We’ve all seen the video…you know the one I’m talking about (and if you don’t its below the jump…and it is not a video displaying their awesome football skills).  

Of course I’m referring to this video taken from documentary of Hatem Ben Arfa and Abou Diaby (Arsenal, formerly Auxerre) fighting while training at the Clairefontaine when they were young.

While this video has been discussed on the Offside before by Inara on The Offside-Lyon, I don’t think it has ever been discussed by the people involved (at least that I have read).  Abou recently gave an interview with the Daily Mail where he discussed this fight and his relationship with Hatem.  Here is an excerpt of the article that talks about the video.

His group became the subject of a TV documentary and even now you can watch a 15-year-old Diaby on YouTube trying to tear Hatem Ben Arfa’s head off. ‘We were just kids and it was one of those jokes that backfired,’ he says. ‘But we are great friends now.’

They were even friends back then, and together they watched the Wenger revolution unfold at Arsenal. ‘For all of us that was the dream,’ says Diaby. ‘To be part of a Wenger team, to be part of something this exciting.

I’m not surprised the two are friends now– they were clearly good friends in the documentary.  Glad to know they have kept in touch.

Apparently he is the only one who thinks so!  For those who watched the game this afternoon between OM and Toulouse, you may have noticed a delay that kept HBA from entering the game immediately. When he stripped off his tracksuit to get ready to enter, he revealed the jersey number– 11 with Niang written across the back of the shirt.  Deschamps was apparently not too pleased and assistant coach Guy Stéphan was finally successful in finding the correct jersey.  The press are reporting that during this debacle, Hatem sat on the bench smiling.  I haven’t found a picture or video clip yet– if you have any let me know!

Ugh, he does nothing to help himself sometimes (read:  all the time)!

OM-PSG on the Assembly Benches

“Yah!  Always the same ones who are on the bench!”

“On my mother, I am vexed!”

Coming from America, I find it surprising how involved politicians are in sports in France.  In the US, Presidents and politicians may be seen at sporting events and even may comment on their favorite teams, but in general sporting events are not seen as political events.  I’ve learned that this isn’t necessarily the case in France.  This is especially true with the French National team, which has been given the nickname “Black, Blanc, Beur,” and has become a symbol of the new, multicultural France.  Some politicians (Le Pen) even made public speeches on how the the team wasn’t “French enough” after their wins in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.

This debate typically flares up whenever France plays a former colony team– such as last year’s match against Tunisia.  At the beginning of the match the Marsellaise (French National Anthem) was booed loudly by sections of the crowd, most of who were French citizens of Magreb descent.  The post-match commentary largely centered not on the win of the French team, but the political implications of the match.  Such booing has come to be used by ethnic-Arab French football fans to protest the racial, social and economic discrimination suffered by those not fortunate enough to be among the stars of Les Bleus. Booing France’s anthem has become a common tactic for drawing attention away from the largely black and Arab faces that defend France’s honor on the soccer field, and back to the communities from which they come in the decrepit housing projects surrounding the Stade de France and other suburbs of Paris.

But the French government pushed back– and hard.  The Minister of Sports (the fact that there is a political office for sports is just incredible to me!) and Sarkozy (French President) were infuriated– and held several crisis meetings about the issue.  Publicly, they were infuriated at the French Football Federation for not shutting down the match immediately.  But Sarkozy was just getting started.  Following the crisis meetings between the President and concerned cabinet members, Health and Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin grimly declared the decision had been taken that “any match during which our national anthem is whistled will be stopped immediately”.

So what does this have to do with OM and this cartoon at Hatem’s expense?

Given how politicized the National team is– I shouldn’t have been surprised when the cancellation of the clash between France’s largest clubs (in terms of fan base) was brought up in the National Assembly this week.  But, given my American tendencies, of course I was.

The questions about the postponement of the OM-PSG match and the fan riots/mayhem were asked by Dominique Tian (representative from Bouches du Rhone, outside of Marseille) to Rama Yade (the Secretary of State for Sport).

