Speaking exclusively to Get French Football News, former England star and Olympique de Marseille legend Chris Waddle reminisced about his time in France, the expectations of the club today, and whether more English youngsters should try their hand abroad.

You know as well as anyone that Marseille is a crazy city and club. Can you describe what your experience there was like and what makes them both so special?

Advertisement

Moving to Marseille was a shock to my system. I was quite happy at Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, the club agreed a fee to sell me, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

At the time, I was a little bit nervous. I’d heard Marseille was a fanatical football city. I called Glenn Hoddle up at Monaco, and he told me what it was like. He said they have passionate fans who live for their football. The chairman at the time was a bit direct and wanted to win everything, and as much as you go into these things with eyes open, I was thinking to myself, what’s going to happen here?

My first problem was obviously the language. I couldn’t speak French, and that was a massive problem. Also, the heat was unbelievable. I was down on my fitness when I arrived, too. It had been our pre-season break at Tottenham, but Marseille had already been back for two or three weeks, so they were ready to go. I signed a week before the first league game against Lyon away. They basically tried to put an entire pre-season through my body in about five days, and that was never going to work, but they wanted me to be available for that first game.

I probably needed another two or three weeks, to be perfectly honest, to get my fitness up to where I needed it to be, but they brought me on as a sub in that first match, and we won 4-0 against Lyon, who were a big rival at the time. I came on at half-time and enjoyed it, but I think it was my enthusiasm and adrenaline that got me through it. I started the next game and definitely wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t fit enough. I told them that, but because I’d cost the club a lot of money, they wanted me to play.

Advertisement

I’ve never known football fanatics like the Marseille fans. They live and breathe their club.

For me, it was like moving to a fantasy island. It was the experience of my career. I knew Newcastle United growing up as a fan and playing for them, and they had fanatical fans. Tottenham Hotspur’s fans were hardcore. Sheffield Wednesday had great support too.

Marseille were Marseille. You drove two hours outside of the city, and all you saw were Marseille shirts, and even when you travelled around the country, up to Lens or Lille or Le Havre, wherever you went, there were thousands and thousands of Marseille fans. They had a huge following all over France.

People over here don’t realize how big of a club they are, and for me, that’s why they are so frustrating because they’re always so up and down. They’re like being in a lift where one minute you’re at the top floor, and all of a sudden you’re heading down to the basement, but that’s how it’s always worked with Marseille.

Advertisement

If you look at the history of the club, they’ve always been up and down, successful and then not successful at all. I was very fortunate to catch them at the right time. I know we didn’t win the Champions League, which was our goal, but we won the title three years in a row, and that’s not easy. We did get to the semi-finals of the Champions League, only to be knocked out by a handball, which isn’t an excuse, but we should have beaten Benfica and we should have beaten Red Star Belgrade too the year after when we got a little bit overconfident. We went out to Sparta Prague one year when we went over there to play in a blizzard, but we were too complacent.

I look back at my time at Marseille as one of the most wonderful times in my life.

Last season was yet another one of crisis and implosion for OM. They have a pretty serious coach now, but it looks like the actual playing staff is still a bit up in the air with the likes of Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving. What do you think of their chances of challenging Paris Saint-Germain, or at least getting a Champions League place, this season?

Marseille are a big club, and that means qualifying for the Champions League has to be the goal. It’s going to be tough to knock PSG off the top of the league. That is a massive challenge. The way I see it, PSG are only getting stronger. They sell one player and bring in one that’s even better, and they’re all quality players as it is, and they’ve got that winning mentality now. They’ve won the Champions League two years in a row. They’ll probably win it for a third time this season, let’s be honest. They’ve been the best team in Europe for two years now, not just the best team in France.

Advertisement

If Marseille want to overtake PSG, they’ll have to spend £300 million, £400 million, £500 million, or maybe more, and they haven’t got that sort of money. We know that, but if they can finish second, as Lens did last season, they will have done well. Look at Lens, though. They’re going to have to sell their players now, go away and come back again. You aren’t going to give PSG a run for their money over the long period.

I don’t think anyone can get near them, not even Marseille, and if it was any other club, I think Marseille fans might be a little bit more relaxed over the situation, but it’s PSG. They absolutely hate PSG, and the fans in Paris hate Marseille. That makes it intolerable for Marseille fans to always have to finish behind the one team you never want to finish behind, let alone see them winning trophies. It just adds fuel to the fires of frustration around Marseille as a club.

