Speaking via a post on his website, the Spanish coach explained that he and his staff felt the “obligatory respect” due to those who manage the club had not been given by supporters who reportedly threatened staff during heated meetings earlier this week. As a result, Marcelino continued, such an “unstable situation” means the project he and his team had been appointed to do “cannot be carried out.”

Marcelino explained that the aggression aimed at club directors amounted to “severe threats, insults, and slander,” as well as “intimidation and individual attacks,” and that this, alongside the climate of “tense climate,” makes a continued stay at the club impossible. The former Valencia and Villarreal coach, whose functional style of play thus far has frustrated OM fans, also highlighted his uncertainty over future “safety” and even the “normality” usually seen at a football club.

Marseille currently sit third in Ligue 1 and remain undefeated, but travel to Ajax for their opening Europa League group stage game without a permanent coach or much of a hierarchy present to make a new appointment, a situation striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang described as “one hell of a storm.”

Adam White | GFFN

Speaking via a post on his website, the Spanish coach explained that he and his staff felt the “obligatory respect” due to those who manage the club had not been given by supporters who reportedly threatened staff during heated meetings earlier this week. As a result, Marcelino continued, such an “unstable situation” means the project he and his team had been appointed to do “cannot be carried out.”

Marcelino explained that the aggression aimed at club directors amounted to “severe threats, insults, and slander,” as well as “intimidation and individual attacks,” and that this, alongside the climate of “tense climate,” makes a continued stay at the club impossible. The former Valencia and Villarreal coach, whose functional style of play thus far has frustrated OM fans, also highlighted his uncertainty over future “safety” and even the “normality” usually seen at a football club.

Marseille currently sit third in Ligue 1 and remain undefeated, but travel to Ajax for their opening Europa League group stage game without a permanent coach or much of a hierarchy present to make a new appointment, a situation striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang described as “one hell of a storm.”

Adam White | GFFN

Fan unrest peaked this week at a heated meeting between supporter groups and club staff who were reportedly threatened by ultras during proceedings. Longoria said staff should be prepared to handle criticism but underlined that it’s “not normal” for a manager to be threatened, adding that he couldn’t accept the view that ‘it’s just like that at Marseille’. As a result, he and his team decided that, in the current conditions, it was “impossible to work”.

Longoria and three other leading directors reportedly offered their resignations as a result, which were rejected by American owner Frank McCourt, although the OM president tells the paper he did not try and walk away. Longoria, however, did state that fans accused him of making illicit revenue from the club’s transfer business, which pushed him to prove his innocence via an audit conducted by the McCourt Group, to which he gave “my bank accounts, my phones, my emails, everything… even private conversations with my mother.”

The Spaniard explained, although the audit showed no wrong doing, that comments were “made about my family” that were “based on causing fear,” which has been a regular occurrence in recent months, he claimed, adding: “It started with insinuations and progressed to threats.”

The situation remains murky, with other directors reportedly leaving the area after offering their resignations and no sight of a new coaching appointment anytime soon. Marseille travel to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the Europa League tonight.

Adam White | GFFN

Describing this team’s execution on the night as an “almost perfect evening,” he said that he liked “almost everything” about the performance while praising PSG’s “intensity” from the outset as well as their “speed and control” for all but 15 minutes of the match in Paris.

The Spanish coach explained he had charged his team with focusing on keeping the ball, pressing high, and “playing our game.” Right-back Achraf Hakimi, who scored a superb second for PSG, was singled out for praise as Enrique highlighted his “unique energy,” although the former Barcelona coach stated that the Moroccan defender still has “things to improve.”

Enrique was impressed with Kylian Mbappé, whom he described as the “best player in the world,” saying he’s impressed with the France captain’s “human qualities” as well as his technical ability, explaining that it’s a pleasure to have him in the dressing room and that he’s a “leader who always smiles.”

Mbappé had opened the scoring from the penalty spot before missing a series of late chances in a game that PSG largely dominated against a Dortmund team who switched to a more defensive three centre-back system, leaving out both strikers Sébastien Haller and Niclas Füllkrug.

