Boubacar Kamara, The Marseille Superpride
November 10th, 2019, l’OM welcomes Lyon at the Vélodrome. A lot more than just an opposition. Since the emergence of Qataris’s PSG, the rivalry between the capital and the rebellious southern city has faded. Today, Lyon, a well-managed football club, representational of a certain elite (cf. Sociologie de Lyon, Jean-Yves Authier — not translated) and kind of pretentious has become the sportive rival of l’OM.
The southern club that arouses passions in Marseille itself but also everywhere in France and in the word (cf. Sociologie des supporters à distance des supporters de l’OM, Ludovic Lestrelin — also not translated), has always been unstable despite the fact of being the most successful French football club in history. It’s now been almost 10 years that l’OM has not won any major trophies and it’s becoming an eternity in people’s minds.
On this day the context is particular:
. L’OM has not beaten Lyon since 2014.
. Former coach Rudy Garcia is coming back at the Vélodrome.
. Dimitri Payet, Marseille’s playmaker is back from suspension and has fired out on Rudy Garcia during the pre-game press conference.
. The entire city is celebrating the 120 years anniversary of the club and fans have decided to create the biggest tifo ever created in French football history (see video).
All elements are gathered for the game to be one of the most exciting one to watch since the beginning of 2019/2020 season. One thing though is getting unnoticed and is being a surprise: Boubacar Kamara is not lined up alongside Alvaro Gonzalez in the back four but starts the game at watchman position in midfield. Kevin Strootman is then on the bench watching live the wonderkid destroying Lyon midfield by himself. His positioning science in this pitch area is obvious. His statistics in terms of possession regaining and one-on-one situation winning are fabulous. The key of Marseille domination has been in midfield where Kamara has shinned for 90 minutes.
Even though he has not been named for player of the match (impossible task after the stellar performance of Payet), he proved Andre Villas Boas that he could also play in this position. From that moment, he has always played there in all big games leaving Strootman — suddenly became slow and heavy — only crumbs.
This perhaps successful season could lead Marseille and Kamara back to Champions League football very soon. His reputation will then become European on the big stage and could send him straight to Premier League. Careful though: he will only choose a top 5 club for sure.
Born in November 1999 in Marseille, “Bouba” Kamara has a Senegalese father and a French mother. At 6, he’s enrolled in the academy and has climbed up all the rungs and starts playing his first game in 2016 against Sochaux at the age of 17. At the meantime he is also part of the youth French national team. To be part of Marseille’s starting 11 he had to be patient. He started to make some appearances on the bench as well as leading, as captain, the youth team to Gambardella’s cup final in 2017. In 2017/2018, with OM reaching Europa League final playing with Adil Rami and Rolando as full backs, he hardly had the time to show his skills. Things changed the next season as he became a true option for former coach Rudy Garcia, and he began to settle in. He is now one of the most important players at the club, starting every game and whetting appetite of big clubs.
Would he become the next Paolo Maldini, a one-club man or would he be sold to satisfy world football money machine?
Raphaël Marguerit
31/01/2020
