Their Olympian mission has only just begun but Jean-Louis Gasset’s first week at OM has already allowed the new Marseille coach to restore morale and hope to his players. the key? Think clearly at a strategic level, with lots of dialogue, calm and ease.
“One and one, two.” Simple. basic. Jean-Louis Gasset often has the right little phrase to make you smile, in speeches or in interviews, and above all he had the intelligence and experience to know how to analyze the situation in the Olympian locker room after his arrival. Gasset found players at the “bottom of the bucket” and therefore emphasized the need to “keep it simple”, not to “reinvent or revolutionize football”. Players in their positions, a game system that fits as closely as possible to the strengths of the team, and most of all calmness and serenity.
Gasset wants to convey calm and serenity
Since taking over, the primary mission of Jean-Louis Gasset and his deputy Ghislaine Printant has been to boost the morale of the Olympians and put smiles back on their faces. A coach who speaks French, a fluid relationship, smiles, jokes and stories about mutual friends, in short, more relaxed.
The Marseille locker room was a bit shell-shocked by the eventful season, and Gassett’s wisdom is sound. It is also felt during meetings, where instructions and changes are made with Olympian calm. Fewer assistants or “translators”, and therefore less excitement on the side: this is not a detail, in a period when the staff wants to transmit maximum peace to its soldiers.
Restoration of Pape Guye, a sign of unity
This desire for appeasement was also recognized behind the scenes. As Jean-Louis Gasset explained at a press conference, he took the step of asking his leaders, internally, to calm things down on certain burning issues. The end of the recess was whistled over the thorny issue of Jonathan Kloss, and Gasset got that Pep Gueye returns to the team despite the conflict between him and his leaders (he is at the end of his contract next June but refuses to extend, editor’s note).
Gasset explained to Pablo Longoria that holy union was possible only if all disputes were set aside. These gestures were seen very positively by the players, who praised Gueye.
He never condemned Gattuso’s work
In his speech, he also had the delicacy to never discredit the work of his predecessor Gennaro Gattuso at the Gazette. However, the players connected with the Italian, with his humanity, with his very warm side and the Olympians know that he gave a lot to the locker room and that he ended this adventure very unhappy because the key to overcome the situation was not found.
His successor Jean-Louis Gasset did not hesitate to ask his group to think of Gattuso, “who most of all wants to build a soul and a team”. It is also a way of provoking a reaction from the players, who rightly felt responsible for this situation and this unprecedented change of coach. Gasset significantly gained a real awareness among the leaders: they should speak a lot, transmit unity and enthusiasm, be an engine for this group spirit that had disappeared within OM.
Players also feel like they are on a commando mission
Nothing is certain, everyone is aware of this within Om. A glance at the rankings – Marseille is 9th – and the calendar is enough to realize that there is still a long way to go. But to succeed at his start, Gasset found the method and the right words to frame it: “a 100-day mission”, he explains. Without looking ahead, without thinking about the rest of his career.
Ideal to send the message to the players that everyone is on a “commando mission”, until the end of the season, facing two exciting challenges: trying to climb the rankings in Ligue 1 and trying to go as far as possible. The Europa League, with this double meeting against Marcelino’s Villarreal, added some spice to this already difficult and eventful season.
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