Here are the questions:

“- Has the Football League fulfilled its role? The precautionary principle in health as public safety, should it not require the cancellation the match on Friday or no later than Saturday? Is the league’s rule which requires the confirmation of the 3rd player’s diagnosis effective? Is it not, Minister, the responsibility of government to enact a rule common to all sports federations in order to reach an acceptable time frame for cancellation of game? “

The latter responded by stating in part: “Because of the high risk of violence in an event such the OM-PSG game,  the principle of caution should apply. So I asked the sports authorities to be able to identify, anticipate and prevent such situations in the future.  Fans should expect further delays. “

This comic is able to pick at two of the French presses’ favorite targets– the politicians and Hatem Ben Arfa– by mocking the effectiveness and moodiness of both the Assembly members and Hatem….

I tend to be pretty protective of Hatem, but I love these particular artists’ cartoons.  If you have a chance (and you speak a little French), check out their blog here.  They have some other funny ones where Heinze is mocking the threat of Gignac….

Warning:  Any racist comments on this post will be deleted and result in the comments section being locked.  You’ve been warned!

The LFP Office announced today that the Classico will be played on Friday, November 20th. The original Ligue 1 game that weekend against Sochaux has been pushed back until Wednesday, 12/2. If necessary, OM can request that the Sochaux match be rescheduled for a later date (since they will be preparing to play Real).

Updated Schedule

Here is the new schedule for OM (taken from the official OM website):

Saturday, October 31: OM – Toulouse (L1 – Matchday 12)
Tuesday, November 3: OM – Zurich (Champions League – M4)
Sunday, November 8: Lyon – OM (L1 – Matchday 13)
International: Ireland – France (November 14) and France – Ireland (November 18)
Friday, November 20th: OM – PSG (L1 – Matchday 10)
Wednesday, November 25: AC Milan – OM (Champions League – J5)
Saturday, November 28: Lens – OM (L1 – Matchday 15)
Wednesday, December 2: OM – Sochaux (L1 – Matchday 14)
Saturday, December 5: Nice – OM (L1 – Matchday 16)
Tuesday, December 8: OM – Real Madrid (Champions League – J6)
Saturday, December 12: OM – Boulogne (L1 – Matchday 17)
Wednesday, December 16: Lorient – OM (L1 – Matchday 11)
Saturday, December 19: St Etienne – OM (L1 – Matchday 18)
Wednesday, December 23: OM – Auxerre (L1 – Matchday 19)

Keeping check back for additional updates and requests from OM to reschedule.

The Backstory and Reactions

To catch up on the build-up to this agreement please refer to our earlier posts here and here. But, the good news is that both teams have been able to agree upon a date that allows a Classico match-up this year! The Ligue has agreed to alter the schedule for the future Matchday 14 games (OM vs. Sochaux and PSG vs. Boulogn) and allow those games to be played on Wednesday, December 2 instead of the regular scheduled weekend of November 21/22. However, Marseille may request the Matchday 14 game to be rescheduled again if their match against Real Madrid shapes up to be a decisive match. On that occassion, OM can petition the league to delay the Sochaux match further in order to support the Ligue’s and OM’s success at the European level.

Given the tension and accusations made by OM in the build-up to this meeting, it has ended pretty amicably. The following statements were made after the meeting by the major players involved:

“This is the first possible date,” a statement from the Ligue de Football Professionel read. “It solves the problem of the deferral of this big Ligue 1 fixture.”

On exiting the meeting, Jean-Claude Dassier, president of les Phoceens simply told the press, “The date suits us.”

Meanwhile, Robin Leproux, president of PSG, didn’t pass comment.

While PSG did not comment about the meeting, I’m willing to cut them slack since their press people have undoubtedly been overwhelmed by the barrage of conspiracy theories and accusations over the past week.

Regardless, I’m just happy that a new date is set so that we can put this drama behind us and focus on beating Toulouse this weekend!

As we reported earlier, the fans of both PSG and OM went a little crazy this weekend after the late cancellation of the game by the Ligue authorities.

For those who enjoy watching needless violence, some of it was caught on camera…

The Classico fixture which was suppose to take place yesterday was postponed due to a Swine Flu Infection that has infected at least 5 members of the PSG team and staff, including Jeremy Clement (left), Ludovic Giuly (centre) and defender Mamadou Sakho (right).  For more information see our earlier coverage here and here.  The match, which was originally given the green light, was called off at the last moment by the French authorities.  Cue, Mayhem.  

Now, the drama continues as the two teams can’t agree on when to play the rescheduled game.  OM want to play the game as soon as possible– Wednesday.  Anigo, OM’s Sporting Director, spoke with OM TV and explained that unless the game is played this week, they will argue that the game shouldn’t be played until February.  The November schedule is too tight already with the European fixtures, the Velodrome is unavailable on the open weekends in December since it is being used for the France-New Zealand game (rugby) and OM’s African players will be away on International duty in January.

