Marcelino says that Marseille are “regressing” as a club

Speaking for the first time since his departure from Olympique de Marseille, Marcelino says it is impossible to construct a project at the Ligue 1 club. 

Marcelino’s departure from Les Phocéens was confirmed on 20th September. It came in the wake of an explosive meeting between OM’s hierarchy and the club’s supporters’ groups just days earlier. The Spaniard, who only replaced Igor Tudor in the summer, departed after just seven official games with the club. 

Many of Marseille’s executives also considered their futures following the “extremely tense” meeting. Notably, President Pablo Longoria and director of football Javier Ribalta stepped back from their roles. Whilst the former quickly returned, announcing that he would remain at the club during a press conference, the latter is set to leave, according to a report from L’Équipe. 

Marcelino believes that the fan culture around OM is not conducive to growth and as a result, the club is in fact going backwards. “My very short experience (with Marseille) makes me think that it is absolutely impossible to create a project at the club. Because such a big club can’t be manipulated by just a few [people]. Serious clubs are managed from the top, and every problem and every situation is managed and sanctioned if needs be,” began Marcelino in his interview with L’Équipe. 

He added, “Supporters are supporters. They transmit passion and they are necessary. Experiencing matches at home at the Vélodrome is magical, really, it’s different to everything else that I have experienced. So the supporters encourage, the executives work, and at the end of the season, you take stock, but not after two months. It seems to mean that everything has been orchestrated in advance. Clubs should grow, not regress, and OM, as the results have shown for some time now, is a club that is regressing instead of growing.”

Marcelino said that he and his staff are “still angry” three weeks after their departure due to the fact that they could not develop their project, a shortcoming that he attributes to the influence of the club’s “radical” fans. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle