The Olympique de Marseille coach still has a lot of faith in his academy players who did not really raise the fans’ hopes during the team’s Europa League loss at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AEL-Limassol-c38226
Last night, in his side’s final Europa League group game against Cyprus-based club AEL Limassol, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 coach, Elie Baup chose to field several young players in a bid to give those youngsters a first-hand taste of what it feels like to be
a professional player playing on a European night.
However, Elie Baup’s initiative was not rewarded at all as a young Olympique de Marseille side just could not cope with AEL as they displayed a very timid performance. AEL was considered one of the weakest sides in the group but the final score simply showed
that the Marseille youngsters are still far from the finished product.
The result was a stark contrast to what Marseille’s Rhone neighbours, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 had shown. Remi Garde also fielded a relatively inexperienced squad but his youngsters paid dividends with a comprehensive 2-0 win in their last group game of the competition.
Naturally, Les Phoceens’ result has left many people wondering if this group of academy players is really good enough for the first-team level. Against one of the weakest sides in the competition, these youngsters were not convincing.
And, La Provence also criticised few of the younger players like Omrani and Jobello M’Bow who clearly were not confident enough against the Cypriots.
However, coach Elie Baup has come to the defence of his young charges. The former Toulouse manager says that he is not totally disappointed with the lads even though he admits that these players have a long road ahead of them.
“There is no individual disappointment but not individual satisfaction either. There is just the awareness of the road that lies ahead for our young players. We want to continue working with them. They have potential. With this trip, they have been able
to get a feel for the preparation, the discipline, and the focus required at the highest level.”
And indeed, with youngsters, it is important to have a lot of patience.
Tags: