Marseille chief fury at Leboeuf

Saturday 26th January 2002

Marseille sports director Bernard Tapie has blamed his side's midweek 4-0 capitulation at Lyon on captain Frank Leboeuf. "How can you talk about tactics when France's centre-back passes the ball five yards straight to an opponent?" he fumed.

The game, which was built up as a must-win game for Lyon coach Jacques Santini as it was vital to his second-placed side's title hopes, was also important to the southern under-achievers, who had not won any of the last four games in which they were missing Leboeuf.

But Marseille slumped horribly again – and though full-backs Franck Jurietti and Portugal international Jorge Dimas played averagely and Belgian star Daniel van Buyten was not on top of his game, Tapie was in no doubt that Leboeuf was his side's weakest link.

"At Lyon, the third goal was conceded after a Leboeuf assistance," Tapie told local newspaper La Provence.

The fact that Leboeuf, who had just returned from a month out injured, helped Marseille beat Championnat leaders Lens to reach the last 16 of the French Cup just a few days earlier was obviously lost on Tapie, who added: "How can you talk about tactics when France's centre-back passes the ball five yards straight to an opponent?"

To add injury to insult, Leboeuf pulled a thigh muscle in the Lyon defeat and is likely to be out for a week. With Joseph Yobo away on African Nations Cup duty and Abdoulaye Meite out with a broken leg, the Marseille backline is looking stretched.

"As long as Yobo and Meite are out, we'll still have technique and experience at the back, but we'll definitely have problems against strikers with pace," added Tapie

-- Anonymous, January 26, 2002

Answers

Hahahahaha. C'est magnifique.

-- Anonymous, January 26, 2002

But would Fergie have been any worse off if he'd got him instead of Blanc ?

-- Anonymous, January 26, 2002