Posted on November 20, 2021 at 3:30 pm by Arthur Montagne
Arrived on the OM bench last March, Jorge Sampaoli seems to be unanimous in Marseille. Leonardo Balerdi is delighted to evolve under the orders of his compatriot who replaced André Villas-Boas.
During the summer of 2019, André Villas-Boas landed on the bench of the Olympique de Marseille to replace Rudi Garcia , taken in flu by the fans of the Marseille club. And after a successful season, concluded with a qualification for the Champions League , the Portuguese technician quickly became disillusioned and the departure of Andoni Zubizarreta then the catastrophic course in C1 have finally pushed Pablo Longoria to separate from AVB whose relationship with its management had clearly cooled. OM thus bet on Jorge Sampaoli, who was stationed at Atlético Mineiro . Arrived last March, the Argentine was immediately adopted by Olympian fans. It must be said that the fiery temperament of Pelado is not unlike that of Marcelo Bielsa . And in the locker room also Jorge Sampaoli seems unanimity.
Balerdi is a fan of Sampaoli
Indeed, in an interview with Foot Mercato, Leonardo Balerdi recognizes that the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli “helped him a lot. He helped me understand my positioning in the field and manage the different moments of a meeting. I think the team and I have to keep listening to him. He's a very good coach, he helps us a lot. It helped me to have more playing time and a lot of confidence. It is very important to progress. “It must be said that the Argentine defender played little under the orders of André Villas-Boas and quickly found his place in the three-way defense of Jorge Sampaoli . “Jorge Sampaoli's philosophy is a very high pressing, a short and clean raise. He wants to build from the defense. But, above all, there is this very high pressing that he asks for. With André Villas-Boas, there was also this short recovery, he wanted the ball to come out cleanly, but for example, the counter-pressing was less intense. We expected more from the loss of the ball, it was much less intensive than with Jorge Sampaoli, who requires this intensity and more aggressiveness. They are two very great coaches with different qualities. André Villas-Boas, we can also talk about his communication skills off the pitch, because he speaks several languages. They are two very good coaches, but they are very different ”, assures the former defender of Borussia Dortmund , before adding a layer Jorge Sampaoli which has “a little revolutionized this game of position. With André Villas-Boas, we tried to do it a little bit with his own raises, but Jorge, upon his arrival, immediately insisted on the fact that the raises had to be clean with the fewest touches possible in our camp. to arrive as quickly as possible in the opposing camp and to be as long as possible in the opposing camp. He also insisted on the fact that you have to be very intense in the attacks and counterattacks. I think there is a pronounced difference with André Villas-Boas. We are a team which, perhaps, takes more risks, but which plays better and better. Over time, we will assimilate this idea more and more and it will be even better. “ Leonardo Balerdi is therefore delighted with the choice of OM to have appointed Jorge Sampaoli in place of André Villas- Boas .