Oh No! They had to hurt Samir, the bastards (Besiktas 2-1 OM)…

By: Magnusson | November 29th, 2007

DISAPPOINTMENT. This is the word that best describes last night’s game. We had the place to easily win the match but too many approximations and a flagrant lack of experience were fatal to us. I won’t say that I’m pissed at the referee because that would be crass but goddamn motherfucker!!! How about a call once in awhile?
The good news is that even if we had won, it wouldn’t have mattered as the more important game was going on in Liverpool at Anfield where the reds didn’t waste anytime and destroyed Porto (4-1). The REALLY bad news is that we lost Samir Nasri after just 23 minutes. Talk about bad luck. Just when we were starting to get our hands on the game, On a contact with Edouard Cissé of all people, Samir gets injured (ankle and calf). He’s replaced by Djibril Cissé as Mamadou Niang takes his place tactically. The other Bad News is that Djibril Cissé also couldn’t finish the match but stayed on the pitch as he couldn’t be replaced at that moment.
To be perfectly fair with Edouard Cissé, this was the same ankle Samir has been having problems with all season, but I would have had a little more peace of mind if he was not and ex-PSG captain. Anyway, here’s a quick recap of what happened last night.

We had one chance of avoising the final game against Liverpool to be some kind of direct-elimination and we blew the hell out of it. Twice! And that makes it so difficult that in this crazy group of ours, Besiktas could finish first next week (If they win and we draw Liverpool, three clubs will be at 8 PTS)
Last night’s performance was far from being ridiculous and that’s what’s so disappointing about it. We played much, much better than they did but they still managed to “outheart” us. They were running around and all but nothing was really dangerous. We conceded two goals on two individual mistakes and at the 87th minute, we were still in the running and Besiktas was still eliminated. All it took was for Taiwo not to follow his man for us to have a solid game turn into shit.

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HOW DID THEY PLAY?

Our entire team was pretty confident and I liked the combativity they showed during the whole game.
First of all, Steve Mandanda. With all the recent talk about his possible inclusion in the national Team for the next Euro, Steve once again proved to be very calm under pressure and the “turkish context” didn’t seem to phase him much. he took two goals where he was unable to do anything. Fist of all, on the free kick, his wall was at fault and the second goal was a one-on-one against an amazingly confident striker. Aside from two situations where he was pretty much powerless, the young keeper was great and proved to b very precise with his feet. Another assett that will help him keep his place once carasso comes back.

Laurent Bonnart had a strange game. He played left-back in the first-half and right-back in the second. Paradoxically Bonnart has suffered more on the left in the first period (he was bought as a replacement for Taiwo when the latter would leave for the African Cup od nations). He is the one who caused the fault that brought the victorious free-kick from Tellio. He was a little better in the second half by being more effective defensively as a right-back. The corridor was without the shadow of a doubt the weakest link of the Marseille team during the first forty-five minutes.
Speaking of weak, Ronal Zubar has motivation coming out of the wazzoo, that’s for sure, but the kid is way too easy to eliminate when he’s playing on the right-side. Often misplaced, Ronald suffered of the many Turkish attacks that were developed on his side. Offensively, he did not hesitate to come up but was too brash, not bringing what an Habib Beye could have. On the other hand, he was very close to score an equalizer with a less than academic but very powerful lefter that fell just beside the goals of Rustu. Too vulnerable, Zubar was replaced at halftime by Gerets…
The big satisfaction of the night was definitly the defensive pairing of Givet and Rodriguez. The two french internationals were extremely impressive. What a game on both their ends. Givet was on the same path that helped him shine gainst Metz and he confirmed that he may quietly be on his way back. He didn’t let ANYTHING go by and if not for the last minue goal, would have been one of the man of the match. Julien Rodriguez was also very precious. He could have scored twice with two breautiful headers but “The Boss” was present at every moment and was magnificent with his interventions. And as i said before, if not for the last minute goal,…

Captain Lorik Cana did what Lorik Cana does best. Eat the opposing midfielders alive. His first half was not great but his paring with Cheyrou got better in the second half and he managed to make Benoit look better than he actually was by correcting his mistakes. Cheyrou was once again a disappoitment. he may just have lost indefinitly his spot to Modeste M’bami who did not deceive like he did since the season started. He seemed lost at times and useless in recuperating mode. Cana had to make double shifts and Mamadou Niang was seen saving his ass three or four times. That was not a good sign.
Samir Nasri. Of course he had to get injured. But apparently the turks did their homework and for the first part of the game, he was constantly double teamed. his match opener was encouraging but as soon as he left the pitch, some of his teammates started panicking for real and in the first action afterwards, Bonnart made a useless hard foul that brought the goal.
Bolo Zenden can’t play two games in a row, or so it seems. The man claimed that he came to play the Champions League but he disappointed once more after a very encouraging game against Metz. He was replaced by Ayew quite early in the second half. Good entry by the young ghanaian pearl who was very stirring on the left side and then on the right side. His vivacity and his fighting spirit made him get good free-kicks. He brought way more than Zenden, especially commitment-wise.

