Jorge Sampaoli
Group update
« The squad is complete. As for Brice Samba, I haven't made a decision yet. We'll decide between tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, depending on Brice's condition. »
The arrival of Seko Fofana and Brice Samba
« The winter transfer market is a difficult one, with players sometimes lacking pace. I hope that Seko and Brice will be two very good transfers in the short term, and I'm sure that they will be in the longer term. We're delighted to have these two players who can help the team regain momentum. »
The match against Nice
« Against Nice, we had a few good moments but we conceded three goals through three individual errors. Without that, I think we could have won. »
The opponent
« Olympique de Marseille is a club I've really enjoyed. As fate would have it, they'll be our opponents this weekend and we're going to do everything we can to win the game. OM are one of the best teams in the league, very well organised and with ambitions for the years to come.»
Ludovic Blas
Its importance in the team
« I had to show the new coach that I belonged on the pitch. I was good against Saint-Étienne and since then I've been trying to maintain that confidence and, above all, help my team-mates. It's at times like these that we need to be real men to pull the team up.»
His current status as Ligue 1's top provider
« We're barely halfway through the championship, so it doesn't mean that much to me. But it shows that I'm capable of being decisive without necessarily scoring goals. I'm going to keep working to be as effective as possible in order to help the team.»
The team's attacking progress
« In the match against Nice, there was a lot of movement and we managed to cause problems for the opposition defence. The most difficult thing is to repeat those efforts. We need to keep that in mind so that we can be as dangerous offensively as possible in the future. »
It's at times like these that we need to be real men to pull the team up.
The need to pick up points
« It's definitely becoming urgent. I think the most important thing in this situation is to concentrate on ourselves and not worry about who we're up against. Against Marseille, we'll just have to be good.»
The coach's game plan
« We had a lot of time to prepare for the game against Nice and I think that showed in certain periods. The coach listens very carefully and gives us a lot of advice to really understand his game plan. You need time for that and the break before Nice was beneficial. It's up to us to show our progress again this weekend.»
Matchday17 Ligue 1 McDonald's
Stade Rennais F.C. / Olympique de Marseille
Saturday 11 January 2025 - 9.05pm
Roazhon Park
