Ligue 1 Review | Roberto De Zerbi at risk of burning up in Marseille pressure cooker | OneFootball

Players who have passed through Olympique de Marseille often cite the Vélodrome as one of the greatest stadia, one of the greatest atmospheres in European football. “Forget Old Trafford, forget Anfield, etc. the Vélodrome is huge,” said former OM and Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, who spent a season playing in the stadium, known colloquially as “the volcano”.

Whilst OM’s is a fanbase that can drive players to greater heights, it can also eat players up. Elye Wahi, on his home debut for Les Phocéens, was booed off after a spate of missed chances earlier this season in a draw against Stade de Reims. He has yet to show a reaction.

Managers are also attracted to the club, just as Roberto De Zerbi was this summer. According to L’Équipe, the former Brighton and Hove Albion manager showed the squad a contract proposal that he had received from Manchester United. He told them why he turned down the Premier League side. “This is where I could have been, but I put my passion before money. I came to Marseille for the passion,” said the Italian at the start of the campaign.

The Vélodrome – a managerial grave-yard?

If OM is a difficult environment for players, it is a tougher environment for managers. Since soon-to-be Stade Rennais manager Jorge Sampaoli’s departure in the summer of 2022, Marseille have gone through five managers. None have lasted more than a season, and over the course of the last campaign, they burned through four managers, if you include assistant Jacques Abardonado stepping up for a short six-day stint at the helm.

He took the reigns after Marcelino, who only lasted seven days on the job, was forced out of the club by the fan base. Marcelino resigned as OM manager in September 2023 in response to what he called “intimidation, threats, insults and slander” from the club’s fans during a heated meeting with the hierarchy. President Pablo Longoria almost left the club too in the wake of the verbal altercation, however, unlike his compatriot, he remained.

Marcelino’s predecessor, Igor Tudor, left after having guided Marseille to a second-place finish in Ligue 1. So why did he quit? “A season here is worth two or three seasons in another club,” said the Croat, referring to a kind of emotional burnout.

Is De Zerbi already heading down a similar path? Results away from home are strong and whilst they are nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, they remain third. It is far from disastrous, especially given the discourse around the club with Longoria evoking a “three-year project” and De Zerbi himself repeatedly highlighting that, given that this new squad is still in its infancy, there is not yet any pressure to be challenging PSG.

De Zerbi offers to leave Marseille

Such a context would usually provide a manager, especially one of De Zerbi’s calibre, with time, but Marseille is no ordinary club. At successive home matches, there were deafening boos and a half-time mass exodus. It was a ruthless PSG side that sent them home prematurely a fortnight ago, it was AJ Auxerre who did it on Friday as Christophe Pélissier’s men raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time.

A Mason Greenwood goal in the second half saw the game finish 3-1 – queue the post-match meltdown. As per L’Équipe, De Zerbi lambasted his players post-match, stating that they had “humiliated” him, whilst also accusing club captain Leonardo Balerdi of having “a lack of b*lls”.

When he arrived at the post-match press conference, his anger had hardly subsided. “I came here to play at the Vélodrome because I wanted to live that experience. If I’m the problem, I’m ready to leave,” said De Zerbi. The Italian could be the latest victim of Marseille’s pressure cooker environment, although there is certainly the quality on the pitch and behind the scenes to reverse the trend and lower the temperature at the Vél.

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

GFFN | Luke Entwistle