Interim coach of OM, Jacques Abardonado assured on Saturday that he had “a few ideas” to hinder PSG, which his players will face on Sunday at the Parc des Princes, during the last match of the sixth day of Ligue 1. “Each coach has his own system , his habits. I arrived with a new system, it worked against Ajax (3-3 Thursday in Amsterdam, Editor’s note), for the rest we will see,” Abardonado first explained on Saturday at a press conference.
The former OM defender was chosen on Tuesday to replace Marcelino, who left the club at the start of the week after a very tense meeting between club leaders and representatives of supporters groups. “In Paris it will be a totally different match. We’re not going to hide it, they are above Ajax. But we have some ideas and we have the quality of players. We spoke with David (Friio, the sports director, Editor’s note), we have several systems in mind, we have a small idea,” he added.
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More generally, Abardonado explained that he wanted football, “like when (he was) a player: aggressive but in the good sense of the word”. “I played 300 matches in the first division and I never took a red,” he recalled.
Asked about the first steps of his new coach, captain Valentin Rongier estimated that Abardonado had “known how to re-mobilize everyone with his small staff”. “He reacted very well. We weren’t used to seeing him like that. He was a rather discreet deputy and there, he showed a lot of personality,” added Rongier.