Albert Emon: We have come to win
After a short break, Olympique Marseille now returns to the lead of the French charts and aims to succeed on the European football fields as well. At the time being, the club ranks second in the French top league, just after the defending champion Olympique Lyon. Albert Emon, the fifty-three-year old coach of the French team, can claim much of the credit for the team's recent success. He prefers an offensive playing style and he admires the drive and effort that the Mladá Boleslav team puts into its matches.
Do you have any good or bad memories concerning Czech football?
„I recollect one rather bad situation. When I worked in Monaco, we played against Slavia Prague. We were loosing 2:4 before the second match. All four Slavia goals were connected to a single player with a „lucky leg." We were winning the second match 2:0, which would have sufficed for the advance, when just ten minutes before the end of the match the „lucky-leg" player scored a goal, eliminating us from the Cup."
Do you think a single-goal lead will be sufficient for an overall victory?
"Well, it is a tight lead, but it means that Mladá Boleslav would have to score at least twice to advance. At the same time, we should play as if we had no head start."
Is Ribéry, who is probably the best-known player of your team, going to play in the basic lineup?
Or will you rather send him to play in the course of the match, just like in Marseille?
"I will definitely compose the team from the most fresh players available. Ribery will be in the basic lineup; in other respects the team will be virtually the same as in the first match"
Has Mladá Boleslav surprised you by its style, tactics or anything else in the first match?
"We did not expect the sheer physical effort that the players put into the match. I believe that the second match will also be full of vigor and that it will be physically demanding. Mladá Boleslav has a defensive style based on two very high axial players and four defenders who stay close to their goal. It is difficult for us to find a response to this strategy. However, I believe that the re-match will be different."
What are the main goals of Olympique Marseille in the European Cup and in the French top league?
"Speaking about the European Cup, our goal is simple - advance as far as possible. The same applies to our participation in the French league - to win as many matches as we can and to try to improve out last-year standing, i.e. end in top four. Ideally, we would like to qualify for the Champions League."
Do you find any Mladá Boleslav player interesting enough to want him for your own team?
"There is an interesting national team player Marek Matějovský playing in the center and there is also a very fast forward Marek Kulič. I am fully content with my existing team, though."