The pair formed by Valbuena and Niang was less brilliant than usual but they weighed down on the turkish defense all night. With the absence of Nasri, replaced by Cissé, both of them had to go down lower to get the balls and were less dangerous than they could have been. Both of them missed chances and Mathieu could have been the hero of the night but Rustu was pretty lucky last night. Even in an off-night their commitment to the team and the jersey shows how much they could bring to this club. Valbuena was furious, seen after the game hitting stuff. That’s just how much he cares.

Now the two cases of the night, Taye Taiwo and Djibtril Cissé. Taiwo showed us the best and the worst of Taiwo in twenty minutes. First of all, his fantastic kick left no chance to Rustu who was everything but prepared for that kind of strength. His lefter was so pure it brought tears to my eyes. Than Taiwo did wht taiwo does worst, which is to forget the striker on his left and focus too much on the ball. He did it in the fianl of the Coupe de France against paris two years ago, he did it again last night. Same fault, same consequences, we get scored upon and our chances of going through are significantly reduced.
Now let’s talk about Djibril Cissé. Right now I don’t know what to say anymore. Or worse, I have too many things to say and don’t know where to start. He came on after Samir got hurt and had a great possibility to redeem himself in the eyes of the supporters and media alike. But last night may have been one of his worst game under our shirt, and that’s saying a lot. This is a player who doesn’t believe in himself anymore and that was flagrant last night. With Nasri out, Niang took Samir’s spot and left him up top. To be fair with him, he got in and the turkish goal happened before he had the chance to break a sweat. But he was just pitiful. Missed controls, passes without an ounce of conviction, useless runs, he finished the game on a very stupid foul that got him booked and injured: Djibril has lived a nightmare against Besiktas. His future in Marseille is increasingly dotted.
We know he won’t throw in the towel but there are only four games left before the mercato…

WHAT DID THEY SAY?

Eric Gerets: “We played better in the second period. We really wanted to score a 2nd goal, it was important. Enough has been done to score, but unfortunately an individual mistake cost us . This is not the first time but they are young… I am disappointed with the result but not with the way we played. We were perhaps not in great shape for this game. In this competition there have been no bad match so far from us. So I do not think that OM will play a bad match in front of 65000 fans (ie: against Liverpool)! Our fans know this and will be behind us. ”

Djibril Cisse: “Against Liverpool, it will be a very difficult match. I hope that we will at least get a draw. We should be transcended. Qualification will be played in ONE game and we know that on a game we can win against any team. Initially I was on the bench but it’s a healthy competition. Mamadou I think is better right now, it is logical that he gets to play. He deserves it. I would be happy to eliminate my old club, without malice. That would be good! ”

Mamadou Niang: “These are choices of the coach, and either me or Djibril will respect them. Djib and I are very close. We are both trying in any way to make everyone better for the team. We knew that it would all certainly be played on our last game. We have to do our best now.”

Steven Gerrard: “It’s going to be a difficult match, Marseille is a very good team very well organized and then it will be on the outside. We are confident even though it will be difficult. Djibril and me are still very good friends. We are wary of him and we know him very well.”

Ronald Zubar: “Despite the defeat, we have a lot of good things. We must now address the match for Liverpool as a big finale. It will not be easy because Liverpool is in great form. They have scored 12 goals in two games and they have experience at this level. ”

Benoit Cheyrou:” The team revolted in the second half compared to the first when we were a bit sleepy. It was a great atmosphere tonight and I hope it will be as warm in the Velodrome for the reception of Liverpool.”

Mathieu Valbuena: “The defeat is frustrating. For me, the team is down because we have done the hardest by catching up to them and then after, we still manage to take a goal in the final minutes. The coach said he was proud of us because we fought hard and furnished a lot of effort.”

Lorik Cana:”We still have our destiny in our hands and I remain very confident in my team. But I am frustrated because when playing in a big club like Marseille, we must not lose this kind of game.”

THE VIDEOS