Lucho Gonzalez started to pay back his transfer fee to Olympique de Marseille on Saturday with a strong performance against Montpellier, and though head coach Didier Deschamps has said there is more to come, he has warned fans not to expect too much.
The Argentine international cost OM a record breaking €18 million, and scored his first goal for his new club against MHSC, converting a Mamadou Niang cut-back. In addition, he repaid the compliment to the Senegalese striker and also laid-on Eduard Cisse prior to the break. It was a performance of some force, but Deschamps remains cool over his club’s new star.
“Beyond his performance, his confidence in himself will increase,” Deschamps told the club’s official website. “He will also be more relaxed. It will be easier to remove the ‘Lucho cost €18m tag’ from his back. It will be easier because that is what we talk about the most.
“I brought him for his qualities as player and as a human, too. He’s a good guy, but he’s not the messiah.”
Lucho’s contribution at the weekend helped OM catch Olympique Lyonnais in the league as les Gones could only draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday evening.
“Where we have gained two points on Lyon was not necessarily the last weekend, but at Le Mans, since Lyon had a draw there,” Deschamps said, eager to only compare like-for-like games, OL having drawn 2-2 against MUC, whereas Marseille defeated the Sarthe side 2-1. “We took a point in Rennes, we'll see how our rivals do in Rennes.”
Marseille have made a strong start to the season, with wholesale squad changes not overly affecting the team as they have picked up 14 points from a possible 18 in Ligue 1 thus far.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com
The Argentine international cost OM a record breaking €18 million, and scored his first goal for his new club against MHSC, converting a Mamadou Niang cut-back. In addition, he repaid the compliment to the Senegalese striker and also laid-on Eduard Cisse prior to the break. It was a performance of some force, but Deschamps remains cool over his club’s new star.
“Beyond his performance, his confidence in himself will increase,” Deschamps told the club’s official website. “He will also be more relaxed. It will be easier to remove the ‘Lucho cost €18m tag’ from his back. It will be easier because that is what we talk about the most.
“I brought him for his qualities as player and as a human, too. He’s a good guy, but he’s not the messiah.”
Lucho’s contribution at the weekend helped OM catch Olympique Lyonnais in the league as les Gones could only draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday evening.
“Where we have gained two points on Lyon was not necessarily the last weekend, but at Le Mans, since Lyon had a draw there,” Deschamps said, eager to only compare like-for-like games, OL having drawn 2-2 against MUC, whereas Marseille defeated the Sarthe side 2-1. “We took a point in Rennes, we'll see how our rivals do in Rennes.”
Marseille have made a strong start to the season, with wholesale squad changes not overly affecting the team as they have picked up 14 points from a possible 18 in Ligue 1 thus far.
Robin Bairner, Goal.com