Olympique de Marseille launched the Igor Tudor era with a logical victory in a friendly against FC Marignane-Gignac-Côte Bleue, a 4th division club (N2) beaten 4-1 on Wednesday at the OM training center.
The Igor Tudor era at Olympique de Marseille was launched on Wednesday with a logical victory (4-1) against FC Marignane-Gignac-Côte Bleue (N2), an opportunity for the new Croatian coach to test his recruits and its young shoots, at the Marseille training center.
The fourth division resident resisted the recent 2nd in Ligue 1 for 50 minutes, finally winning thanks to a hat-trick from Senegalese Bamba Dieng in the second half.
For OM, the evening mission, in the stifling heat, was above all to get going after several turbulent weeks.
The unexpected departure of ex-coach Jorge Sampaoli, that of historic goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and Canebière hopeful Boubacar Kamara, the arrival of Tudor and his staff on the bench, then, on Tuesday, the highly commented resignation of his deputy Mauro Camoranesi after barely a few days in office disrupted the recovery of OM.
To regain serenity, a victory in this first friendly match seemed necessary. It took shape from the 24th minute, on a corner from Dimitri Payet, concluded by Cédric Bakambu after a deviation from the French international Mattéo Guendouzi… Above all, it took shape more clearly on the return from the locker room, with a festival of Dieng (53rd, 83rd on penalty, 90th +2).
The new technician Igor Tudor has already revealed some tracks of his game project, with a system with three central defenders, in particular.
Touré’s promises
The Croatian also allowed himself several tests, by fielding two summer recruits: defenders Samuel Gigot and Isaak Touré.
The second was particularly to his advantage, impressive from the height of his 2.04 m, not hesitating to project himself forward and showing great ease.
In any case, he scored points against one of the defense competitors, the Croatian Duje Caleta-Car, who came into play at half-time but was overtaken on a counter-attack concluded victoriously by Hamidi Nagui (48th).
Also coming into play at the break, Dieng quickly restored the advantage to OM after a fine technical sequence (53rd). The Senegalese then hit the post twice, before adding to the score with a penalty he himself caused (83rd), then with a small well-felt lob (90th + 2).
Under the song of the cicadas, the only spectators of the meeting, the management of OM was also able to observe some young people from the training center, such as Moroccan Oussama Targhalline (20 years old) in midfield, defender Yakine Saïd Mmadi (18) or striker Salim Ben Seghir (19).
The Marseillais will continue their preparation with a new friendly against Norwich on Saturday (8:00 p.m.) in Fos-sur-Mer, before an internship in England. A friendly gala match against AC Milan is scheduled at the Stade Vélodrome on July 31 (6:00 p.m.), before the start of the Ligue 1 match on Sunday August 7 (8:45 p.m.) against Stade de Reims.