I did write a magazine piece around Pablo Longoria’s transfer decisions at the club and I firmly believed that this could be Marseille’s year in terms of challenging at the top of Ligue 1. Here is what I wrote in my conclusion:

Looking at the 2023/24 season, Longoria has put together a squad with a great mix of youth and experience. It appears that his previous decisions have allowed Marseille to reach a point where they could mount a viable challenge for the Ligue 1 title.

Although Longoria hasn’t always been a popular figure amongst Marseille fans, and plenty of managers have questioned his decisions, if OM are able to secure a title, he will have certainly played a considerable part. — Myself in the TFA September 2023 Magazine

“Beautiful days only exist in the early morning. I should have remembered that. Dawns are only the illusion of the beauty of the world. When the world opens their eyes, reality takes over.” — Jean-Claude Izzo.

In the words of Jean-Claude, perhaps my belief that this season would be different for OM was an illusion and when the campaign got underway, reality kicked in.

Marcelino arrived during the summer, seeing 11 players join the club and 16 depart. In came the likes of Renan Lodi (who then left six months later), boyhood OM fan Iliman Ndiaye, and Pierre-Emerick Abameyang looking to restart his career after a tough time the season prior at Barcelona and Chelsea.

Meanwhile, ever-present midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi left the club for pastures new, this one came as quite a surprise considering how important he had been to OM since joining from Arsenal.

Despite a terrible start which saw Marseille lose in the Champions League Play Off to Panathinaikos, results for the former Valencia manager were by no means terrible in his first few games at Stade Vélodrome. After five games OM were still unbeaten and sitting fourth in Ligue 1. Not too bad, right?

Fans were not happy.

The OM fans are often involved in conversations with the club’s management and hierarchy. A meeting that took place in mid-September turned sour when fan groups took the opportunity to complain much more aggressively than usual about the state of results, style of play and departures of fan favourites such as the aforementioned Guendouzi, Dimitri Payet, Steve Mandanda, and Alexis Sánchez.

Fan groups demanded the resignations of the executives in charge at the club — that’s Pablo Longoria, Javier Ribalta, Stéphane Tissier and Pedro Iriondo.

Furthermore, Marcelino’s brand of football was another item on the agenda. Fans were frustrated with his favoured 4–4–2 and rather ‘safe’ style of play.

While OM did sit in fourth place after five games, their results had been less than desirable as they had laboured to draw against Metz, Nantes and Toulouse, three of the league’s weakest sides. “We don’t see the ball. We’re ashamed. You don’t respect us,” were the arguments put forward by the fans.

Here, we can see OM against Metz, the fourth game of Marcelino’s tenure. As we know out of possession, the team adopted a 4–4–2 shape, this is the system the Spaniard has used at a number of his previous clubs but perhaps Marseille is the team where it didn’t work.

Well, in fairness to the coach, he didn’t really have time to fully implement his ideas as the squad was ever-changing with players coming and going right until the end of the transfer window.

During Marcelino’s time at Athletic Club, they were synonymous with an intense high-pressing system out of possession. Upon losing possession, the Basque team would immediately adopt a high-block press in the attacking third. This resulted in them applying 43.8 pressures in the final third on average per 90, making them one of the most intense pressing teams in La Liga during the 22/23 season.

This was the intended blueprint for Marseille which never came to fruition due to his unexpected departure.

OM were less than well-drilled in Marcelino’s defensive structure which led to huge gaps opening up for the opposition to exploit. We can see here that Metz had the opportunity to play straight through the middle of OM’s out-of-possession shape.

Moreover, during Marcelino’s short tenure, OM made 107 high regains in total which given his preference for an intense pressing system, remains quite low suggesting the squad had not fully adapted to his desired playing style.

In the build-up phase, OM adopted a 2–3–5 structure which is pretty common as it allows the team in possession to build up through the thirds while pinning the opposition back, as we can see here.

Furthermore, in this example, we can see how Marseille’s buildup shape often facilitated opportunities for defenders or midfielders to play passes over the top as the two forwards occupied the opposition defenders leaving space for runs in behind from inverted wingers or central midfielders.

