Get French Football News favourite Franck Leboeuf joined us for another interview, talking about what makes Olympique de Marseille special, why Habib Beye could be a good fit, why RC Lens can win the title and how he thinks Liam Rosenior has settled at Chelsea. In this first part, he talks about the unique atmosphere of Marseille, for better or worse.
I feel like each time we speak, one of your former clubs is in crisis. The last few times it’s been Strasbourg or Chelsea. But this time we need to speak about Marseille…
Yeah, it’s complicated and I get the impression that there are always issues there and, when I speak to the supporters, they say the same. I’ve tried not to follow too closely what has been going on. But I’ve seen what happens on the pitch, how that has been working, and I get the impression that there is no progression, no improvement. Yes, Paris Saint-Germain have a lot of money so it is very hard to compete with them but there are ways to do so, with the players, with the public, with their passion, to do something exceptional. Some clubs have proven that, like Montpellier HSC [in 2012], Lille OSC [in 2021] too, that you can be French champions and beat PSG. You only play PSG twice across 34 matches, so OK they might be better, but if you win all the others… But you can see that it isn’t working out, you can see that it’s not very strong off the pitch either. That’s also the problem – there is clearly a power struggle taking place in the offices, and that’s not healthy for the playing staff.
I remember when Robert Pires was at Marseille and the fans set fire to the players’ cars when they were unhappy. Then there was the invasion of La Commanderie, I think when Andre Vilas-Boas was there. I get the impression that Marseille really is a club different to all others, except perhaps Napoli. As you’ve played for Marseille as well as other big clubs, can you explain how and why it is different?
It’s different because back in the day, Bernard Tapie [legendary Marseille president] stipulated that the fans should be able to hold a share in the club – this was at the time, I don’t know if it’s still the case – for example in terms of receiving a percentage of shirt sales. So that participation meant even more implication for people who already lived and died based on the club’s results. So when they won they sold more shirts, when they lost they sold fewer shirts and so it was harder for them.
So I also experienced all this for two years when I was there. I was OM captain. And it felt like everyone was overstepping their role – I mean, a supporter is a supporter; a president is a president and has no business being on the pitch or even on the bench. Everyone should stay in their place. But at Marseille – certainly when I was there – no one stayed in their role. The supporters felt entitled to tell you what you should be doing; the president told you what you should be doing on the pitch; the coach didn’t say anything because he was scared of the president and would be fired if he said something; and the players were so scared that I had teammates who, one night after a bad result, went home hidden the car boot because they were frightened of the supporters!
So you live in a very complicated system there. It has calmed down a little, it’s a bit more structured, but you can still see today that it is very tense and that everyone is under pressure. And the city itself is like a pressure cooker, ready to explode at the next bad result. And it’s really complicated for everyone, everyone needs to calm down a little.
When I was playing for OM, I would tell the supporters that there is no point in whistling us or booing us. That’s not what will get a positive reaction from us – in fact the opposite – we’ll hate you for it. I played in England before going to Marseille and there, if the fans weren’t happy, they would get up and leave and you’d finish the match alone. And that was the ultimate shame. And you say to yourself wow, we’ve let our fans down, and you want to fight for them. But someone who insults you or scares you or even turns up at your house or frightens your family – you don’t want to fight for them; you want to leave.