I believe your first OM goal was the cheeky backheel against PSG. Can you describe what the OM-PSG rivalry is like and how it ranks with the English derbies you’ve experienced, like the North London or Sheffield derbies?

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur fans hate each other. Newcastle United and Sunderland fans do too. It’s the same with Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. The difference is that they live and work together, they go to school together, they drink in the same pubs together.

Advertisement

Paris and Marseille are an hour away from each other on a plane. It’s two cities, and it’s all about the history, the politics, and the rivalry between them both wanting to be the capital of France, and they do not like each other, city-to-city. It’s just something that is completely different. It’s not a derby on the map as we know it. It’s a derby built on pure history and regional hatred.

When you went to France, it was still pretty rare for English players to go abroad. There seem to be a lot more now. How did you benefit from it, and do you think it is something that more young English players should be open to?

I think it’s always good for players to go out there and learn about the world and see other ways of playing the game, but football has changed a lot. When I went to Marseille, it was like I’d moved into a different game. It’s still a different style of play between countries today, but not like how it was. It’s much more accessible now, but the Premier League is still quite physical and demanding on the legs compared to what you see abroad in Italy, Spain, France, or wherever.

What I found in France was that the weather conditions dictated a lot about how we played, more than it did in England. There was a strategy to games that required greater care of the ball, especially in the heat. In England, it didn’t matter what the weather was like; we were always playing it direct down the channels to get defenders turning, get in behind, and win those corners and throw-ins.

Advertisement

When I went to Marseille, and we got a throw-in or a corner, the players weren’t interested. They wanted to keep it in play, although obviously, set pieces matter a lot more now, even outside of England. It just wasn’t a big part of the game in France at the time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience of playing football a different way.

My first three months at Marseille were really hard work getting fit, getting used to the language, getting used to the heat, and getting used to the football and a different style of play, but after three months, I really enjoyed myself.

To see the current generation of English players going abroad can only be a positive. If you’re at a club where you’re not getting the games you want and you have a bit of technical quality about you, I think you should look at what else is out there for you, playing abroad.

I was brought up as a player who wanted to go out there and create something and entertain people, and for me, there was nothing better than playing in another league, in another country. I found it easier to play my game abroad than play that way in the UK, I’ll tell you that.

Chris Waddle was speaking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of Snabbare

GFFN | Jeremy Smith

Speaking exclusively to Get French Football News, former England star and Olympique de Marseille legend Chris Waddle reminisced about his time in France, the expectations of the club today and whether more English youngsters should try their hand abroad.

You know as well as anyone that Marseille is a crazy city and club. Can you describe what your experience there was like and what makes them both so special?

Advertisement

Moving to Marseille was a shock to my system. I was quite happy at Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, the club agreed a fee to sell me but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

At the time I was a little bit nervous. I’d heard Marseille was a fanatical football city. I called Glenn Hoddle up at Monaco and he told me what it was like, he said they’re really passionate fans who live for their football. The chairman at the time was a bit direct and wanted to win everything and as much as you go into these things with eyes open I was thinking to myself, what’s going to happen here?

My first problem was obviously the language. I couldn’t speak French and that was a massive problem and also the heat was unbelievable. I was down on my fitness when I arrived too. It had been our pre-season break at Tottenham but Marseille had already been back for two or three weeks so they were ready to go. I signed a week before the first league game, Lyon away. They basically tried to put an entire pre-season through my body in about five days and that was never going to work, but they wanted me to be available for that first game.

I probably needed another two or three weeks, to be perfectly honest, to get my fitness up to where I needed it to be, but they brought us on as a sub in that first match and we won 4-0 against Lyon, who were a big rival at the time. I came on at half-time and I enjoyed it but I think it was my enthusiasm and adrenaline that got me through it. I started the next game and I definitely wasn’t ready to do that. I wasn’t fit enough. I told them that but because I’d cost the club a lot of money they wanted me to play.

Advertisement

I’ve never known football fanatics like the Marseille fans. They live and breathe their club.

For me, it was like moving to a fantasy island. It was the experience of my career. I knew Newcastle United growing up as a fan and playing for them, and they had fanatical fans. Tottenham Hotspur’s fans were hardcore. Sheffield Wednesday had great support too.

Marseille were Marseille. You drove two hours outside of the city and all you saw were Marseille shirts and even when you travelled around the country, up to Lens or Lille or Le Havre, wherever you went, there were thousands and thousands of Marseille fans. They had a huge following all over France.