To accommodate this request, the Ligue will have to make an exception to their rule which requires that games be made up before the winter break.  Deschamp has been vocal about the Ligue needing to provide greater support for teams competing in Europe– asking Marseille to play the game before the Winter break would force them to play 10 games in 31 days.  In an interview with the press, he has also implied that the cancellation of the game was unfair, hinting at an institutional bias in the French’s Federation for the Parisian club and downplaying the threat of the flu.

PSG have remained firm, insisting that they will not play on Wednesday.  PSG will remain in quarantine for 72 hours and won’t even begin training until Wednesday.  They have argued that asking their players to play so quickly without training and recovering from illness is a serious injury risk.

The date of the match won’t be announced until Thursday– so it looks like OM has lost that fight (not surprising considering the quarantine doesn’t expire until Wednesday).

And how do you think the League will rule?  OM seem to be implying that the league should rule in their favor because it is “not their fault”– but is this really PSG’s fault?  Do you think rushing the make-up fixture fair?  Is Deschamps out of line in downplaying the severity of the illness?

Of course all of you guys probably know that the classico was canceled. I was out of town (stuck in traffic no less) and heard the news so I was relieved / disappointed with that I didnt miss the game. We can now confirm that members of PSG specifically- Ludovic Giuly, Mamadou Sakho, Jeremy Clement, Loris Arnaud and an unnamed staff member have all tested positive for H1N1. I had said previously that the fact that the league was discussing the cancellation outright indicated the severity of PSG’s health. You guys don’t need me to tell you that this virus isn’t just your common cold and we all wish PSG a speedy recovery. Certainly a blow to that side, we will just have to wait and see when the match is re-scheduled. Until then rest up guys!

The Show had to go on
First off Marseille quietly bid farewell to Karim Ziani who decided very early on that he needed to leave Marseille even though he had an incredible second season. The diminutive Algerian signed with German Champions Wolfsburg last Sunday and left Evian Monday morning. Selling for €7 million, it seems like a fair deal but to think that two seasons ago, we were bullied into buying him for eight. But Ziani was good enough this season for us to let him go without it bothering Didier Deschamps too much. It is no secret that the new manager wants our players in the midfield to be a little more powerful, which is why he’s pursuing players like Lucho and Stephane M’bia.

That brings us to the Lorik Cana case. Didier Deschamps never liked him, that’s no secret. When he arrived, he made it clear that three players were his priority, Steve Mandanda, Taye Taiwo and Mamadou Niang. After negotiating with those three, the Ex-France Captain realized how important Cana had become to the fans and the locker room and started backpedalling, saying to him it was evident that Cana would be staying and that he didn’t feel the need to reinforce that opinion. Sure Didier! Now Cana will leave if an offer strong enough comes our way. The player doesn’t feel appreciate and knows he’ll only be fourth choice in the midfield after Cheyrou, Lucho and M’bia if he comes (more on that later). Lorik Cana has been nothing short of exemplary under Fernandez, Emon and Gerets. So Deschamps letting him go is like him letting go of Valbuena, he’s trying to get rid of the players Gerets was using the most. It’s petty but in an atmosphere where the new President’ only hope is that he doesn’t find his office burned down in the morning, Deschamps is pretty much allowed to do as he pleases, and that wouldnt have happened under Diouf.

Anyway, I’m going to say it here once and for all, no matter how great M’bia is, I watched enough Rennes games and personally met the guy to know that he’s playing for M’bia and that’s it. He doesn’t give a shit about where he plays as long as he’s getting paid. That’s the mercenary mentality I don’t like and that’s why I love Lorik Cana, who was always a guarantee in our lineup. I hope I’m wrong on his one but I think we’re just messing up trying to fix something that’s not broke just yet.

