Habib Beye quoted Pape Diouf, the late former Marseille president, when he was appointed as the club’s new manager in February, saying: “Pape Diouf, who I considered my spiritual father, always told me: ‘When the fire burns in Marseille, sometimes you have to let it burn because it will go out on its own.’ This club brings you immense emotions but from time to time you have to be able to stay cool, calm, and collected.”

The club was ablaze when Roberto De Zerbi’s tumultuous reign came to an end. His exit heralded a wave of fan discontent and incited change in the boardroom. Beye spoke about letting the fire burn out, but he would have been better advised to keep the flame alive. Under the Italian, Marseille were imperfect and inconsistent, but capable of brilliance. He played to the strengths in the squad. The attack was scintillating at times; the problem was the goals they shipped at the other end. Beye has not played to his squad’s strengths. Instead, his radical departure from his predecessor’s style has only accentuated Marseille’s weaknesses.

Beye repeatedly talks of wanting a “conquering and dominating” team, but he has set the team up to be passive and submissive. They won three league games in a row in March but the results hid a multitude of sins. The last of those wins came at home to Auxerre inside an eerie Vélodrome. “Forty-five minutes of silence for a season of humiliations,” read a banner in a scarcely populated stand. Stage fright has been an issue for Marseille players when playing in front of their passionate fans in recent seasons but they were no better in a deathly quiet atmosphere, only earning a slender and unconvincing 1-0 victory thanks to a late goal from Amine Gouiri.

Marseille were similarly unconvincing a week later, when a headed goal from Olivier Giroud gave Lille a 2-1 win at the Vélodrome. Their 2-1 defeat at Monaco on Sunday suggests the direction of travel towards a more conservative and defensive approach is not working. There are players who are suited to a playing style that is more reliant on directness in transition. In what Beye described as a “ping-pong match”, Igor Paixão had joy on the break; Timothy Weah can be explosive when given the freedom to charge down the right. The issue is that the defence is not improving.

While Folarin Balogun’s goal for Monaco was “magnificent” in the words of his head coach, Sébastien Pocognoli, the conditions that gave rise to the former Arsenal man’s sublime chip were slapstick. Benjamin Pavard comically miscued a pass straight to the Monaco forward, who outpaced the England youth international CJ Egan-Riley, who sustained a thigh injury while chasing him. One defender sacrificing himself in an attempt to compensate for the mistake of another perfectly summarises Marseille’s defence of late.

Monaco had already taken the lead through Aleksandr Golovin, who was allowed to burst into the box and volley home a Jordan Teze cross completely unchallenged. “Too passive, not enough aggression,” bemoaned Beye, who added that his team are giving up too many chances. That much is clear and in line with performances throughout the season. But, unlike De Zerbi, Beye has made this fragile defence the hallmark of his side; allowing Marseille’s attacking flair to keep on burning would have been more advisable.

The managerial change has extinguished Ethan Nwaneri’s bright start. The Arsenal loanee scored on his debut and started all three games under De Zerbi. He has not started since, with Beye saying he needs to “adapt” to Ligue 1 and its intensity. “There are still aspects of his game that need to be much stronger,” said Beye. “He needs to understand that he is arriving at a really top-level club.”

Unlike Nwaneri, Beye is fully aware of the particularities of Marseille, having played for the club nearly 200 times. His spell as a player brought him some goodwill when he was appointed but the boos at full time on Sunday told their own story. There are already creeping doubts and no wonder given the club will be appointing a new president and sporting director before the start of next season. There is a feeling of transience at Marseille as Beye looks to ensure his own permanence.

His record is not furthering his case. With three defeats in his first seven games, he has made the worst start of any Marseille manager since 2005. It leaves Marseille in a perilous position. They are fourth in the table and could miss out on Champions League football next season, which would be an unmitigated disaster given their investment in recent years. As Marseille’s season risks fizzling out, Beye should embrace the fire rather than suppressing it.

Talking points

• There was outrage in France and abroad when the supposed title decider between Lens and Paris Saint-Germain was postponed to help the European champions prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool. The game had been scheduled to take place next weekend, but the stakes may not have been as high as initially assumed. PSG got the job done against Toulouse on Friday, winning 3-1 despite a couple of unconvincing individual displays, but Lens failed to keep pace on Saturday when they visited their fierce local rivals Lille. Pierre Sage’s men were outplayed – a very rare occurrence – and lost 3-0, their second defeat in three games. Lens’ form has dropped off at the crucial moment. With a four-point lead and a game in hand, PPSG are firmly in the driving seat.

• It was “El Pessimistico” on Sunday as bottom side Metz hosted second-from-bottom Nantes; neither side holds great hope of survival in Ligue 1, especially after the game ended goalless. Benoît Tavenot said he “regretted not having completely convinced” his players that they could stay up when he was appointed Metz head coach in January. “It was hard-wired in the heads of too many people that it was hopeless, right from the start of the season,” added Tavenot, who said there had been a “shit feeling” at the yo-yo club for several seasons. He knows, having been an assistant between 2019 and 2022. At Nantes, Vahid Halilhodzic billed his task as “almost mission impossible” when he replaced Ahmed Kantari at the start of March. With just 18 points from 27 games, it doesn’t look good for Nantes but Halilhodzic says they are “still alive, barely, but alive nonetheless”. Metz, who were denied a late winner by a microscopic offside decision, are resigned to their fate and Nantes could be joining them in Ligue 2 next season.

This is an article by Get French Football News