Marseille´s Michel worried by Ligue 1 start

Michel has confessed to concerns over Marseille’s position in Ligue 1 and acknowledged the huge pressure on his players.

The Spaniard was drafted in to replace former coach Marcelo Bielsa, who resigned just one game into the season.

Marseille have won two out of 10 fixtures in the top flight and sit in 16th position, five points clear of the relegation zone following a 1-1 draw with Lorient on Sunday.

It is a position that distresses the former Olympiacos boss, but he feels his players have the quality to turn things around despite the considerable pressure weighing down on them.

“We are worried. We put some very good moves together until the [Lorient] goal,” Michel said on Sunday.

“That create a distrust in the player who no longer moved forward. This is another match where the statistics are on our side, but not the score. It’s always like that.

“We had a lot of chances but we concede goals too easily.

“We are worried about the situation but we are not playing just to stay in the division.

“When we play against teams of this level, confidence comes from the players. This isn’t a character problem.

“When you play for Marseille, the pressure is enormous. The quality isn’t bad, we played a good match.”

Marseille are away to Braga in the Europa League on Thursday, before visiting Lille in Ligue 1 next Sunday.