I would also like to give credit to Jose Anigo. We all know how close he grew to like Pape Diouf (after an initial period where the two didn’t trust each other) and even linked his future to his President’s. And after hesitating a long time, it took all of Diouf’s clout to convince the Minot to stay at Marseille. And as much as people love to bash on him, he stayed quiet and will work withg Deschamps, a man he loathes. The truth is that for many people in Marseille, and eve me, Deschamps has been flirting way too close with a period of our history that brought us trophies but also hurt the club so bad I’d rather it never happened (okay, not really but you get my point). Anigo said before Deschamps came in that some people soiled the club and left them (the real Marseillais) the pieces to fix while reaping the benefits of the glorious trophy won in 1993. Anyway, Anigo is the club now. No if’s but’s and maybe’s. Anigo has managed to buy impressive players as he was given a little more leeway. We now know that they started talking with Lucho last season and talked when Argentina came in Marseille to play opposite France in February. So much for the Deschamps juice theory.
Anyways, Anigo managed to sell at a great price players that were not wanted in Marseille anymore, Djibril Cissé (€8.5 million to Galatasaray), Ronald Zubar (€4 million to Wolverhampton), Karim Ziani (7.5 to Wolfsburg), Gaël Givet (€4 million to Blackburn), without taking into account a million from both Bayern Munich and Arsenal who both qualified for the next Champions League. And Samassa will be sold to either Grenoble or Montpellier by the beginning of the season. Add that to the €46 million we received in TV rights, Marseille is in great economical shape, and Anigo is making a hell of a lot of smart moves for someone supposed to be incompetent.

And their ambitions have not gone unnoticed as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the man Karim Benzema is replacing in Madrid stopped by on Thursday to negotiate with our staff for an eventual move to Marseille when everyone had him already signing with Stuttgart. And let’s be clear, this is NOT a rumor, it’s and ACTUAL Information. Huntelaar was in Marseille. Now nothing has filtered from the meetings but we know he went to see the Commanderie training grounds (empty but still) and the stadium. Even if I don’t see Huntelaar succeeding in France, It would be an interesting signing.

A Quiet Funeral on Wednesday

This wednesday night, Pape Diouf skipped one of the Directory’s meetings in Paris to take care of the club in Marseille. This created a new polemic, as it was believed that a few members of that directory would be criticizing him for the Ribery incident and his handling of the whole Gerets situation.

Fist of all, with the Ribery situation, an internet website revealed earlier this month that Pape Diouf gave Franck Ribery a 500.000 euros incentive for him to go to the clash with his then employers of Galatasaray and make possible his arrival at Marseille. This alledgedly happened and Ribery allegedly confessed to it in a mailing kept by hi ancient agent, Bruno Heiderscheid.

If we remember correctly, Ribery came back to Marseille after six months in Galatasaray from Metz on reasons that he had never been paid and that there were threats made against him there and a few other things.

Now aside from that affair that never really was proven nor followed, it seems the owner wasn’t pleased with the fact that Erik Gerets left and Labrune was about to make him explain himself. If we remember correctly, the whole Gerets situation is one that was caused by bruised egos and misunderstandings. Gerets himself told since that he was sorry he reacted so quickly.

But let’s be clear, it is Robert Louis-Dreyfus‘ declarations in December in L’Equipe and Le10sport that were the source of it all. When Robert Louis-Dreyfus says “They better win or they’ll all be fired!” (or something tasteful in the lines of that), he creates a problem where there isn’t one. Pape Diouf then believes the owner (who is sick and doesn’t come to Marseille often) doesn’t want Gerets anymore. He then takes it upon himself to go see Spongebob and asks him the permission to re-sign Gerets. Permission granted but by that time, it was already too late. Diouf then immediatly signed Deschamps but everyone agrees Gerets was the most natural fit.

Anyways, this Vincent Labrune chracter wants Diouf‘’s job but as everyone in Marseille puts it, he’ll have to have the b***s to come and sit where Pape Diouf is sitting. With every single problem that comes at you sideways in this city, let’s not forget that you can’t be presiding from Paris and that’s in Marseille that things are and not in the Capitol’s restaurants. Now Labrune will have to come out and talk. Enough with the cowardice.

My personal poition is clear, Pape Diouf i wihout a doubt the best president of the Louis-Dreyfus era and this would be the WORST (and I can’t stress that enough) mistake ever made by this club if the owner let’s himself influenced enough and let’s him go. Pape Diouf is the best President of a football club that isn’t Jean-Michel Aulas (but he’s also an owner) and Marseille is headed to its fourth straight Champion League campaign.

We’ll see how this unfolds in the future but we, here at the Marseille offside, stand 100% behind Pape Diouf, Jose Anigo and Didier Deschamps.