After a summer of strife, Marseille have clicked under Igor Tudor

Marseille have become something of a basket case in the Frank McCourt era. Under the American’s ownership, the club have furiously churned through managers, including some of the most respected names in the game and, despite turning in some decent performances in the league, they have come no closer to winning Ligue 1 or even the Coupe de France. After the ugly training ground invasion last year, the dramatic departure of Jorge Sampaoli this summer and their wretched displays in pre-season, last season’s second-place in Ligue 1 was in danger of being ignored.

Then there are their various missteps in Europe. Marseille had an admirable run to the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season, but were only in that competition because they came third in their Europa League group. They reached the Europa League final in 2018, then finished bottom of their group the following season. They also have an ignominious recent record in the Champions League, where they have lost 13 matches in a row.

Marseille are the best supported team in France and the Stade Vélodrome is one of the country’s most intimidating atmospheres – a strong Marseille is good for Ligue 1. But the wheels looked to be coming off again after Sampaoli’s abrupt departure in July. The club replaced him with Croatian manager Igor Tudor, who impressed with Hellas Verona last season, but had a mixed record at previous clubs.

Tudor was a curious choice and the club’s summer transfer strategy also looked odd. Gone were the versatile trio of Boubacar Kamara, William Saliba and Luan Peres - all linchpins under Sampaoli and able to cover multiple positions - and in came a raft of ageing players with little or no resale value.

By signing Chancel Mbemba, Eric Bailly,