Additionally, Marcelino’s tactics at OM heavily favoured right-side overloads as shown in these examples. In the Metz game, whilst the fans were understandably not happy with the outcome, there were some nice rotations down the right flank involving Jonathan Clauss, Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye. The trio moved the ball efficiently between them and drew the opposition out of their shape to create space in central areas.

It was a similar story against Nantes, as seen in the example above. Clauss made the forward run in between the centre-back and fullback whilst Sarr stayed wider and had the opportunity to play the ball in behind to Clauss. Plus, space opened up for midfield runners to get into the box in anticipation of a cross being played in.

The glaring issue of the team’s play under Marcelino was of course that they only netted 12 goals from xG of 18.39 — a significant underperformance. Of course, there were many issues throughout the Spaniard’s time in Marseille, the struggle to hit the back of the net had a big impact.

With fans voicing their displeasure at the results and the style of play rather loudly and in some cases, rather forcefully Marcelino walked away from Stade Vélodrome on 20th September leaving the club in Total Chaos.

Part Two: Gennaro Gattuso — Chourmo

It rained, eventually. A violent storm, and brief too. Furious, even, as Marseille has them in the summer sometimes. — Jean-Claude Izzo.

Jean-Claude’s words could be classed as something of a prophecy for what was to come at Stade Vélodrome. Following Marcelino’s departure, the club turned to the notoriously firey Gennaro Gattuso.

Although the former A.C. Milan midfielder had already held managerial positions at nine clubs since 2013 before accepting the role at OM, however, his sole managerial honour to date is winning the 2019/20 Coppa Italia with Napoli.

It’s safe to say that things did not go to plan, Gattuso didn’t bring the strong and impactful leadership the board was hoping for. Instead, his time at OM was rather hit-and-miss, well… mostly ‘miss’ if we’re being honest. The Italian was statistically Marseille’s worst manager in a decade, amassing 21 points from 15 league games.

However, it is important to point out that Rudi Garcia only fared slightly better, picking up 24 points in his first 15 games and he was in post from 2016 until 2019. So it’s not as though Gattuso’s early performance as OM manager was woefully worse than some of his predecessors.

Tactically speaking, there was a fair bit of rotation in Gattuso’s approach, something which will of course have been influenced by the loss of several players to AFCON at the beginning of 2024.

He mostly opted for a 4–2–3–1 system at the beginning of his tenure, then a 4–3–3 and towards the end, OM were lining up in a 3–5–2 formation.

Here, Marseille lined up in a 4–2–3–1/4–3–3 system against Lens. We can see how the right-winger, Ismaïla Sarr dropped in to form a box midfield during the build-up, whilst Jonathan Clauss propelled himself forward from right back.

This did enhance the team’s ability to control possession by creating numerical superiority in midfield, OM could look to build attacks from deep, thereby maintaining sustained pressure on the opposition.

Furthermore, the overlapping Jonathan Clauss provided width, stretching the opposition’s defensive shape and creating space for Sarr and other central attackers to exploit. This, of course, created opportunities for the full-back to deliver crosses into the box or cut inside to provide an additional passing option.

Under Gattuso’s instructions, the majority of OM’s build-up play centred around utilising Clauss’s attacking tendencies.

This approach did cause some problems, especially when faced with an intense press from the opposition as shown above. Due to Clauss being so high up the pitch, it meant that OM lost a viable passing option when looking to play out of defence.

In this instance, due to a lack of options, the central defender had no other choice but to hit a long hopeful ball which resulted in a turnover and meant OM had to transition back into their defensive shape immediately.

Despite some initial promise, Marseille and Gattuso never seemed to click and five months after his appointment, the Italian departed the club.

“We’ve hit rock bottom. When you hit rock bottom, you have to take responsibility. It’s my responsibility. There is nothing else to say. The table? The truth is that we’re going to have to start looking behind us. We can no longer speak about Europe. We just need to take the necessary points to be calm in the standings.”

Marseille found themselves ninth in the standings after 22 matches and were trailing leaders PSG by 23 points when Gattuso left the club.