Adam White | GFFN

The first revolves around the fitness of defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte. The Uruguayan has impressed since his summer move from Lisbon but is struggling with an injury after coming off the bench in the 3-2 home loss to Nice at the weekend. At his pre-match presser, Enrique suggested he has decided on his team, aside from who might take Ugarte’s place, with Danilo Pereira being the favourite.

The other possible change comes in attack, with struggling new striker Gonçalo Ramos in contention with fellow arrival Randal Kolo Muani while Marco Asensio is out for several weeks with a foot issue. Kolo Muani, however, is the preferred choice of fellow starting forwards and France international teammates Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.

Otherwise, the remaining starters seem set with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal, a back four of Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Milan Škriniar, and Lucas Hernandez, while Vitinha and Warren Zaïre-Emery will join Ugarte or Danilo in midfield.

Adam White | GFFN

The 23-year-old midfielder, who signed for OM from Angers in January following an impressive World Cup as the Atlas Lions made the semi-finals, has only seen 83 minutes of Ligue 1 action so far this term, with club staff critical of a perceived lack of effort.

The player, meanwhile, does not understand why Marseille coaches are dissatisfied and is becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of usage and, when he is deployed, the defensive responsibilities he’s been charged with. Ideally, say the outlet, the midfielder wants to play with more security behind him and be allowed to express himself in attacking areas.

Tellingly, the club were expecting to sell Ounahi this summer, but the right offer did not arrive. As a result, the Moroccan could be the first to leave the club in January despite Marcelino claiming not to have an issue with the player.

Adam White | GFFN

Since promotion in 2020, transfer guru Florent Ghisolfi has expertly unearthed a string of under-the-radar talents helping coach Franck Haise and his team to play aggressive and positive yet solid football. Lens repeatedly hurt teams via a multitude of means: their pacey strikers, a dynamic midfield, and marauding wing-backs, while also finishing last term with Ligue 1’s best defensive record.

Over recent windows, key players such as holding midfielder Cheick Doucouré, wing-back Jonathan Clauss, and centre-back Loïc Badé were sold and replaced with ease while Haise’s team continued on their upward curve. At the centre of the revolution, just as important as Haise and Ghisolfi, was captain Séko Fofana. A destroyer, dynamo, goalscorer, and conductor all in one, Fofana ran Lens’ on-field operation.

This year, however, that triumvirate has been picked apart, and just as Lens seemingly achieved their greatest feat in making the Champions League group stages, results have nosedived. Having won 11 of their final 12 games last season, only losing at PSG, Lens have collected just one point from five games this campaign.

The winter saw Ghisolfi poached by an ambitious Nice outfit, before the summer brought Fofana’s departure for Saudi Arabia. With Haise’s engine removed and without Ghisolfi to conjure a replacement, Haise has, so far, been unable to maintain the club’s performance on his own.

Three different players have been tested in place of Fofana. One, Belgian midfield energizer Stijn Spierings, has already left after just one start. Another, 20-year-old midfielder Andy Diouf, who signed from Basel for €14m this off-season, is talented but raw and well short of replacing Fofana. In truth, although Lens typically concluded much of their business early, it was a weak transfer window compared to recent years.

Although receiving €38m for top scorer Loïs Openda from RB Leipzig can be seen as a good deal, €30m was spent on replacing the Belgian with promising Montpellier striker Elye Wahi, while Fofana’s €25m fee was mostly spent on depth rather than outright quality. Surprisingly, for a team entering the Champions League, Lens made a €4m profit on their summer business according to Transfermarkt.

The previous summer under Ghisolfi saw goalkeeper Brice Samba, a new France international, and Salis Abdul Samed, now one of the league’s leading defensive midfielders, arrive for just €5m each. Centre-back Kevin Danso, arguably Ligue 1’s standout player last term, was poached from Augsburg for only €5.5m the summer before, along with Przemyslaw Frankowski, now Haise’s leading wing-back, who joined from Chicago Fire for just €2.3m. Badé and Clauss, most impressively, arrived on free transfers in 2020.

