Having spent time with Marseille from 2006 to 2014, Mathieu Valbuena knows well the pressure that an OM player can feel. Pape Diouf, president of the club at the time of his arrival, warned him that one year in the Marseille city was equivalent to ten years spent elsewhere, which the former French international ended up understanding.
Arrivé à l’OM à l’été 2006 en provenance de Libourne, Matthew Valbuena had been warned by Pope Diouf : « When you spend a year in Marseille, it’s as if it’s ten elsewhere. » A sentence from the one who was president of theMarseille Olympic from 2005 to 2009 that the former French international (52 caps) did not immediately understand, but whose meaning he ended up understanding.
“Today, I can say that I have completed 80 years in Marseille.”
« At the time, I said to myself: “But he’s crazy!†And in fact, he was right. Today I can say that I took 80 years in Marseille », the confidence Matthew Valbuena auprés de FootMarseille.com. A pressure that the latter was able to experience for eight years, before leaving for Dinamo Moscow in the summer of 2014, then returning to Ligue 1 a year later, to join theOL.
“It’s all this that also makes OM so charming”
« It’s crazy because there are a lot of demands, there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of waiting. And then it’s not enough to just be good on the pitch. You also have to check everything outside. So it’s all this that also makes OM so charming » added Matthew Valbuena. Yes theABOUT is today known for his chronic instability, he was able to play more than 300 matches under the Marseille colors: “ What is rare today is that players generally do not stay more than two or three years at Olympique de Marseille. I managed to play 331 matches in this jersey. It is therefore above all a matter of great pride. »
