Title: Spyin Kop : Olympique de Marseille v. Liverpool - Champion's League
Post by: FrenchRed on December 10, 2007, 08:21:39 pm
Salut à tous ! Now that's what I call a must win game. It's quite simple : a draw or a loss and Marseille is through to the last 16. A win and... well... Moscow, here we come !   OM is a very popular football club in France, probably the most popular in fact even if they last won a major title in 1993 when they won the champion's league but as I'm a bit late i'll let you do your own lecture about OM here : http://www.om.net/en/Club/501002/Histoire_de_l_OM/25675/OM_History (in english) Thanks to OMstarbest, OMmedhi, indoom and okcomp at omplanete.com for their contribution. How has the season been shaping up so far? OMstarbest : The season is shaping up very badly, we are sixteenth of the championship even if we have a good form for not a long time OMmedhi : Very bad ! The same since Dreyfus bought the club... indoom : Saison's start was a really hell with Albert Emon as coach, but since Gerets came in, our team is playing better and better. If we still aren't at the top of the championship, players seem more concerned and i think they soon will go up. okcomp : Great!! We are 16th. What a joy! Seriously, we are just recovering hope the with the new coach and the style of play that go with. Please don't disturb us on Tuesday. The Boulet : it's one of the worst beginning that I’ve ever seen. We finally fired Albert Emon who was more a friend than a coach. Now, with Erik Gerets we can feel that the team is playing better, the team is playing simpler. Each player give the best of himself because now, only the best player play ! What are your expectations for this season? Have they changed from day one? OMstarbest : The expectations for this season would be finishing at an honorable place and why not in the first three places because of the weakness of the Ligue 1 Orange OMmedhi : I just expect that Dreyfus sells the club in order to dream again with a great European level team. indoom : With Albert Emon, we surely would play to stay up, but now the situation has changed. With a real coach, we could aim high, but as we still are in the red zone, we have to be humble and to take the matches one by one in order to leave the bottom of the championship. Only if we go up in the first part after victories, we could talk about european qualification. okcomp : The title... For sure they have changed. We hope to be in the first part as soon as possible, and we will see then The Boulet : At the beginning we thought that we could fight Lyon for the title, but a few games later we realized that the players didn't tend to play together, and no one was able to do something special to win the game like the year before (Ribéry...). The championship is definitely over, Lyon will be champion as usual but we can still finish at the second place. french championship level is so low that even if you have 15 pts less than the 2nd, you can reach them if you stop making mistakes Who do you think is your most important player(s)? OMstarbest : Our most important players are Samir Nasri the number 10, Mamadou Niang the forward, the and Steve Mandanda the goalkeeper OMmedhi : For the moment, Niang, Cana, Valbuena, Mandanda. indoom : Mandanda, Nasri, Cana, Valbuena, and especially Niang. okcomp : Valbuena! Niang! Mandanda! And the other after The Boulet : Niang who, since the game against you, is becoming our official striker, he scored in almost all the game, and he's always running everywhere, defending, he reminds us of Didier Drogba, I hope it will last, at least until the game against you ! Valbuena who thanks to our new coach, can play. he used to sit on the bench because Albert Emon didn't trust him, even if the other players played very badly, Emon didn't gave him the opportunity to show what he could do. The first words of Erik Gerts about him when he arrived were "I can't understand why "le petit" ("the kid", Valbuena) isn't playing..." Mandanda, substitute goalkeeper at the start of the season is now our god !! He's the best goalkeeper of the french league, and we thank him for all the saves he did, the China Wall ! Your worst player(s)? OMstarbest : Djibril Cissé because he is bad and he is also bad-tempered. We have too many goats such as Arrache, Oruma, Taiwo, Zubar, Cheyrou OMmedhi : Unfortunately, we have too much players who have not the level to play in Champion's league. Arrache is obviously the worst one. indoom : Zubar, Arrache, and actually Cisse who is low on confidence okcomp : Zbulbi, ouch Zubar. Cissé for the moment The Boulet : The worst player is Ronald Zubar, I can't stand him but he's not playing very often (thank god). He plays as a defensive player but he's always playing bad and at the end of each game he gives his opinion about how he played on his website. And he's always saying "I wasn't that bad, i played well. it's not my fault, It's not me who did a mistake, they scored a goal because of an individual mistake blablabla" I can't stand the way he acts, the worst thing he did was last year, we lost 3-0 against Le Mans and he left the pitch with a big smile looking around, as a tourist !!! Don't you need a young defensive player  for Christmas It's Free !Djibril Cissé seems to have a dip in form and most of the time is not even in the typical starting line-up. Do you know the reasons why and what do you think about it ? OMstarbest : The end last year, Cissé scored a lot of every match. In my opinion, Cissé has a problem of confidence and I think that he will be a good player again OMmedhi : Lost his self-confidence with our catastrophic season's beginning. I think he'll be back very soon (maybe Tuesday  ).indoom : I believe that he has seen himself too quickly untouchable, and had a high regard of himself, so he didn't see that his services weren't good at the beginning of the season. The team didn't gave him good balls either. With Gerets, he has logically been put on the bench, but currently, he seems to have become aware of his difficulties. While the team plays better and better, he doesn't manage to exploit the good balls which he has now when he plays, and he is often badly placed. And personal problems didn't help him to find confidence. I