As a result, there remains a huge Fofana-shaped hole in Haise’s midfield. Gone with the Ivorian are Lens’ intensity, aggression, and drive. Once Ligue 1’s most assured and confident team, Lens now appear comparatively rudderless and meek. The weekend’s home defeat to promoted Metz underlines the decline. Before Haise could point to unsurprising losses away at PSG and Monaco, Adrian Thomasson’s sending off at Brest, and a battling draw with Rennes, but there was no excuse for a such a  lifeless home defeat to the league’s weakest team on paper – their fast start notwithstanding.

Now, Lens head to Seville for their first competitive European trip since 2007, bottom of Ligue 1 and without two-thirds of the trio that made this current incarnation of Les Sang et Or an example for the rest of the league to follow. Although the boisterous Stade Bollaert will remain a cauldron for the visits of Sevilla, Arsenal, and PSV, hopes of what seemed like a plausible run into the knockout rounds are quickly evaporating.

Most worryingly for Haise, with the window now closed, replacing Fofana externally isn’t possible, while options are increasingly limited internally. Diouf is, for now, out of his depth. Attacking midfielder Thomasson, who started in a deeper role against Metz, is out of position as a Fofana replacement. Workaholic Spierings could have been a useful option but struggled to settle and returned to Toulouse.

It all points to a complete redesign of the team to compensate for Fofana’s absence, but Haise, with six Champions League games separating what are now a host of crucial Ligue 1 games between now and Christmas as Lens tries to avoid a relegation battle, doesn’t have the time or the resources to do so effectively. Nevertheless, a solution will need to be found quickly. Lens’ season depends on it.

Adam White | GFFN

The Spanish goalkeeper was left in a coma, which lasted several weeks, following a head injury sustained after falling from his horse during a holiday back in May. He now says, miraculously, he is “doing very well” and that he’s feeling “a little stronger every day.” Football was the 30-year-old’s first thought when he awoke from the coma and quickly asked if he would be able to play again, despite his recovery having “ups and downs” up to this point, says Telecinco journalist Rocio Romero.

Rico spent 83 days in a Seville hospital, with nearly half that time in the intensive care unit, but, incredibly, has suffered no long-term damage, despite his medical reports stating he was ‘half a centimetre from death’ after he was thrown from his horse after it became frightened by a mule. Now, Rico says his aim is to be “ready for the team” before the end of the campaign having been released from hospital. 

Rico highlighted his gratitude for the broad support he has received from PSG and beyond, which included personal messages from PSG fans via social media, president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the club as a whole, and Kylian Mbappé, who celebrated a goal with Rico’s shirt.

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The Spanish international picked up an issue with his foot during Spain’s 7-1 thrashing of Georgia last Friday and had to be withdrawn as a result. Although La Roja coach Luis de la Fuente initially suggested there was little to fear for the former Real Madrid player in the aftermath, that has now changed.

Sources in Spain close to the national team have suggested the 27-year-old, who has struggled with serious injuries throughout his career, could be out for at least a month – although PSG doctors’ first impressions of the issue are more optimistic, and the club, for now, measure the attacker’s potential absence at a few weeks rather than months.

The injury comes at a bad time for Asensio and PSG with the Champions League set to start next week, and the Spaniard in solid form during the opening games of the season, scoring twice and adding an assist.

Adam White | GFFN 

The final round of qualifiers saw the 48 remaining teams divided into 12 groups of four teams, with the top two nations qualifying for the 2024 finals after a home and away round-robin format. The 24 countries to make the finals are:

Nigeria
Guinea-Bissau
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Cameroon
Namibia
Egypt
Guinea
Ghana
Angola
Algeria
Tanzania
Mali
Gambia
Zambia
Ivory Coast
DR Congo
Mauritania
Tunisia
Equatorial Guinea
South Africa
Morocco
Senegal
Mozambique

Even without Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon were perhaps the most disappointed of all the countries to miss out, while the surprise package of the previous tournament in Cameroon, Comoros, who only exited to the hosts in the last 16, also missed out. The finals will take place between January 13th and February 11th, 2024, meaning the likes of goalkeeper Andre Onana of Manchester United, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah will miss several weeks of club action this winter after the tournament was moved from summer 2023 back to its regular January slot.

Adam White | GFFN