A humid night in Monaco provided an opportunity to gauge the temperature of the Marseille supporters. Despite the ban on away fans at the Stade Louis II, plenty were in attendance for their 2-0 defeat in the Principality. There were cheers for their new manager, Bruno Génésio, and boos for Geoffrey Kondogbia, but it was the silence for much of the second half that spoke volumes.
Génésio, who replaced Habib Beye in the summer, has been appointed to keep a lid on things. The former Lille manager has been part of a larger reshuffle at Marseille, with the president and the sporting director also replaced. The new arrivals have inherited a mess. After making promises to Uefa and the DNCG – French football’s financial watchdog – Marseille were allowed to compete in Europe this season. However, if they fail to reduce their wage bill drastically, they will not be allowed to do so next season.
Every single player was put up for sale in the transfer window. This was always going to be a difficult summer and their new sporting director, Grégory Lorenzi, has been open about that, but Génésio has been taken aback. “Did I expect such a complicated situation? Not exactly,” said the Marseille manager last week. “I knew there were difficulties, but I didn’t imagine it to this extent. I never imagined that we’d be in this position.”
Marseille have sold Mason Greenwood, Facundo Medina, Gerónimo Rulli and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the former captain Leonardo Balerdi leaving on loan to Roma. But those sales have not been sufficient for the club to dip into the market themselves; not one player has come through the door. “There won’t be any recruits,” said Génésio on Sunday night. “Three of four more players have to leave us for us to be able to register one or two arrivals”
Could the manager walk? “There is no news on an eventual resignation … for now,” he said before the trip to Monaco. Two games in, the threat is there, though. Despite his links to Lyon, Génésio has quickly endeared himself to the Marseille fans. He is the vanilla manager that their fans have previously turned on. How could we forget the ill-fated stint of Marcelino, judged to have lacked that Marseillais fire and hounded out by fans after just seven games.
When Génésio stepped on to the pitch for the warm-up on Sunday night, the Marseille fans behind the tunnel chanted his name. In contrast, when Kondogbia limped back to the tunnel after having been run ragged by Paris Brunner – who scored both of Monaco’s goals – he was booed. One of the club’s top earners, his exit would have given Marseille more room to manoeuvre in the market.
Instead, it could be Igor Paixão, the most talented but also the most bankable asset in the squad, who is sacrificed. The absence of the injured Brazilian was particularly felt on Sunday. Quinten Timber, who could yet also depart, filled in. He is not a winger by trade and it showed. “For sure, when we have an absent player, we are significantly weakened,” said Génésio.
Keyliane Abdallah replaced the Dutchman at the break. The academy product, in just his fourth game for the first team, did not prove an upgrade. Marseille are many things but a consistent developer of young talents they are not. That may have to change. That is one of only two solutions. It is preferable to the alternative. The situation has given players such as Himad Abdelli, Angel Gomes, Amine Harit, Derek Cornelius, Neal Maupay and Faris Moumbagna second chances; they have not shown themselves deserving of a reprieve.