The preparation: bad start…
From mid-season, Olympique Marseille has managed to strengthen its defense with the arrival of Givet and Faty. The coming of Gaël Givet naturally makes us think that the managers want to recreate the succesful Monaco pairing of Rodriguez and Givet. These boys had to work to prove their worth because when you play at Olympique Marseille you are competing at the highest level and need to be on top of your game. I learnt that it is during the tough patches that each and everyone improves.
On a personal matter, my life is turned upside down when I learn that my best friend, Nico, has an incurable illness. I stay with him at every opportunity. A situation that I found extremely painful to live through as there was nothing I could do to help him. A difficult period for me personally and one during which I found it difficult to concentrate on the job in hand…

Resumption of the championship: Olympique Marseille point the finger
The fixtures send us to Alsace in order to play the newly promoted Strasbourg, The intention is to take all 3 points. But we come back with just a draw. We don’t even manage to beat Rennes. Our playing is above average but we are still not realizing our true potential. The media start taking shots at us. We manage our first win at the fifth time of trying. I played for the first time in the season.
 

The eviction of Albert Emon
While the champions league is looming ever closer, our underachievement starts to mount up in league. Albert Emon moves me to the right side of defence. I take the opportunity to score my first goal in league 1 while wearing the blue and white of Olympique Marseille. A goal that will not help us avoid defeat. Next up we welcome Besiktas from Istanbul. Our entire state of mind is different and we pull out a 2 – nil win. But our results in League 1 are dreadful and after the defeat by Auxerre the club management release the coach hoping to bring some new form of impetus to the team. It was really sad to see him go because he was such a nice guy. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my gratitude for all that he taught me and for the confidence he placed in me.

Eric Gerets: An iron fist in a velvet glove.
Pape Diouf decides to put his trust into Eric Gerets to lead the team. A radical change because the ideas of the new Belgian coach are so opposed to the methods of Alberts. He uses powerful language and insists that he has come here to win titles. Assuring us that there is no room for superstars.
The coach started to impose his authority with a few new rules, one we liked, a compulsory rest at lunchtime and one we were not so keen on, arrival 1 hour prior training. His strength of character is reflected immediately with the first training sessions, which is extremely physical.

The historic victory at Liverpool.
This being his first time in the driving seat Gerets has got a lot to achieve: Anfield! A mythical stadium where a French team was yet to win. The first Champions League game of my career is to be at Anfield. This has been the venue of some of the most momentous games in European football and ours begins with an incredible rendition of ‘you’ll never walk alone’. Without question this was our finest performance of the season, Valbuena launched a missile to score the only goal in what would become an historic victory. And so to the paradox: we are one spot from the bottom in the French league and leading in our Champion s League group.

The fall and the rise
The league matches are beginning to take their toll and we can’t get out of the relegation zone despite beating Lens. Good performances are quickly crushed as we score 2 own goals, me and Bonnart scoring against Sochaux. The criticisms come quick and fast and I am at the center of it. It didn’t take long to realize that some of the criticism was justified. Now we’ve got Porto in the Champions League, 0-0 at home was a fair result but this was tainted by what we considered to be an unfair away leg, defeat putting our future in the Champions League in some jeopardy. Then comes the turning point of the season: we have to meet Lyon the 6 time champions of France . The coach meets with the players to rally the troops. I start the game on the right side due to an injury that Givet has picked up. We had a good match and a deserved victory that put us firmly back on the rails even if we weren’t doing so well in the League.

Better in league 1 and a cold shower in champion’s league
We started to improve in the league with a satisfying draw at Bordeaux (2-2) leading 2-0 and then there greater technical ability shone through. Just as things were starting to look a little rosier we saw the home leg against Liverpool looming on the horizon. We missed our chance at Champions League glory after a blistering defeat at the hands of Steven Gerrard and Liverpool.
 

Promises spoiled by an injury
During the winter season, I expressed to the manager my need to play a more first team football. At 22 years old, I didn’t want to spend every week on the bench. I am reassured when he offers me a start at Beauvais in the Coupe de France. I am played well alongside Lety N’Diaye creating a great defensive partnership and manage a clean sheet. But this happiness will be short lived after I get injured an injury on my left leg in training. I am extremely disappointed but I had to think of my late friend and pick myself up. I spent a great deal of time in physio, enabling me to come back strong and with a lot of determination to get a place in the Nancy match but I don’t get an opportunity to play… There is a match coming up against Caen and the coach asks me to prepare for this fixture. This time my motivation is high, but unfortunately I have a recurrence of the injury on my left leg, this is beginning to shatter my self-confidence.

Caen’s big defeat: Elliot is dynamite
I watched the match from the stands. Caen managed to open the scoring and then scored again with Toudic but this one was ruled out by the referee. .. This will be the end for Caen who were to be overwhelmed by our attacking play. Valbuena scored two more, with the first being heralded as the goal of the season. Final score 6-1, a storming win and a warning to anyone coming to play us at home. At the same time we welcomed Monaco in the Coupe de France where a certain Elliot Grandin is playing his first match for Olympique Marseille. He comes from Caen and is probably the best player produced by the Caen training center. The outcome, for him was a goal and a decisive pass leading to the qualification needed (3-1).
 

The end of the cups
The winter is so good for the league, but a lot less impressive for the rest of the cup competitions. Elimination in the second leg of the League Cup at Auxerre where we played as if we didn’t exist. Then after eliminating Moscow in UEFA, we lose against St Petersburgh , the eventual winners of the competition. I was full of mixed feelings as I was coming back after two months out and I didn’t have the rhythm yet and still remember the power of Arshavin scoring the Russian goal.

But worse was to come the following week. For the Coupe de France quarter finals, we were all happy to meet with the little Carquefou. We were told to be wary of this small amateur team who had beaten Nancy in their previous outing. We didn’t seem to pay attention and were ridiculed in front of all of France having lost miserably. A match can never be won before it’s played as if we needed it we now had proof of this fact. A bitter pill that will remain with me as one of the biggest disappointments of my career.
 

The final Sprint
On the eve of the 30th fixture of the league, we are still in the running for 3rd place. Our main competitor is Nancy, who have had a good run but are starting to look tired. Nancy doesn’t win another game, but we lose against Bordeaux 2 games from the end of the season. We have 2 matches left, le Mans and Strasbourg, I actually play one of my best matches and am given ‘man of the match’ by the French football newspaper “l’equipe”.
The last match will be representative of the whole season. A constant battle with the opposition but nothing could undermine our fans and we took a 4-3 victory. The unexpected defeat of Nancy by Rennes propelled us in to the Champions League: the ultimate goal for any footballer.