OM are moving forward with a tighter squad: despite the reinforcement of midfielder Jean Onana, Marseille is preparing to host Strasbourg on Friday for the resumption of the championship with a group stunted by injuries and the African Cup of Nations.
Seven Marseillais (Amine Harit, Azzedine Ounahi, Pape Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye, Ismaïla Sarr, Chancel Mbemba and the third goalkeeper Simon Ngapandouetnbu) have joined their selections for the CAN, two are in the infirmary (Joaquin Correa and Valentin Rongier) and one does not have the right to play (François-Régis Mughe) pending a decision from Fifa or its federation.
“Right now, my biggest goal is not to lose any players and to limit the damage. We are few,” summarized Marseille coach Gennaro Gattuso on Thursday.
For the first match of 2024, Sunday in Metz against Thionville (N3) in the Coupe de France, Gattuso did not actually need to rack his brains much to find his starting 11, into which he had integrated the young and inexperienced Bilal Nadir, nor even to make his changes.
On his bench, he only had Jonathan Clauss as an experienced player at the high level, in addition to Luis Henrique, who had just returned from loan to Brazil, and six young people, some of whom were only known to the most informed followers.
In these conditions, and even if the schedule only imposes on Marseillais one match per week until the Europa League play-off on February 15 against Shakhtar Donetsk, the coming month promises to be complicated.
“We must work seriously to improve physical condition and limit damage until the return of the players who are at the CAN,” Gattuso explained again on Thursday.
“But what concerns me is that it hasn’t even started yet. We have to hope that those who are there don’t get injured but that they play enough to not lose their physical condition. We have to think game by game and hope not to lose any players. Afterwards, we will see where we are and what we can hope for,” added the Italian technician.
Sunday against Strasbourg, Gattuso will still be able to integrate Onana into his meager squad. “It’s true that I haven’t played for a long time, but I took care of myself. I think I am fit,” assured the Cameroonian on Thursday.
“Jean can help us and he arrived with a lot of enthusiasm. He doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs, but I liked how he integrated into the locker room and how he trained. He will help us a lot,” confirmed Gattuso.
Then, we will have to deal with what there is and what the transfer window will bring, which this year could be less frenetic than during previous winters of Longoria management.
“A calm transfer window? I don’t have a crystal ball. But we want to provide continuity and strengthen ourselves only where it is numerically necessary,” explained the Marseille president on Thursday. “We don’t hide it, we have a priority on the left side, for a defender capable of playing in a four or five system,” he added.
And for the rest ? A priori, the other reinforcements will come from the infirmary or the CAN.
