THE SCENARIO: It is July 2016. Olympique de Marseille have named Frenchman Didier Leroy as their new manager after a disappointing 13th placed finish in Ligue 1 under Michel last season. Top scorer Michy Batshuayi has been sold to Chelsea, while a whole host of new players have been brought in. With the club now under new ownership, can Leroy challenge Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance of French football? Or will the former Champions League winners fall further behind their rivals from the capital?
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1 July 2016
New chairman Jacques-Henri Eyraud and I meet to discuss the objectives for the new season. Last season’s bottom half finish means we have no European football this season, so we’ll need to correct that by qualifying for the Champions League. He also expects us to reach the last 16 of the Coupe de France, but I’m aiming to win the trophy. The league is out of reach but I don’t see why we can’t win the cup. We haven’t won it since 1989, so it would be great to finally end that drought.
There isn’t much money to spend this summer though with only €18 million available. We’ve also made quite a few signings already so it looks like I’ll have to work with what I’ve got.
Olympique de Marseille Squad
(*) indicates new signing
Goalkeepers: Florian Escales, Yohann Pele, Brice Samba
Defenders: Henri Bedimo*, Doria, Patrice Evra*, Rod Fanni*, Tomas Hubocan*, Karim Rekik, Rolando, Hiroki Sakai*
Midfielders: Remy Cabella, Abou Diaby, Maxime Lopez, Zinedine Machach* (on loan from Toulouse), Dimitri Payet*, Morgan Sanson*, Gregory Sertic*, William Vainqueur* (on loan from Roma), Andre Zambo Anguissa
Forwards: Bafetimbi Gomis* (on loan from Swansea City), Aaron Leya Iseka* (on loan from Anderlecht), Clinton Njie* (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Florian Thauvin* (on loan from Newcastle United)
Loaned Out: Baptiste Aloe, Julien Fabri, Lucas Ocampos, Stephane Sparagna
Available for Loan: Julien Dacosta, Boubacar Kamara, Saif Khaoui, Brice Nlate, Jeremie Porsan-Clemente, Antoine Rabillard, Alphousseyni Sane, Bill Tuiloma
Transfer Listed: Bouna Sarr
Winger Bouna Sarr doesn’t seem to be good enough for my squad, so I decide to put him on the transfer list. I’ll sign a replacement for him, but I’m not expecting much transfer activity beyond that.
11 July 2016
Angers make a €1.4 million bid for Sarr which I accept. I then bid €12 million for my main target, Borussia Monchengladbach’s USA international Fabian Johnson. The American is able to play on both wings and as a full back and his versatility will be useful if we can get him.
13 July 2016
We’ll cross the channel for pre-season this year as we head to England to play in the European International Cup. It’s a strange tournament being played at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium but United are not taking part. Our group stage opponents will be Sporting Lisbon of Portugal and English teams Everton and Stoke City. If we manage to finish in the top two, we’ll qualify for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile there is both good news and bad news regarding Fabian Johnson. The good news is Gladbach accepted our offer. The bad news is the player decided against leaving Germany for family reasons and so we’ll have to look elsewhere.
A couple of younger players are allowed to leave on loan as Boubacar Kamara joins Red Star in Ligue 2 and Julien Dacosta joins Crawley Town in England.
16 July 2016
Olympique de Marseille vs Sporting Lisbon
Our first pre-season match is against Sporting and we make a flying start as Lopez heads in a cross from Sakai in the 3rd minute. Despite a string of chances, we can’t score a second goal thanks to Sporting’s goalkeeper Jug (I wonder if he has a friend named Archie?). When we finally manage to beat him again, the stupid English linesman raises his flag for a questionable offside on N’jie. To make things worse, Sporting then grab an undeserved equaliser just before half-time. Both teams fail to find a winner in the second half and it ends 1-1.
17 July 2016
With Fabian Johnson turning down a move to France, we identify Japan winger Genki Haraguchi as our new target. A €10.5 million bid is submitted, meeting his club Hertha Berlin’s asking price.
Two more young players go out on loan as Antoine Rabillard joins Lavallois and Saif Khaoui joins Dijon.
19 July 2016
Everton vs Olympique de Marseille
The next match is against Everton, under their new manager Ronald Koeman. We dominate the match, creating some decent chances but are foiled by Maarten Stekelenburg in the Everton goal. The English side then deliver a sucker punch in the 87th minute through a Ross Barkley stunner, but we don’t give up and score an equaliser in injury time. Our two draws mean that we need to beat Stoke in our next match and hope Everton lose to Sporting in order to qualify for the semis.
20 July 2016
Our bid for Haraguchi has been accepted, and after some negotiating we agree on weekly wages of €60k per week. It’s a fair bit of money, but I’m hoping that he will be a decent addition to the squad.
22 July 2016
Olympique de Marseille vs Stoke City
Needing a win to at least have a chance of reaching the semis, we make a fast start to the match but are denied by Stoke keeper Harry Isted. The youngster makes a series of fine saves including one from a Gomis penalty to ensure it is 0-0 at the break. We finally make one count in the second half as Sanson fires in, but within ten minutes Stoke level through Ramadan Sobhi. It looks as though our pre-season will end abruptly, until we are awarded another penalty with ten minutes remaining. This time Cabella steps up and makes no mistake with a powerful shot. Sertic then makes sure of victory four minutes from time with a cool finish. It ends 3-1, and coupled with Everton’s loss to Sporting, it means we move on to the semi-finals.
24 July 2016
Fiorentina vs Olympique de Marseille
In the semi-finals, we play Italian team Fiorentina. Sanson gives us the lead with his second goal in as many games in the 12th minute. Cabella, also a scorer last time out, then nets on the stroke of half time to give us a 2-0 lead. We continue our dominance in the second half and Thauvin and Cabella score further goals to make it 4-0. In the final we’ll play another Italian team, AC Milan, whom we defeated for our only Champions League title in 1993.
26 July 2016
Olympique de Marseille vs AC Milan
The final gets off to the worst possible start as lethargic defending allows Giacomo Bonaventura to open the scoring in the 3rd minute. He almost scores again a few minutes later but Pele makes a fine save low to his right. We finally awake from our slumber and test Gianluigi Donnarumma with a few shots. Milan captain Riccardo Montolivo goes close before Gomis grabs the equaliser just before half-time. Cabella finally puts us ahead in the second half before substitute Vainqueur seals the win in injury time. A productive pre-season ends on a high as we make the short trip back to the south of France.
Screenshots and videos taken from FIFA 17 by EA Sports
