The former Olympique de Marseille manager Jorge Sampaoli has given a wide-ranging interview to L’Équipe, where he touched upon his sudden departure from a club that he had looked to transform.
Sampoli arrived in a tumultuous situation midway through the 2020/21 season, pressure had been mounting on his predecessor André Villas-Boas, and the fans furious at poor results had stormed the training centre La Commanderie.
“La Commanderie burned down, a coach gone, and eleventh in the league,” explained Sampaoli. However, his appointment marked the beginning of a dramatic turnaround, “we took the next step, we qualified for the Europa league.”
The next season, progress continued under the manager and they finished second in the league to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain. However, Sampaoli was not satisfied playing second fiddle to his richer rivals, “For me, the project from there had to be more ambitious. I wanted Marseille to win the league.”
He continued, “I didn’t want to be runners-up to PSG again… being second frustrates me, and maybe it was unattainable, but I wanted to aim higher. I wanted to win a European cup, and titles.”
The point of no return for Sampaoli
The moment that Sampaoli considers to be the turning point for his time at the club was the appointment of Javier Ribalta as sporting director in June 2022. “Marseille changed sporting directors, and then I understood that it would be very difficult, and that it was no longer the same project.”
Sampaoli left that summer, “As I had a lot of affection and gratitude for the club, the president, and the owner too, I preferred to leave. I know myself, I’m obsessive and I would have been more frustrated than happy.”
The key sticking point between the former manager and his then-sporting director appears to be over the profile of players that Ribalta wanted to bring into the club. “The new sporting director preferred another type of player… I didn’t want any conflict and I said: ‘Thank you for everything, but I would prefer to go.’”
When asked if he had any regrets over his departure from a club that he clearly still holds a deep affection for, the manager only had one. “I just regret not having managed to convince the owner, or [the president] Pablo Longoria, to take a step forward.”
GFFN | Nick Hartland
