Marseille’s Valentin Rongier reacts to Igor Tudor’s departure: “We were surprised.” | OneFootball

This afternoon’s pre-match press conference saw Marseille manager Igor Tudor confirm his departure at the end of the campaign, with the Croatian coach deciding to call time on his spell with Les Phocéens after just one season in charge.

Midfielder Valentin Rongier – who has been captain in the absence of Dimitri Payet from the starting eleven – was also present, and gave his thoughts on the former defender’s departure following the announcement.

The Frenchman began by thanking Tudor for his work this season – “I’ve rarely seen a coach with that much commitment. He was straight with us from the start, he brought rigour into this club. […] He announced it to us this morning, we were surprised, but it’s up to us to adapt.”

Rongier adds that Tudor had a significant effect on him personally: “He’s made me grow as a player and as a person. I had more responsibilities. He brought in rigour and seriousness, a mentality we’re not used to seeing in France. […] I didn’t enjoy having to run in training. We’re lazy like that. But even if we moaned we did it. What we enjoyed most of all were the victories. It’s been difficult, but we did win a lot of games this season.”

Tudor’s Marseille will finish the season in third place, an ultimately lukewarm campaign given they looked like potentially challenging PSG for the title back in February, in the wake of their Coupe de France victory over their Classique rivals. A series of poor results – notably at home – derailed that challenge in the spring though, and saw them overtaken by Lens. A cup defeat to second-tier Annecy, as well as some reported clashes with senior players, have made for a tumultuous end to the manager’s reign.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin