Marseille's 2025-26 masterplan looks brilliant until you actually look at the defense

The Vélodrome is drunk on hope again

Every summer, the script at Olympique de Marseille plays out exactly the same. They make a splashy managerial appointment, sign a handful of recognizable names who couldn't quite cut it in the Premier League, and declare themselves the only true challengers to PSG's domestic monopoly.

We buy into it because French football desperately needs a competitive title race. But as we look ahead to the 2025-26 season, the noise coming out of the Vélodrome feels particularly deafening.

Roberto De Zerbi survived his maiden campaign, securing Champions League football despite a mid-season wobble that had half the fanbase calling for his head. Now, the board has reportedly promised him significant financial backing to close the gap.

The ambition is clear. Marseille don't just want to participate in the new Champions League format; they want to make deep runs while pushing PSG all the way in Ligue 1.

It sounds great in a perfectly curated press release. The reality is far more complicated and ugly.

If you look closely at how OM actually performed down the stretch last season, the cracks are blindingly obvious. They dropped points against relegation fodder like Nantes and Le Havre because they simply forgot how to defend basic set pieces.

You cannot challenge for a league title when you concede 14 goals from corners over a single campaign. It just doesn't happen.

De Zerbi Ball requires perfection, and OM are deeply flawed

The Italian tactician's system is notoriously demanding. It requires center-backs who are as comfortable on the ball as deep-lying playmakers.

Leonardo Balerdi had moments of absolute brilliance last year, but he also had stretches where he looked like he was playing with his boots tied together. That disastrous backpass against Lyon in February cost them three points and nearly ruined their top-four push right then and there.

Marseille's midfield is another glaring issue that nobody seems to want to address. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg brings necessary experience, but at this stage of his career, asking him to cover the acres of space left behind by inverted fullbacks is tactical suicide.

When they played Lens away in March, their transitions completely shredded OM's midfield block. De Zerbi refused to adjust his high line.

That stubbornness is his trademark, but it's also his biggest liability when playing against pragmatic managers.

To fix this structural mess, the club needs a massive overhaul in the defensive third. Bringing in another aging center-back on high wages — which is the quintessential Pablo Longoria move — won't solve the underlying problems.

They need athletic, ball-playing defenders who can recover quickly when the high press gets bypassed. If they drop another €25 million on a flashy winger while ignoring the backline, they are actively sabotaging their own season before it even starts.

The PSG problem isn't going away anytime soon

Let's be realistic about the competition they are chasing. PSG might not have Kylian Mbappé bailing them out every weekend anymore, but Luis Enrique has quietly built a possession machine that grinds out results domestically.

They don't drop stupid points to the bottom half of the table. Marseille do.

That is the fundamental difference between finishing first and finishing a distant second.

For OM to actually mount a credible title challenge, they need a near-perfect run at home. The Vélodrome has to become a terrifying fortress again.

Last season, they dropped far too many points in front of their own fans, crumbling under the immense pressure that comes with wearing that heavy shirt. Opposing teams figured out that if you sit deep and frustrate Marseille for thirty minutes, the crowd will turn on the home team.

De Zerbi has to figure out how to harness that chaotic energy rather than letting it consume his squad.

And then there's the Champions League. Being in pot 3 or 4 means they will face a brutal gauntlet in the league phase.

If they try to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City or Real Madrid playing De Zerbi's wide-open style, it will be an absolute bloodbath.

We saw what happened to Brighton in Europe. They looked spectacular for 45 minutes against Roma and then got completely exposed by a more street-smart team.

A defining summer for Longoria and the board

Pablo Longoria has been a miracle worker in the transfer market at times. He has flipped players for massive profit and unearthed hidden gems.

But his hit rate dropped significantly last summer, leaving the squad bloated with mismatched profiles. This current transfer window will definitively shape his legacy as president.

He cannot afford another expensive mistake like the Vitinha signing. Every single addition needs to fit De Zerbi's exact, uncompromising specifications.

If the manager asks for a specific profile of right-back, Longoria can't hand him a converted winger and tell him to make it work. The margin for error is absolute zero.

Marseille have the raw resources, the rabid fanbase, and the elite manager to do something special in 2025-26. They have a core group of players who finally understand the complex system.

But the blind optimism needs to be immediately replaced with ruthless pragmatism in the boardroom. Fix the central defense.

Buy a defensive midfielder who can actually run for ninety minutes. Stop dropping lazy points to teams battling relegation.

Do that, and maybe they can give PSG a real scare. Fail to do so, and De Zerbi will be gone before Christmas, leaving another massive, expensive mess for the next guy to clean up.