Team Focus: Who Will Replace The Injured Gignac at Marseille?

After starting the season with six straight wins, Marseille’s 4-1 defeat to Valenciennes was something of a reality check for Elie Baup’s side, and defeat this weekend away at Troyes saw reality strike with an almighty crash, or possibly more a crack - the crack of Andre-Pierre Gignac’s fifth metatarsal. 

Not only did Marseille lose 1-0 to Troyes  in the 89^th minute, against the team that started the day bottom of Ligue 1, they also lost their top scorer and main goal threat for at least six weeks. It was a massive blow for both the club and Gignac himself. He had been enjoying a renaissance this season and six weeks out could destroy all the good work he had done so far.

Apart from the five goals he had scored, Gignac provides so much more to the Marseille attack. With 4.6 shots per game, only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alain Traore average more shots on goal than the Frenchman. Good movement off the ball and a rejuvenated desire this season have made him the most dangerous forward in the Marseille side. The question now becomes, who can replace him?

This weekend it will most likely be the young Ghaninan Jordan Ayew that Baup puts his faith in and asks to fill the big shoes vacated by “Le Big Mac”. Against Lyon, Ayew will be asked to provide a more mobile and agile threat up front, thus completely changing the way they have attacked in recent weeks. Last season Ayew made 17 starts, scoring three goals and providing three assists. He will drift wide into the channels like Gignac but will try and dribble and take on his man a little more than the burly striker. 

So far this season Ayew has started fairly well with two goals to his name in only two starts, but he is only averaging 0.7 shots per game and has only won one of his five aerial battles. With so little time on the pitch and two goals in the league, with more time he could cause the Ligue 1 defenders a lot of problems.

When he broke through into the Marseille side, many said he would eventually go on to surpass his slightly older brother Andre and become a massive part of this Marseille team. That may not have happened the way the Marseille staff and fans would have wanted, but maybe this is the chance that Jordan needs to push forward and show everyone what he can achieve.

Another option on the Marseille bench is former Nantes forward and summer signing Florian Raspentino. The first player to sign for OM under Elie Baup has yet to make any sort of impact. With only three sub appearances he is yet to score or even register a shot. For Nantes last season he scored seven goals in 30 games, and the year before in France’s fourth division he scored 15 goals in 33 games for Agde. When given a chance he does know where the goal is, but maybe at this high a level he is not the player to replace Gignac.

One player Marseille fans will be looking towards is last season’s top scorer Loic Remy. The French international struggled with injury at the end of last season and hasn’t really got going yet this term. He is yet to start a game so far, and for a man who got 12 goals and five assists last year this has been a very slow start indeed.

Last year Remy finished the season averaging 2.9 shots per game and with a WhoScored rating of 6.99 – so far this season he has only managed 1.7 shots and a rating of 6.01. It is fair to say that Remy has been a shadow of the player that Tottenham showed so much interest in during the summer window.

He is the ideal man to replace Gignac, very underestimated in the air, very quick along the ground and a handful all over the pitch. His movement is superb and his finishing is deadly when in form. There were points during last season where he was one of the best strikers in Ligue 1, yet so far this season he is yet to start a game.

If Marseille are to keep in touch with PSG and Lyon at the top of the table then Loic Remy is going to have to break from this slumber, find his match sharpness and really show once again that he can be one of the best players in this league. If he doesn’t then the pressure will be piled on to Jordan Ayew, which is not something you want to do with a young player.

It is time for someone to step up and make himself a hero at the Stade Velodrome. Who is it going to be?