Spoilt for choice: Marseille lost Villas-Boas, but they’ve got many to choose from
Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 03.02.21. | 15:16
The Portuguese resigned from his post at Olympique de Marseille. Who’s next?
Marseille are on a never-ending rollercoaster ride. And it’s one of those that are only occasionally fun. Most of the time it just makes you sick. Andre Villas-Boas has had enough of the ride and he pretty much jumped off – leaving his seat empty for another man who believes he can stomach the relentless rolling and tumbling.
L’OM are looking for a new head coach. The club’s Director of Football Pablo Longoria has already embarked on the quest to recruit the club’s next manager after Villas-Boas’ resignation. One of the few things that could work in his favour is the fact that many coaches are currently out of work, so the club would at least be spared of paying a compensation fee.
So, who are the candidates?
The first and arguably biggest names mentioned by various French media are Maurizio Sarri, Lucien Favre and Rafael Benitez. Sarri has been out of work since he got the sack at Juventus. A controversial appointment to begin with, the man who led Napoli in the long and hard battle against the Old Lady joined the enemy following his year-long stay at Chelsea. He would go on to win the title with the black and whites, but crashing out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 was unacceptable and the chain-smoking banker was cut loose. Lucian Favre has been a free agent since mid-December. He was ousted from his Borussia Dortmund position after a run of poor results. The Swiss coach is seen as a potentially good fit but is believed to be reluctant to walk into a new job mid-season. Rafael Benitez has ended his underwhelming stint in China where he couldn’t crack it at Dalian Yifang. The Spaniard left Newcastle United because the club was in disarray off the pitch. Marseille isn’t exactly renowned for being stable and organized.
Maurizio Sarri, Lucien Favre and Rafael Benitez (©Reuters)More possible targets are Ernesto Valverde, Massimiliano Allegri and Walter Mazzari, who are all free following their tenures at Barcelona, Juventus and Torino, respectively. Valverde has been working in Spain and Greece and has a good grasp of Mediterranean mentality that is so strong at Stade Velodrome. Mazzari can claim the same, having lasted as Napoli coach for four seasons. Allegri is probably the least likely to drop into OM’s dugout. The Italian established himself as top manager while at Juventus and will be looking at a job with one of the elite clubs. He is being touted as the man who’ll succeed Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
In the end, Longoria could turn to one of the coaches who had previously worked at Ligue 1 clubs. Leonardo Jardim, the ex-Monaco boss, Gustavo Poyet who’s available since ending his ill-fated stint at Bordeaux. Ironically enough, the Uruguayan left because of a disagreement with the sports sector. Former Arsenal midfielder and Nice boss Patrick Vieira might be returning to the south coast if Marseille decide to gamble on a less experienced manager.
Whenever a club is looking for their next manager, names of former players tend to crop up. In case of the Marseilles, those names are Habib Beye, Lucas Bernardi and Jocelyn Gourvennec.
After all, maybe it’s not all that important who’s on the sideline. Villas-Boas looked like the right man for the job until poor relationships behind the scenes drove him out. Olympique de Marseille have to choose again, but will they treat their employees with respect? You’d be forgiven for being sceptical. Besides, who’d want to get on a rollercoaster ride that’s guaranteed to make you sick?
Ligue 1, Matchday 23
Wednesday
21.00: (2.80) Metz (2.85) Montpellier (2.90)
21.00: (1.68) Rennes (3.70) Lorient (5.30)
21.00: (3.70) Bordeaux (3.05) Lille (2.20)
21.00: (1.85) Strasbourg (3.50) Brest (4.40)
21.00: (2.65) Reims (2.75) Angers (3.20)
23.00: (1.55) Monaco (4.10) Nice (6.00)
23.00: (2.10) Saint-Etienne (3.20) Nantes (3.80)
23.00: (7.75) Dijon (4.80) Lyon (1.42)
23.00: (2.55) Lens (3.05) Marseille (2.95)
23.00: (1.12) Paris SG (10.0) Nimes (17.0)
***odds are subject to change
