Manchester United FC Vs. Marseille, 2011 UEFA Champions League: L’OM’s Midfield Selection Will Indicate Deschamps’ Attitude

Going into his UEFA Champions League match against Manchester United, Marseille manager Didier Deschamps has a variety of ways he can set up his midfield to best counter United and achieve his team’s goals. The problem is, we don’t really know what his team’s goals are. It’s possible that Deschamps will be playing for another 0-0, and will opt to play two defensive midfielders. It’s possible that he’s very ambitious, and that one defensive midfielder will do. It’s possible that he doesn’t really know, and that he will come up with a compromise of some sort. Regardless of what happens, whatever selections Deschamps makes are likely to tell us what his plans for the match are.

First of all, there are two things we know. First of all, Lucho Gonzalez will start. Second of all, at least one defensive midfielder will start. In the first match, Deschamps opted for two holders, playing Edouard Cisse and Charles Kabore. In that game, Stephane Mbia played in central defense, which is something that figures to change in the second leg of the tie. It’s possible that Gabriel Heinze could be relegated to the bench, but if this weekend’s successful match against Rennes is any indication, Marseille look good with Heinze at center back, Taye Taiwo out wide, and Mbia as a defensive midfielder.

So, we’ve figured out two-thirds of the selection in midfield. That’s two-thirds of the work done, right? Wrong. We knew that Deschamps would play one holder and Gonzalez, the real meat of the discussion is in the final spot. Cisse, Kabore, Benoit Cheryou, and Mathieu Valbuena are all in play. These players are all very different.

The first possible selection is playing another holder next to Mbia, either Cisse or Kabore. This would indicate a defensive strategy and suggest that Marseille will play on the counter-attack and is content with a 0-0 draw and extra time. Trying to hold United scoreless at Old Trafford is likely playing with fire, but a lot of people would argue that doing anything other than playing with two holding midfielders at Old Trafford is also playing with fire.

Deschamps has a compromise option, and that is Cheryou. He’s a very good box to box player who is most noted for his fitness and energy. Against Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, this could be a good choice. He’s basically the perfect middle ground between Cisse/Kabore and the nuclear eff you option.

Of course, that nuclear eff you option is Mathieu Valbuena. He’s obviously one of Marseille’s best players, but it’s a pretty big gamble to play him in the same midfield with Gonzalez at Old Trafford. Deschamps would certainly run the risk of Giggs, Scholes, and Michael Carrick passing between each other flawlessly for 90 minutes and United holding two-thirds of the possession. However, if Alex Ferguson does indeed select a midfield of Giggs, Scholes, and Carrick, Valbuena has a very good chance to be influential when United lose the ball.

There’s no right or wrong answer to who Deschamps should select to play in his midfield, but whoever he picks will tell us exactly how he’s thinking about the game.