Second-to-last in Ligue 1, Marseille admits being the team that runs the least

Olympique de Marseille is the team that runs the least in Ligue 1: this is the blunt assessment made by sporting director Grégory Lorenzi in the pages of L’Équipe, during the international break. The Marseille club, second-to-last in the championship, had just suffered five consecutive defeats across all competitions.

Lorenzi does not seek to downplay the problem. “We lack rhythm, we do good things and we falter after an hour,” he acknowledges, pointing to a squad that suffers “greatly in transition, with a fairly high block” and yet created “many chances” in the first matches of the season.

The Marseille management has inherited, in its own words, “a squad that is what it is”: players recruited under Pablo Longoria’s era who found no takers during the summer transfer window, by choice or by default. A one-way transfer market, essentially marked by departures, which did not allow the group’s athletic shortcomings to be corrected.

“We’re not capable of doing more, so we’re thinking with the staff about ways to work around it,” Lorenzi continues, noting that Bruno Genesio “doesn’t see a player who’s cheating.” The problem is therefore not mental, but structural: “There are player characteristics that mean we have certain shortcomings and we can’t remedy them. We must try to optimize.”

The roadmap laid out for the resumption is pragmatic: “We must emphasize the things we do well, while avoiding exposing ourselves.” A measured ambition for a club which, with this bottom-table positioning, cannot afford to let the situation drag on.