People over here don’t realise how big of a club they are, and for me that’s why they are so frustrating because they’re always so up and down. They’re like being in a lift where one minute you’re at the top floor and all of a sudden you’re heading down to the basement but that’s the way it’s always worked with Marseille.

Advertisement

If you look at the history of the club, they’ve always been up and down, successful and then not successful at all. I was very fortunate to catch them at the right time and I know we didn’t win the Champions League, which was our goal, but we won the title three years in a row, and that’s not easy. We did get to the semi-finals of the Champions League only to be knocked out by a handball, which isn’t an excuse but we should have beaten Benfica and we should have beaten Red Star Belgrade too the year after when we got a little bit over-confident. We went out to Sparta Prague one year when we went over there to play in a blizzard but we were too complacent.

I look back at my time at Marseille as one of the most wonderful times in my life.

Last season was yet another one of crisis and implosion for OM. They have a pretty serious coach now but it looks like the actual playing staff is still a bit up in the air with the likes of Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving. What do you think of their chances of challenging Paris Saint-Germain, or at least getting a Champions League place, this season?

Marseille are a big club and that means qualifying for the Champions League has to be the goal. It’s going to be tough to knock PSG off the top of the league. That is a massive challenge. The way I see it, PSG are only getting stronger. They sell one player and they bring in one that’s even better, and they’re all quality players as it is, and they’ve got that winning mentality now. They’ve won the Champions League two years in a row. They’ll probably win it for a third time this season, let’s be honest. They’ve been the best team in Europe for two years now, not just the best team in France.

Advertisement

If Marseille want to overtake PSG they’ll have to spend £300 million, £400 million, £500 million or maybe more and they haven’t got that sort of money, we know that, but if they can finish second, as Lens did last season, they will have done well. Look at Lens though. They’re going to have to sell their players now, go away and come back again. You aren’t going to give PSG a run for their money over the long period.

I don’t think anyone can get near them, not even Marseille, and if it was any other club I think Marseille fans might be a little bit more relaxed over the situation but it’s PSG. They absolutely hate PSG, and the fans in Paris hate Marseille. That makes it intolerable for Marseille fans to always have to finish behind the one team you never want to finish behind, let alone see them winning trophies. It just adds fuel to the fires of frustration around Marseille as a club.

I believe your first OM goal was the cheeky backheel against PSG. Can you describe what the OM-PSG rivalry is like and how it ranks with the English derbies you’ve experienced, like the North London or Sheffield derbies?

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur fans hate each other. Newcastle United and Sunderland fans do too. It’s the same with Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. The difference is that they live and work together, they go to school together, they drink in the same pubs together.

Advertisement

Paris and Marselle are an hour away from each other on a plane. It’s two cities and it’s all about the history, the politics and the rivalry between them both wanting to be the capital of France, and they do not like each other, city-to-city. It’s just something that is completely different. It’s not a derby on the map as we know it. It’s a derby built on pure history and regional hatred.

When you went to France it was still pretty rare for English players to go abroad. There seem to be a lot more now. How did you benefit from it and do you think it is something that more young English players should be open to?

I think it’s always good for players to go out there and learn about the world and see other ways of playing the game, but football has changed a lot. When I went to Marseille, it was like I’d moved into a different game. It’s still a different game between countries today but not like how it was. It’s much more accessible now but the Premier League is still quite physical and demanding on the legs compared to what you see abroad in Italy, Spain, France or wherever.

What I found in France was that the weather conditions dictated a lot how we played, more than it did in England. There was a strategy to games to take greater care of the ball, especially in the heat. In England, it didn’t matter what the weather was like, we were always playing it direct down the channels to get defenders turning, get in behind, and win those corners and throw-ins.

Advertisement

When I went to Marseille and we got a throw-in or a corner, the players weren’t interested. They wanted to keep it in play, although obviously set pieces matter a lot more now even outside of England. It just wasn’t a big part of the game in France at the time, and I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience of playing football a different way. 

My first three months at Marseille were really hard work getting fit, getting used to the language, getting used to the heat, and getting used to the football and a different style of play, but after three months I really enjoyed myself.

To see the current generation of English players going abroad can only be a positive. If you’re at a club where you’re not getting the games you want, and you have a bit of technical quality about you, I think you should look at what else is out there for you, playing abroad.

I was brought up as a player who wanted to go out there and create something and entertain people and for me there was nothing better than playing in another league, in another country. I found it easier to play my game abroad than play that way in the UK, I’ll tell you that.

Chris Waddle was speaking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of Snabbare

GFFN | Jeremy Smith