Didier Deschamps

[marcus50bucks]

Had a cheeky look at some of the papers in my local petrol station. According to Mr Bascombe, Deschamps is top of the list to replace Hodgson. He reckons Hodgson will soldier on until the summer.

Little aside.... Man utd have made contact with Young and are close to buying him for 13m. We were interested but Man utd are the only club to make official contact.

[Mattshark]

I would be happy to give Deschamps a chance with us.

I'd be happy if someone else buys Young.

[Craig_H]

Radio folk were doing a newspaper roundup this morning, and had Eden Hazard on way to Man Utd. Which would be disappointing.

[marcus50bucks]

I would be happy to give Deschamps a chance with us.

I'd be happy if someone else buys Young.

Young really does split opinions on him. I personally think he's overrated. For me he's very predictable (constantly cuts inside and very rarely goes down the outside) and I think he lacks a football brain to be honest.

[marcus50bucks]

I know he's done pretty decent in his early managerial career. Can anyone shed any light on his philosophy in terms of how he likes the game to be played, tactical knowledge and his preferred formation? I can't find any articles on the net that gives you a run down about his qualities.

[Mattshark]

Young really does split opinions on him. I personally think he's overrated. For me he's very predictable (constantly cuts inside and very rarely goes down the outside) and I think he lacks a football brain to be honest.

That is pretty much how I feel about him

[dom9]

Young really does split opinions on him. I personally think he's overrated. For me he's very predictable (constantly cuts inside and very rarely goes down the outside) and I think he lacks a football brain to be honest.

He's perfect for us then.

[malg]

I want Rafa back.

[Arn]

Didier Deschamps the renaissance man lifts Marseille to the heights

The man once derided as the water carrier has guided Marseille on 'an extraordinary human adventure' to the French title

t is not exactly swimming weather in the south of France, but a midnight leap into the bracing waters of the Mediterranean has seldom been so inviting. For the supporters of Olympique Marseille who flocked to the Vieux Port to celebrate winning the French championship, diving into the blue among the yachts was an act of liberating madness. Clearly, nothing on earth could even begin to dampen this blaze of happiness.

There were fireworks in the sky above the Vélodrome as OM hailed their first title after a troubled and often painful 18-year hiatus. Inside the dressing room, the players bounced on tables and lost their voices. Amid the mayhem, one of the protagonists tried to take it all in his contented but measured stride. Didier Deschamps has seen plenty of winning in his career. Among his collection are two Champions League medals, a handful from his titles in France and Italy, one from the FA Cup with Chelsea, and of course that rare double of World Cup and European Championship gold. He is one of the most lavishly decorated players the game has seen.

In typically straightforward fashion, he didn't want this latest honour, this long-awaited Ligue 1 triumph, to be about him. He was not about to hop up on to the table too because, as he wryly put it, he is "not a very good dancer". The 41-year-old Frenchman wanted the limelight to be the preserve of the players, the staff and the impassioned support. An inverse Mourinho if you like.

It was, of course, the egocentric Portuguese who delivered one of the heaviest blows to Deschamps's budding managerial career. Both had performed miracles to take their unfancied teams to the 2004 Champions League final while they were fresh faces on the coaching circuit. Monaco were well beaten by Porto. The victor waltzed off to lead the Roman Abramovich revolution at Stamford Bridge. The vanquished resigned from Monaco early the following season, having fallen out with the club's president, and was out of a job for almost a year.

It seemed like a terrible waste of talent. Sometimes in life you come across someone who strikes you instantly as a class above, and Deschamps had made a huge impression during that Champions League season with Monaco. I remember listening to him talk between masterminding the knockout defeats of Real Madrid and Chelsea. An unassuming, stocky little man with bad fashion sense, he held court about matters football with remarkable assurance and interesting ideas. At the time I wondered if this was what it was like to have an audience with Alex Ferguson in his Aberdeen days, or Marcello Lippi when he shook up Napoli in his coaching youth.

Deschamps was only 35 at the time and in his first managerial job, yet it was clear his players – some of whom were not much younger – thought the world of him. Fernando Morientes described him as phenomenal: "Why? He's still new to coaching but he knows the whole world of football. He has played in Italy, France, England, Spain, and he has won everywhere." Not only did they respect him, they played for him wholeheartedly.

What Deschamps did at Monaco, in blending wily experience with promising youth and helping them to find a common purpose and vibrant, determined spirit, provided a blueprint for what he has done this season in Marseille. When he accepted the invitation to go back to the club who revere him as a cherished icon – he was the captain of OM when they won the Champions League in 1993 – the risks were obvious. This was a club that sifted through coaches and went through players at a rate of knots in search of a renaissance. The pressure on him was heightened because of his legendary status. Nobody likes to see a fable tainted by an unhappy ending, for adoration to be eroded by disappointment.

Midway through the season it was not apparent that this would turn into another Deschamps success story. Marseille have been virtually unstoppable since the winter break, however. The top of the French league was a fiendishly close race for a while, but OM slammed their foot on the gas when the contenders around them were beginning to splutter. Of their last 10 games in the run-in they have won nine and drawn one.

Like Louis van Gaal and Steve McClaren, 2009-10 has been a kind of redemption for Deschamps. After his post-Monaco sabbatical a return to Juventus, where he flourished as a player in Serie A, was bittersweet. Juve had just been relegated to Serie B as part of the Calciopoli scandal and needed a fresh start. It was not the easiest campaign but they won promotion. Behind-the-scenes friction, though, led to a parting of the ways.

