‘I want to eradicate the disease’ – Marseille president Pablo Longoria calls for sweeping internal changes | OneFootball

Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria has been prone to fiery and outspoken statements this season, and in his end of season press conference attended by Get French Football News the Spaniard certainly didn’t hold back. The Marseille boss took the opportunity to make a stinging assessment of the club’s functioning at the Commanderie training ground, insisting that off-pitch operations must now match the club’s sporting ambitions.“There’s a way of meddling in others’ affairs that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the world,” said Longoria during a lengthy press conference at Marseille’s Vélodrome on Monday. “It’s a disease, and I want to eradicate this disease.”“Every employee could watch the training sessions and see who was going to play at the weekend and leak them to the press – and it made you very powerful. That is not normal. There are internal tensions that are not conducive to the sporting interests of the club.““Firstly, the Commanderie offices date back to 2007. The world of work has changed radically in 18 years. The current Commanderie is not adaptable in the way it needs to function for an organisation today,” said Longoria on the current state of Marseille’s training ground, where the club’s administration staff are also housed.“Secondly, when I have important meetings, I hold them outside. When you walk into our sports centre, it’s like stepping back in time. We’re not proud to welcome people there.”“We are limited by space at the Commanderie. We only have three pitches, one of which is not of official size. We want to build a top-level training ground. We need to find a larger site with more space, particularly for the youth academy and the women’s team.”Marseille have finished the season second in Ligue 1 under Roberto De Zerbi, earning a return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2021-2022 season. Yet the season has seen certain tensions amount internally at the club, especially following OM’s defeat to Reims, where reports of a player mutiny circulated and were since denied by Roberto De Zerbi.GFFN | George Boxall – Reporting from Stade Vélodrome, Marseille.