Pablo Longoria (OM): “We are sure of the path we have taken”

“Have you been too ambitious in your strategy by wanting to change everything a few weeks before a Champions League campaign?
Of course, after a drastic change, it takes time to adapt. An athlete who runs the 100 m, you are not going to ask him overnight to run the 1,500 m. He will go to 400, then to 800. In football, there are several things: the natural evolution tends towards the physical, towards the transition, towards the intensity. If we take all the team data at the highest level, there is something in common: very important physical data.

They are the most successful in the different Championships. We wanted to take this direction at the club, it’s normal to ask questions: “Should we go straight away towards that?” We take a path, and we adapt. We are not going to judge the real Olympique de Marseille of Igor Tudor in September. It’s a process. It would be a little naive to think of arriving quickly. But we have a construction base, with very good players, we finished second last season, we have a very good squad, the players who have arrived are adapted to this game methodology. It allows us to speed up the project . But we are sure of the path we took.

But aren’t there too many changes to absorb?
It is a measured risk. We thought about where we want to go. We want to become a European club with high standards, with rules, a culture, that’s how you build, we’ve seen it with Spanish and Italian clubs… We want to last, stability, long-lasting performance. I’m not happy to have been second last season, I’m happy if I manage to have an even higher level of requirement this season compared to last year. We believe in this change.

What was the content of your speech last night with the Olympian group?
An intervention within a group, in life, is something that comes from the heart. Normally, these private conversations, these locker room exchanges should stay in the locker room. The second point is to remind you of the club’s message at the time of Igor Tudor’s presentation (July 5th), it has not changed. From the first day we talked about demands, work, discipline and everyone is heading in the same direction. Supporters, players, coach, club, all. And the first thing we saw, with Igor Tudor, was this: there is the club, then the coach, then the players. Yesterday, we recalled this type of thing.

Can you give an update on Bamba Dieng’s personal situation?
He is under contract with the club. The performance and the place in the hierarchy of the team, it is judged on the training sessions, on a daily basis. In football, there is no patience, it’s what was done yesterday, today, that counts. Bamba is a very important player. We know that we are talking about a real talent, with a lot of impact on his first full season in L1. A valuable player.

In relation to your objectives in terms of purchases and sales, where are you in your transfer window?
We are happy with the development of our transfer window so far. We have more players than necessary to start the season, we would like to have a group of twenty-two elements, including two goalkeepers, in the end. We still need players who arrive, we want to put speed in all positions, we talked about a change of style to another. But the truth is that you also have to bring players out. A few moves are getting closer, but the transfer window is open until August 31.

Where are you on the Alexis Sanchez and Jordan Veretout files?
We are talking about two players of international level. Jordan Veretout has performed well for five years in a very demanding Italian Championship, at Fiorentina and AS Roma. Alexis Sanchez, when we look at his history and his current performances, we are talking about a very high level player. Its adaptability to a workforce is very important. But they are players still under contract and we have to respect that. »