Deschamps spent another year on the sidelines until OM came calling, and now he has what he describes as "an extraordinary human adventure" to add to all the baubles. After this, it is difficult to imagine there will be too many more gaps in his managerial CV. A Champions League final with Monaco, promotion with Juventus, and now the French title to make it a delicious double with the League Cup in his debut season at the Vélodrome. The man Eric Cantona famously called the "water carrier" continues to show he is a man of considerable worth.

Clicky

[Arn]

Spartak 0-3 Marseille: Marseille progress



Marseille were better all over the pitch here, and recorded an ultimately comfortable victory in Moscow.

Spartak lined up with their usual 4-4-1-1, with Ari playing just off Welliton upfront, and Aleksandr Kombarov and Aiden McGeady either side. Yevgeni Makeev moved to the right, so Martin Stranzl started on the left.

Marseille played a broad 4-2-3-1 system, though with Edouard Cisse always remaining in front of the defence, and Lucho Gonzalez playing ahead of him, to either side according to where the ball was. Mathieu Valbuena played a central attacking midfield role.

Valbuena was the key player here. His is naturally an attacking player but showed good defensive awareness to track Ibson – the more creative of Spartak’s two holding players – across the pitch when Ibson moved forward.

Marseille defend well

Marseille were fairly relaxed about the threat of Ari – rather than using Cisse to stay goalside of him wherever he went, they were happy to treat him as a second striker when he moved towards Welliton, with Cisse instead trying to cut out balls in towards him, with no specific player to track.

Valbuena goal

In addition to putting in a good defensive stint, Valbuena was the key attacking player. He poked an early shot just past the far post very early on, and throughout the game showed great ability to arrive late in the box at just the right time to collect loose balls, as he did when scoring against England at Wembley last week. He opened the scoring here with a great curling shot into the far top corner.

Spartak were at their best when they played on the counter-attack, but once Marseille took the lead, they rarely moved forward enough to leave gaps in behind. McGeady and Kombarov were probably the two brightest players for Spartak but they were dealt with very well by the Marseille full-backs, who both had good games. Even Gabriel Heinze’s relative lack of pace wasn’t a particular problem against McGeady – in fact, it was only when Makeev got forward to provide an overlap that Spartak really produced a clear cut chance.

Marseille fluidity

Marseille were fluid upfront, which caused Spartak’s static defence problems. Brandao pulled out to the left hand side and combined with Andre Ayew, whilst on the right Loic Remy made direct runs towards goal and sometimes formed what looked like a forward two with Brandao.

That was probably the main difference between the two sides – the interplay of the front four. Marseille’s attacking players showed teamwork and cohesion in manufacturing chances, with the wide players linking up with Valbuena and Brandao. In contrast, Spartak’s players all kept to their own areas of the pitch – with two very wide wingers, they seemed a little too predictable and were easy to Marseille to deal with.

A fortunate Remy goal and a great finish from Brandao – combined with a red card for Welliton – settled the game with twenty minutes to go.



Conclusion

Marseille are deservedly into the knockout phase. Didier Deschamps got his tactics spot on here – he saw Ibson as the main threat and therefore tried to nullify his ability to shape the game. Valbuena was the key in this – and he also turned in an excellent attacking display, as Spartak struggled to cope with the movement of Marseille’s front four.

Clicky

[marcus50bucks]

Thanks Arn.

[DannyMan2006]

How Marseille play sounds like what Rafa wanted last year. Mascherano sitting deep in the cisse role, aquilani playing further forwards like Gonzalez and Gerrard supporting the striker by making late runs into the box like Torres.

What Liverpool always lacked for me was someone like Loic Remy, basically a player who can operate as the lone striker when the usual one is not fit, but who can also operate out wide. This means you don't have an expensive signing sitting on the bench and also keeps that player happy.

It's something like that which makes me think maybe Suarez would be the best signing for us. He can play in any of the front four positions in a 4231, where as someone like Dzeko could only ever really play as a front striker in a pair with Torres.

[wavydavy]

Trivia question: Deschamps pips our own SG to what football record?

[Bender]

Marseille manager Didier Deschamps is believed to be in pole position to replace Roy Hodgson at Liverpool.

The Reds switched managers after parting ways with Rafael Benitez last summer but the Merseysiders began the campaign in ignominious fashion, plunging into the relegation zone at one point, and endured something of a stop-start season up to now.

New England Sports Ventures - the owners of Liverpool - will reportedly allow Hodgson to remain in charge until the end of the season, when they would start searching for a new boss.

Now the News of the World claims that Deschamps is the top candidate to take the reins from the Anfield boss.

The Marseille manager is believed to have been previously interviewed as a replacement for Benitez, but was cast aside as Hodgson was favoured due to his prior experience in managing a Premier League club.

[The_weatherman]

Marseille manager Didier Deschamps is believed to be in pole position to replace Roy Hodgson at Liverpool.

The Reds switched managers after parting ways with Rafael Benitez last summer but the Merseysiders began the campaign in ignominious fashion, plunging into the relegation zone at one point, and endured something of a stop-start season up to now.

New England Sports Ventures - the owners of Liverpool - will reportedly allow Hodgson to remain in charge until the end of the season, when they would start searching for a new boss.
Now the News of the World claims that Deschamps is the top candidate to take the reins from the Anfield boss.

The Marseille manager is believed to have been previously interviewed as a replacement for Benitez, but was cast aside as Hodgson was favoured due to his prior experience in managing a Premier League club.

Scandalous if true IMO, that means I can't enjoy following Liverpool until next season at the earliest. Rather have a caretaker, if only for the fans.