Marked for Azhar Ali
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Jun 2037
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympique de Marseille will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Jun 2037
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Himad Abdelli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad22 Jun 2037
Alexi Koum in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique de Marseille this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom8 Jun 2037
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Boardroom8 Jun 2037
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Jason Bennett made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Boardroom8 Jun 2037
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Boardroom8 Jun 2037
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad8 Jun 2037
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympique de Marseille will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Jun 2037
Igor Paixão has been here 11 seasons
434 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Squad8 Jun 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique de Marseille this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Jun 2037
Azhar Ali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympique de Marseille they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 May 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 May 2037
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Olympique de Marseille may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 May 2037
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Himad Abdelli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market11 May 2037
Only the photograph left for Azhar Ali
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Azhar Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympique de Marseille the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 May 2037
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Giovanni D'Agostino is living that version at Olympique de Marseille, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market11 May 2037
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until CJ Egan-Riley signs something — a contract at Olympique de Marseille or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Apr 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Apr 2037
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Paixão is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market13 Apr 2037
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympique de Marseille is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Apr 2037
Angel Gomes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Apr 2037
The manager has not finished forgetting Quinten Timber's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market13 Apr 2037
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until CJ Egan-Riley signs something — a contract at Olympique de Marseille or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Mar 2037
Defences have started doubling up on Samir El Mourabet
29 goals and a season average of 7.99 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Boardroom16 Mar 2037
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Hassan Al-Sultan made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Squad16 Mar 2037
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Olympique de Marseille will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Mar 2037
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings16 Mar 2037
Amine Gouiri, 37, rolls back the years — 8.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.90 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings16 Mar 2037
The game went through Himad Abdelli — 7.21
Marked 7.21 on 21 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad16 Mar 2037
Luc Lacroix: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympique de Marseille have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match14 Mar 2037
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Feb 2037
Matteo Farronato damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match7 Feb 2037
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with RC Lens the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Olympique de Marseille will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings9 Feb 2037
Age has not caught Igor Paixão yet — 8.47
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.47 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad9 Feb 2037
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Paixão is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market9 Feb 2037
Only the photograph left for Azhar Ali
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Azhar Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympique de Marseille the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Feb 2037
15 goals and a season average of 7.28. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom9 Feb 2037
The approach has gone in and the answer belongs to DC United. Business like this is done quietly and reported loudly, and rarely in that order.
Boardroom9 Feb 2037
8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jan 2037
Matteo Farronato damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad12 Jan 2037
21 goals and a season average of 7.86. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad12 Jan 2037
The match ball belongs to Samir El Mourabet, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match12 Jan 2037
Position 17 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match10 Jan 2037
9 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Jan 2037
Mason Greenwood, 35, rolls back the years — 9.07
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.07 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market12 Jan 2037
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympique de Marseille can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Jan 2037
Azhar Ali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympique de Marseille they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Dec 2036
Losing 3‑4 is one thing; losing to Paris Saint-Germain in a derby is a wound that takes months to close.
Squad15 Dec 2036
Matteo Farronato damages knee ligaments — 78 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 78 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match15 Dec 2036
Position 18, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 Dec 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Dec 2036
Igor Paixão, 36, rolls back the years — 8.88
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.88 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad15 Dec 2036
A season average of 7.65 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market15 Dec 2036
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympique de Marseille, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Dec 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match13 Dec 2036
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Olympique de Marseille has to find a result from somewhere.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Nov 2036
Matteo Farronato damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Nov 2036
Position 16 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market17 Nov 2036
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match15 Nov 2036
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Quinten Timber falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market17 Nov 2036
Only the photograph left for Azhar Ali
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Azhar Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Olympique de Marseille the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Nov 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique de Marseille this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Nov 2036
Stade Brestois left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Oct 2036
Matteo Farronato damages knee ligaments — 134 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 134 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad20 Oct 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings20 Oct 2036
Quinten Timber, 35, rolls back the years — 9.38
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.38 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market20 Oct 2036
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympique de Marseille, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Oct 2036
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad20 Oct 2036
Quinten Timber falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market20 Oct 2036
Azhar Ali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympique de Marseille they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings20 Oct 2036
Samir El Mourabet was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.94. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Sep 2036
Tours are out and Olympique de Marseille go through, 2‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match20 Sep 2036
Antoine Valero had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Tours were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad22 Sep 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings22 Sep 2036
Tochukwu Nnadi, 33, rolls back the years — 8.84
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market22 Sep 2036
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Sep 2036
Quinten Timber falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market22 Sep 2036
Azhar Ali has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Olympique de Marseille they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Sep 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique de Marseille this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Sep 2036
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Aug 2036
Samir El Mourabet had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Olympique Lyonnais were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Match23 Aug 2036
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market25 Aug 2036
The offer from Paris FC for Cauan Baptistella was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
Amine Gouiri, 36, rolls back the years — 8.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.89 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market25 Aug 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympique de Marseille can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Aug 2036
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Olympique de Marseille are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Paixão is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market25 Aug 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Olympique de Marseille is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Aug 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympique de Marseille this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.