OM: Habib Beye, the challenge of a lifetime

It is a trajectory that defies the laws of football physics. Evicted from Rennes on 9th February due to a "toxic internal climate" despite an honourable 6th place, Habib Beye only took ten days before bouncing back. OM, in search of a new breath after the brutal departure of Roberto De Zerbi, jumped at the opportunity.

For Beye, the issue goes beyond a simple sporting challenge. It is a quest for legitimacy. If his accounting balance in Brittany was solid (1.56 points per match on average), his inability to manage the tensions with his management left traces. In Marseille, the challenge that awaits him is immense. He must relaunch an OM in the race for the Top 3 in Ligue 1, go to win the Coupe de France but above all restore confidence to a locker room paralyzed by events of recent days.

A drifting locker room and a tense management
Because the last few weeks have not been quite restful on the side of the Phocaeans. The humiliation during the classic with the 5-0 suffered at the Parc des Princes on 8 February remains an open wound, just like the frustrating draw against Strasbourg (2-2) last weekend, which confirmed that the mental spring was broken. Added to this a revamped management with Medhi Benatia now in full sports powers under the eye of Frank McCourt, Beye arrives as the priority choice of a board that no longer has the right to make mistakes.

"From our first exchanges, he seemed extremely committed and totally focused on the future, with clear objectives for all: quickly find the path to victory, aiming for a spot on the Ligue 1 podium and try to win the Coupe de France in order to offer the people of Marseille a trophy," 

said Benatia during the announcement of Beye’s arrival.

Restore confidence and restart the machine
Now coach of the team of which he was captain, Habib Beye inherits a quality workforce on paper, but unbalanced. His first task will be to stabilize a defense that has conceded 29 goals in 22 games. He will also have to find the springs to restart Mason Greenwood. With 23 goals in all competitions (including 14 in Ligue 1), the Englishman carries the OL attack at arm’s length, but seemed to be losing speed on his last appearances.

Adept of 3-5-2 or a very intense 4-3-3, Beye will have to find the formula so that Greenwood is no longer the only offensive solution, while relaunching executives like Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Benjamin Pavard or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (best passer of the club with 9 offerings), that it will be necessary to cohabitate with an Amine Gouiri currently successful.

The Top 3 of Ligue 1 to go pick up
Habib Beye will not have a period of grace. The Ligue 1 podium is 5 points away (Lyon is 3rd with 45 points), and the Coupe de France looms with a crucial quarter-final against Toulouse on March 4. For a club that has been waiting for a title since 2012, this is the shortest way to reconnect with a trophy. 

"I don’t come to make up, I come because it’s my home," the technician said during his presentation. From this Friday, away to Brest, we will know if this speech is enough to rekindle the flame of an OM that only asks to ignite again.