“I’m not naive” about the lobbying
Marseille supporters have fallen for their academy kids, and Bruno Genesio knows it. Speaking on Friday before Sunday’s home game with Toulouse, the coach said he is not naive about the campaign around the club’s young players this season, and that he will not let it dictate his team sheets.
The pressure has a clear origin. Keyliane Abdallah appeared on the very first matchday against Strasbourg and scored his first goal in a 4-0 win. Kelyann Bezahaf and Nouhoum Kamissoko followed over the weeks, and the latest name on a match sheet is Antoine Valero, who was in the squad for the Europa League trip to Sturm Graz. Genesio admits the situation forces him to lean on them, because the squad needs bodies.
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Benchmarks, not noise
His line is that development matters more than the atmosphere. Genesio wants the young players to progress and says there is real quality in the group, Valero included, who he believes can make it at the club one day. He pointed to his past work with youngsters at Lyon as his reference point for what it takes to start in Ligue 1.
The message is that selection stays his call. In his words, he is there to make decisions and stand by them, not to answer the climate around the club.
Toulouse arrive on Sunday at 8:45 pm local time, and Marseille can chase a fourth league win in a row. If the answer to the lobbying comes anywhere, it will come in that line-up.
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