Step back? No matter how! A Cautiously Optimistic Look at Malinowski’s Prospects in Marseille

So it happened. The historical transition of the Ukrainian footballer to the French grand. Yes, Saint-Étienne (10 league titles, CECH final) and Bordeaux (six-time national champion) can be attributed to the grandees. Formally. But in reality, one sad pattern was obtained, which Ruslan will only now destroy.

Before him, seven Ukrainians played in the French elite division. Zavarov for Nancy, Pavel Yakovenko for Sochaux, Skachenko for Metz, Levitsky for Saint-Etienne, Yuri Yakovenko for Ajaccio, Kukharevich ha Trois, Ignatenko for Bordeaux. And in all cases, the clubs that carried out the transfer of our compatriot fought for survival. Often they flew out immediately – Girondin is the most recent example of this.

Read also: It will not be easy for Ignatenko in Bordeaux. Ligue 1 is the most inhospitable top league to Ukrainians

But they waited – a sad tradition ordered a long life. Malinovsky joined the ranks of not only one of the most titled French FCs (9-time champion, 10-time Cup winner, winner of the Champions League premiere), but also the current vice-champion, participant in the Champions League group stage, currently occupying third place in the championship .

And this fact – the real strength of OM, its good composition and European Cup prospects – allows you to firmly doubt that for Malinovsky this transition is a step back.

Italy VS France

Formally, it may seem that this is a regression. The French championship, even though it is also in the top 5, is weaker than the Italian one in terms of parameters. We will not dig deep, we will limit ourselves to just a couple of criteria.

1. UEFA coefficient table. Right now, Italy is fourth, France is fifth. But they are separated by a confident 12 points, and so far there is no need to qualify for four teams in the Champions League – moreover, there is a real threat from the pursuer, the Netherlands.
2. The total transfer value of all players. The indicator, albeit conditional, is quite eloquent. So, the compositions of all 20 clubs in Ligue 1 are approximately 3.4 billion euros (and without the hegemon, PSG, only 2.5 billion), while the total cost of Serie A teams is about 4.6 billion.

Not an abyss, but there is a difference. We will not argue. However, let’s compare two specific teams!

Goddess Loses Irresistibility

Atalanta is frankly stagnating, and for the second season in a row. Gasperini, after three excellent seasons, received a complete carte blanche … and, it seems, went too far. The gray-haired allenatore has shown before that he has a short conversation with the right-wing players, no matter how important they are for the team. An example of Papu Gomez in the studio. In recent months, the coach has clearly broken pots with the Ukrainian playmaker. You can recall the August statement of the coach criticizing the goalscoring qualities of the ward.

And it is clearly not only point conflicts. The goddess is extremely modest (if not disastrous) in the transfer market. Of those who were bought in the last three windows, only Musso, Koopmeiners, Demiral and Lukman played. The Turk replaced Argentina’s Romero, who spent only a year in black and blue, bringing the club 33 million net profits.

Important players are constantly leaving (for example, Freuler was released to Nottingham for a very modest amount). The defense continues to fail regularly, but now the attack does not take out either. They got quite old and dug in in Zapata’s infirmary with Muriel. So far, the newcomers – God and Heylund (remember, back in the summer he scored against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualification?) In fact, the front line lies on the shoulders of the universal soldier Pashalic and the courageous, but unstable Lukman.

UPD. While these lines were being written, the Goddess managed to get an away strong-willed victory over Bologna. Boga, coming on as a substitute, gave out two assists, and Heilund scored the winning goal. Maybe they really are better off without Ruslan?

And with all this bedlam, Malinovsky played less and less. This is Malinovsky, the best assistant in Serie A of the season before last! Malinovsky, who made 17 effective actions last season. In the current championship, he stopped at an indicator of 1 goal and two assists – nothing compared to his recent self. At the same time – only 5 exits in the base and not a single (!) Full match. The average time on the field is 36 minutes. Pathetic shadow of yesterday’s leader.

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The separation should benefit all parties. About Ruslan – a little lower. Profit Atalanta? A guaranteed ten-plus million (not immediately, but in the summer) is not bad for an almost 30-year-old football player who has lost his place in the base. Malinovsky’s contract is valid until next summer. That is, by this June, a Ukrainian who has exchanged his fourth decade would have cost less.

The time has come to leave also because Atalanta has long been out of order. The team completely flunked the second round of the last championship, for the first time in three years they did not qualify not only for the Champions League, but in general for European competitions. The new Nerazzurri season started successfully, but the fuse ended even faster. Starting from the end of October – 4 points in six matches, falling to 7th place. Yes, the Bologna victory has now happened, there are only three points to the coveted four, but the Bergamasks do not look like a favorite for a place in the Champions League-23/24 now.