Part Three: Jean-Louis Gasset — Solea

In which the love we share with a city is often a secret love. From the sky to the sea, it was an endless variety of blues. For the tourist, the one who comes from the North, the East or the West, blue is always blue. It’s only afterwards, if you take the time to observe the sky, the sea, to caress the landscape with your eyes, that you’ll discover the grey blues, the black blues, the ultramarine blues, the pepper blues, the lavender blues. — Jean-Claude Izzo.

We know how much the people of Marseille love their city and their club and it finally appears that their voices have been heard, albeit resulting in an unexpected appointment.

To steady the ship once more, the club turned to 70-year-old Jean-Louis Gasset and what a good decision that has proven to be. While OM and Gattuso didn’t click, the former Montpellier manager has brought all his experience and man-management skills to Stade Vélodrome and by all accounts, players and fans are very happy with his approach.

Gasset has brought the attacking football that OM fans have been crying out for all season. In his first five games in charge, the team netted 18 times and conceded only three! A far cry from when they were struggling to score under Marcelino.

Tactically, Gasset has kept it pretty straightforward, the team lines up mostly in a 4–3–3 pr 4–2–3–1 system that adopts a 4–4–2 shape in the defensive phase as we can see here. They do press but are very strategic with it, rather than putting the opponent under intense pressure, OM often let them build out and then put pressure on when the opposition is looking to play into midfield.

Gasset wants his team to maintain a compact defensive shape in the middle of the pitch, making it difficult for opponents to penetrate through the central areas which was a huge problem under Marcelino and to a lesser extent under Gattuso.

The two banks of four provide a solid defensive structure, with the midfielders and forwards working in tandem to close down passing lanes, apply pressure on the ball, and force turnovers in midfield. This coordinated defensive effort makes it challenging for the opposition to build sustained attacks and increases the likelihood of regaining possession in advanced areas of the pitch.

OM looks rejuvenated in attack thanks to the freedom Gasset allows. We can see here, that they look to make use of Jonathan Clauss’ crossing abilities but look how many players are clamouring to get into the box. The right-back has five players to aim for on this occasion.

This confidence is permeating throughout the entire team. We can see here when OM are on the attack, they now look to commit men forward and pin their opponents back, consistently looking to sustain the attack.

Furthermore, Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang has been reborn since Gasset’s arrival. He had shown glimpses of his ability for Marseille in the Europa League but only netted twice in the league before December. Auba had a brief burst of something resembling good form in the month leading up to Christmas, netting four more times but it soon faded out as OM went on a six-match winless run.

Under Gasset, though, Aubameyang found his form, scoring eight goals in the 70-year-old’s first six games at the helm. Highly impressed with the veteran striker’s newfound form, Gasset stated:

“He’s the player. In any team, you have the player. You play him where he loves to be and then you build the team around him. He scores goals and drops back to work if he must, and even shows a measure of generosity.”

Aubameyang has become the focal point for this Marseille team, having netted 24 goals in all competitions so far (11 in Ligue 1) and already recorded a career-high nine assists. The former Arsenal striker is back to his best, with Gasset’s leadership having the desired impact.

With six league games to go, OM are only five points off the European places so it’s not entirely unthinkable that they won’t mount a very late charge (probably quite unlikely though).

Izzo commented that “Marseille isn’t a city for tourists” and in many respects, he has been proven right by the revolving door of managers this season. Marcelino’s way infuriated the fans and resulted in him walking away a few weeks into the season and Gattuso couldn’t cope with the pressure cooker of the Stade Vélodrome.

It wasn’t until the relaxed approach of veteran Frenchman Jean-Louis Gasset that OM found their managerial match.

Perhaps it is the 70-year-old’s laid-back approach that not only allows his players to express themselves but also filters out to the intense atmosphere in the stands.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen when the season is over, will Gasset be at Stade Vélodorme next season? Who knows. OM is a law unto itself with the decision-making as we have seen throughout the current campaign. One thing is for certain though, it will not be easy and it will probably be one hell of a ride (again).

Marseille, a city and a football club like no other and it’s a match made in heaven.