think that he has exceptional athletic qualities, but that his technique is clearly below professional level and doesn't enable him to compensate for his dips in form and his lack of confidence like currently. When he is in confidence, he can score much more goals, if not it is sad to say, but he is practically useless. But he should be encouraged to regain his form. okcomp : His 2 injuries, his bad technique. The moment. The Boulet : He had a lot of personal problems but the thing is that last year he used to be selected even when he played very badly. Now it's different, the coach put the best player on the pitch He's one of the worst player we have for the moment, and if it doesn't change, he'll leave the team, or he'll still be a substitute. Do you have a particular memory of any previous meeting between our clubs? Say something that happened to you that day or a decision you disagreed with? (At first I didn’t want to ask that one but let’s see what they have to say…) OMstarbest : The 2-1 victory in 2004 in the UEFA cup with two goals from Drogba and Meité and the qualification for the quarter finals. OMmedhi : I just remember we always kicked you until today. I just hope it will carry on that way indoom : Our confrontation in the UEFA Cup in 2004 of course, I was at the Velodrome with a friend and it was an unforgettable moment. Drogba's penalty and Meite's head goal followed the opening of the score by Heskey okcomp : I don't know what you're talking about? In fact, there is too many great moment against you, and i don't know wich one i prefer. Be the first french club to beat you in anfield? Beat you in a vel on fire? It's you to choose The Boulet : I remember the last time we played in the UEFA cup, we played against you. but at this time, we had an incredible player, maybe the best player who has ever played for Marseille: Didier Drogba, I still remember his volley shot on the goal post...then Liverpool came to Marseille, and we won, but your players are better now than at the time. I can also talk about the first match this year against you, it was the first game of the season that we played football (first game after Emon had left...) Any young up and coming players in the squad that we might not know about? OMstarbest : There are effectively young up and coming players like André Ayew, Abedi Pelé's son OMmedhi : Maybe Ayew. Wait and see... indoom : Taiwo, Ayew, Mandanda okcomp : Maybe Ayew but i'm not sure. Better known : Mandanda, Valbuena, Nasri The Boulet : Ayew, I won't say his last name because he's always compared to his father so...he's too young to say he'll be a very good player as he's only 17 but he shows that we can trust him, he has never disappointed us ! What sort of line-up will be put out against us? OMstarbest : Eric Gerets may start with a 4-3-3 (or 4-5-1) with Nasri Valbuena Zenden Niang... against Liverpool OMmedhi : Offensive 4-2-3-1 indoom : I think he will play in a classical 4-2-3-1 like it: Mandanda Bonnart Rodriguez Givet Taiwo Cana M'bami/Cheyrou Nasri Valbuena Zenden Niang okcomp : 4231, for sure. Without cissé, for sure. The Boulet : -----------------Mandanda------------- Bonnart--Rodriguez-----Givet--Taiwo --------------Cana----------M'bami---- --Ziani-----------Valbuena-------Zenden --------------------Niang---------------- Do you have any favourite/best chant(s) and perhaps any that require an explanation? OMstarbest : My favourite chants are Aux Armes, Olympique de Marseille, Allez l'OM allez l'O, Marseillais Allez. Indeed, I love all the chants of the Olympique de Marseille OMmedhi : “Aux armes" is my favourite one. It means we're about to fight for the victory. indoom : The most popular chant of Marseilles is "Aux armes", both kops are answer to each other: Aux armes (X4) Nous sommes les marseillais (X2) Et nous allons gagner (X2) Allez l'OM (X4) okcomp : Hissez haut les drapeaux. I like it, that's all Note : you can appreciate that the word Kop is used in France to designate the home supporters stand Where do you expect Marseille and Liverpool to finish in the Champion’s League? OMstarbest : We will qualify for the last sixteen and you, you will be eliminated by OM OMmedhi : Liverpool will finish on tuesday Marseille in May indoom : I would have hoped that Liverpool and Marseilles could qualify for the last 16 but as it is now impossible, it will be necessary eliminate your lot. okcomp : Ouch! Unpredictable. What a finish to the group stage! The Boulet : That's rude cause I don't think that both of us can keep playing in Champion's league...so I hope you'll enjoy playing in the UEFA cup haha ! The last time we fired a french coach to hire a coach from belgium during the regular season (Fernandez------>Goethals), we won the Champion's league(1993) !!!! So It will be the same this year haha...Seriously I hope that we'll reach the last 16 and I hope to watch a good game whoever we'll play against. Which Liverpool player will you fear the most? OMstarbest : the Liverpool player that I fear the most is Steven Gerrard who is able to be decisive at any time. OMmedhi : On craint degun! (we ain't fear nobody) indoom : Mister Steven Gerrard, Voronine, Carragher, Finnan and Hyypia okcomp : Gerrard. The Boulet : Gerrard !! He's "Liverpool's father" if he plays well, all his teammates will do the same, and if they don't, he's able to shoot from the middle of the pitch and win the game on his own… Care to predict the score? OMstarbest : The score will be: OM-liverpool 1-1 (Niang and Gerrard) and as Beşiktaş won't win at Porto, we will qualify in the last 16 OMmedhi : 3-0 Hat trick of Cissé  indoom : 1-1 Niang and Gerrard. okcomp : 1 to 1, and porto beat Beşiktaş. The Boulet : 1-1 Niang-Gerrard Thanks to everyone who answered at omplanete.com, for the French-speaking guys on here, you can get all their answers here : http://www.omplanete.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14682&p=1 Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to translate their answers. Thanks to all of them anyway. They also have an international section here where you’ll be welcome to discuss about the game : http://www.omplanete.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=18 |
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