'We need to be patient' Marseille boss Bruno Génésio on pre-season preparations
The summer sun beamed down on the Commanderie on Tuesday morning, as Bruno Génésio greeted journalists pitch side to give an update on Marseille's summer preparations. OM had travelled to Ivory Coast and beat Yamoussoukro FC 3-0 in their first outing, before being defeated by Nice last weekend by the same scoreline.
With the return of Leonardo Balerdi, Génésio will expect also Wolrd Cup particpents Quentin Timber and Facundo Medina to return before heading to the Netherlands on a pre-season trip after facing Nîmes this Thursday.
Style of play
"We want to play with the ball higher, transition effectively. We want to play more vertically with the ball, and create the most chances possible. We need to be pragmatic and adapt to the players we’ll have available."
"It's too early, the squad isn’t fully formed yet, we are working in training but it is too early to say if we’ve arrived at our objectives. Even after the first game of the season there will still be things to change."
Youngsters
"The analysis is the same in every club, youngsters need a little bit of time to adapt and it is their first experience in the club, there will be a difference between players in N2 and N1, but they need to adapt. If they show a good enough level, they will play. I won’t play young players for the sake of it."
Return of Balerdi and Aguerd
"Leo Balerdi has come back and is training normally, he’ll play Friday against Nîmes. Concerning Aguerd there is good news he is working to get back hopefully for the trip to the Netherlands."
Igor Paixao & Amine Gouiri
"When you are a trainer, you want to keep your good players. I’m happy to have Amine and Igor in the offensive areas. Then there is the financial aspect which is the domain of Gregory Lorenzi and Sebastien Richard. There are lots of good players, you want to also have a certain level of stability with a spine of a team that knows Ligue 1, knows the context of Marseille and that has experience. I know the situation, and it could move, but I talk about that to the players that we need to be concentrated on the task at hand."
Replacing Mason Greenwood
"Yes of course that is a priority position for the transfer window, but we have to be patient. With Mason’s departure, we’ll have to target that position for the rest of the window, and maybe others as well."
A difficult start to the season
"I think it will be good because we’ll be straight into the action, it will mean we’ll have to be vigilant. Anyways, with the calendar there are always 38 games needed to be played and prepared athletically and tactically today, so we’ll be ready for that."
Génésio's instructions
"We’re working on several aspects, the athletic side of things but also the tactical aspect as well. We spoke earlier about pragmatism and the principles of play. But we work on that every day so far. This morning you’ll see in training that it will be working a lot with power, working on being dominant athletically but with some good football. This afternoon we’ll work on the defensive side of things from what we’ve done well against Nice."
Patience
"I think that’s it, to say to supporters that we need to be patient for the next season, but it doesn’t mean we won’t have a lack of ambition. Marseille is still a big club, a team with French titles and European credentials, so we’ll have to have ambition whether you are a player or work at the club. But we have to realise the economic limits that we have, but there are other French clubs that will also be in the same situation."
What are the objectives for the season?
"I spoke about Europe before, and I know it could be badly interpreted, but Europe goes from the first position all the way down to the sixth spot. So when I talk about Europe I’m not saying I’m just content with finishing in the smaller competitions, we will do the best we can do but I would say that Marseille has to be a European team. Whatever their financial situation. The ambition is that the club has to perform well each year."
Zidane named France manager
"I am like all French people, first of all I’d like to underline the work of Didier Deschamps because we live in a world where people forget things quickly. I am very happy with the arrival of Zinedine Zidane, but I’d like to emphasise what Deschamps has done for 14 years. It is exceptional. I feel that sometimes we have lacked some respect concerning that. As soon as Didier announced his departure we wanted to have the name of who would replace him, we'll have someone with the legitimacy from his career as a player but not only that because of his time at Real Madrid winning the Champions Leagues which was exceptional. I think we trust him with his work and his method which will hopefully keep French football at the highest level for years to come."
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