OM is cool again

Whether business Marcel! The team became second at Sampaoli. She is third under Tudor now. True, this position guarantees only the qualification of the main European Cup, but sensational Lance (the Blood-Golds have not climbed so high since the end of the last century – remember the team of Deyu and Verel in the same group with Dynamo Lobanovsky?) is within easy reach. And, importantly, the team is now on the move.

Under the new coach, Olimpik (the ex-Juventus defender worked in the Old Signora as Pirlo’s assistant, but also steered many people on his own – from his native Hajduk to Udinese with Verona) got off to a great start – 7 wins in the first 9 rounds. Then there was a disastrous October (three defeats, a draw), but even before the pause at the World Cup, the Provencals with victories over Lyon and Monaco returned to the beaten track.

The blue-and-whites score well (11 in the last three matches, and only 34 – only PSG have more). At the same time, they concede less than last season – only 15 in 18 meetings. The next European campaign was not successful – the last place in the Champions League group, as well as two years earlier with Villas-Boas. But this time, Olimpik twice slammed the not-weak Sporting and claimed the playoffs until the last seconds.

Overview of competitors

The scheme that Tudor uses is ideal for Malinovsky. 3-4-2-1, with extremely rare variations. Exactly what Ruslan got used to in Gasperiniev’s Atalanta. It is clear that the place of the Ukrainian is in the same “two”, that is, in the role of one of the insiders under the only nominal forward. Let’s figure out who goes to the competitors of our compatriot.

In the summer, the Provencals powerfully strengthened the middle of the field, having bought from stronger championships Veret and Guendouzi. They now form the backbone of the team, along with an almost veteran rongier. Either they alternate, or all three of them go out – in this case, curly Guendouzi is located higher and plays the APL. In this regard, he can be compared with Pashalic.

There is no stability on the positions of two insiders, notorious and sought after. It would seem that one of them should be securely attached to the legendary Dimitri Payet, leader and veteran. But it wasn’t there. The best player in Marseille last season (16 goals and 13 assists in all competitions) is losing ground. In the 2022/23 season, he only appeared 8 times (out of 24 possible) in the first team. In the Champions League, 4 of the six matches I sat on the bench. The whole yogo of “creative dorobok” – two goals, three assists. Alas, the time of the native of Reunion is running out. Yes, he is traumatic.

At first, at the start and in the middle of autumn, the Brazilian regularly played with the right inside Gerson. However, the 25-year-old APL showed extremely low efficiency and, in the very first hours of the fresh transfer window, flew back to Flamengo, from where he came a year and a half ago. 15 million compensation is a worthy profit, more than enough for Malinovsky.

Played out during the season Amin Arit – a guy who started great at Schalke, but by the age of 25, injuries had managed to crush him tightly. Ruslan’s prospects for pushing him out of the squad seemed not obvious … But Arit broke his crosses in November and not only missed the mega-successful World Cup for Morocco, but flew out right up to the end of the season.

Malinovsky’s club from Provence, it must be said, led for several months – that is, even under Gerson and with healthy Arita. Trained in Italy, Tudor knows perfectly well what to expect from Ruslan. The player clearly comes under the coach, in accordance with his requests – and this is encouraging.

At the beginning of the year, the position of the right insider in Marseille is in charge of Cengiz Under. The unstable Turkish winger, who never played in Roma (unlike Veretu), seems to get a lot of playing time – 1280 minutes as of January 10, more than Gerson and Payet combined. But at the same time in the championship – only a goal and an assist. Moreover, an assist in a cup match against a club from the fourth strongest French division.

Malinovsky’s prospects can be called cautiously optimistic. Of course, the issue of form, acclimatization, a common language with new partners is extremely important. But at least there will be no language barrier with the coach – already a bonus.

Ruslan is able to displace Underra from the base without any problems. With the right-footed Payet, they are quite capable of getting along on the field together. Plus, there is the universal Guendouzi, which, however, can come in handy in the support zone.

Oh yes. At the cutting edge of the attack, Tudor initially had a good choice. But gradually, with the departure of Milik and Suarez (the wrong one), he narrowed down to one Alexis Sanchez. The unfading Chilean is now good. He does not have the same profile as Zapata or Muriel, with whom the Ukrainian is used to interacting. But listen, can’t two smart football players be able to understand each other to mutual satisfaction and team good? On the hook there is a young Senegalese Dieng, who also knows something in his profession.

Pau Lopez – Mbemba, Bailly (Balerdi), Gigot (Kolasinac) – Kloss, Veretu (Guendouzi), Rongier, Tavares – Malinovsky (Guendouzi, Under), Guendouzi (Payet, Under) – Sanchez

Marseille’s schedule is tight, even despite being knocked out of European competition. There are many matches. The infirmary is not empty. Tudor does not shy away from healthy rotation, so the playmaker of the Ukrainian national team will receive playing time regularly. If only he was healthy!

So far, not a single Ukrainian, speaking in France, has won trophies or prizes. Ruslan Malinovsky can become a pioneer!