Olympique de Marseille Greatest All-Time Team

1993 Champions' League winner

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Founded in 1899, the club play in Ligue 1 and have spent most of their history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions ten times (nine times in Ligue 1) and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In 1993, coach Raymond Goethals led the team to become the first and only French club to win the UEFA Champions League. In 1994, Marseille were relegated because of a bribery scandal, losing their domestic trophy, but not the Champions League title. In 2010, Marseille became French champions again under the stewardship of former club captain Didier Deschamps.

Team
GK: Fabien Barthez (France)
He is France's most decorated goalkeeper.  He had 87 caps for "Les Bleus".   He won the World Cup in 1998 at home and then, the European Championship two years later. Barthez is France's most capped player in the FIFA World Cup, with 17 appearances at the finals and shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets with Peter Shilton, with ten.For domestic football, he played with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United and Nantes.  He also won Champions League medal with Marseille in 1993.  

Fabien Barthez 

GK: Jaguare de Besveconne Vasconcellos (Brazil)
When playing with CR Vasco da Gama, he won the championship of Rio de Janeiro. He also played for FC Barcelona, Sporting CP and SC Corinthians Paulista. The most successful period of his career was in the 1930s with the French club Olympique Marseille. In Brazil, he is also considered to be the person who popularised the use of gloves by goalkeepers.

GK: Steve Mandanda (France)
Mandanda is a long-term starting keeper for Marseille.  He had played over 300 games for them since 2008. He served as the third keeper at the WC Finals in 2010.

RB: Jocelyn Angloma (France) 
Angloma was a member of the great Marseille team of the early 1990's.  He won the European Cup in 1993.  He later played for Valencia and reached the Champions' League Final twice. He was a member of the French team at Euro 1992 and 1996.

RB/LB:  Manuel Amoros (France)
Amoros is widely considered to be France's greatest fullback.  He was a part of the Golden Generation of the 1980's.  He played 82 times for France.  He played in the European Championships Finals of 1984 and 1992, winning the 1984 version.  He also played in the World Cup Finals in 1982 and 1986.  He won the Champions League with Marseille in 1993, but also losing the one in 1991. He also played for Monaco and Lyons.

Manuel Amoros 

CB: Carlos Mozer (Brazil)
Mozer started his career with Flamengo.  In Europe, he played for Benfica on two different spells and went to with Marseille in between. With Marseille, he reached the European Cup Final. He went to Italia 1990 with Brazil.

CB: Karl-Heinz Forster (Germany)
With West Germany, Forster earned 81 caps. He won the European Championship in 1980, and came 2nd at the WC in both 1982 and 1986.  He was regarded one of the best defenders in the 1980's.  He played with VFB Stuttgart and Marseille.  With Stuttgart, he won a Bundesliga in the 1983–84 season.  He won two league titles in France.

CB:  Marius Tresor (France)
Named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.  He was the French captain before Platini's arrival. He went to the World Cup in 1978 and 1982.  In 1982, he scored one of the extra time goal against West Germany at the semifinal. He also played for Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux.

Marius Trezor

CB:  Laurent Blanc(France)
Nicknamed  "Le Président" for leadership skills.  He was a member of the French team that won the WC 1998 at home and Euro 2000 in Belgium and Holland.  He played for Montpellier, Napoli, Barcelona, Marseille, Internazionale and Manchester United.

CB: Basile Boli (France)
For club football, Boli played for Auxerre, Marseille, Rangers, Monaco and Urawa Reds.  He was a member of Bernard Tapie's Marseille that won the 1993 European Cup. He scored the only goal at the Final.  He left the club in 1994.  For France, he won 45 caps and went to Euro 1992.  

Basile Boli

LB: Éric Di Meco (France)
During his career, Di Meco played mostly for Olympique de Marseille. After starting as a midfielder and serving loans at AS Nancy and FC Martigues, he returned definitely in 1988, going on to amass a further 153 Ligue 1 games in an eventual four-in-a-row run of domestic leagues. After Marseille's relegation at the end of the 1993–94 season, due to irregularities, Di Meco joined AS Monaco FC.  He was capped 24 times.


CB/DM:  Marcel Desailly (France)
Marcel Desailly was considered to be one of the greatest defensive players during the 1990's.  He played 116 times for France, winning the WC in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000.  He was the first player to win the European Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs, when he won it with Marseille in 1993 and AC Milan the following year.

Marcel Desailly 

DM:  Didier Deschamps (France)
He was only the second captain in history to lift the three big trophies: the Champions League trophy, the World Cup trophy and the European Championship trophy.  The prime of his career was spent with Marseille and Juventus, where he won a Champions League for each club.

Didier Deschamps 

DM: Jean Bastien (France)
Born in French Algeria, he spent most of his career playing for two club based in Marseille, Olympique de Marseille and GSC Marseille.  He also played at Racing Club de France in 1938-1939 and two in Toulouse FC in 1940-1941 and 1941-1942. he was the captain of Olympique de Marseille.  He ended his career as player-coach at Montpellier HSC in 1950 - 1951.  Capped 4 times.  He played at the quarterfinal of 1938 WC Finals against Italy.

RW: Roger Magnusson (Sweden)
He played for the Sweden national football team and for various clubs in Europe, including a short spell at Juventus FC. His most successful years were at Olympique de Marseille, where he formed a duo with striker Josip Skoblar winning the Ligue 1 in 1971 and 1972 and the Coupe de France in 1972. In the 1972 Coupe de France Final, he delivered two assists.  Capped 14 times.

LW: Chris Waddle (England)
During his long career, his most important stints were played with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Olympique Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday.  He won the FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspurs in 1987.  Then, in 1989, he joined Bernard Tapie's Olympique Marseille for 4.5 million pound, which was then the third highest transfer fees.  He went to Sheffield Wednesday in 1992-1993, where he reached both FA Cup and League Cup Final.  Despite losing both finals, he was voted FWA Player of the Year for that season. he won 62 caps for England, and went to the WC in 1986 and 1990.

AM: Joseph Bonnel (France)
Bones played mainly for Marseille in France. Capped 25 times. He was part of France in the FIFA World Cup 1966. He scored 3 goals during the 1966 season.

AM: Roger Scotti (France)
Scotti played for Marseille from 1942 to 1958.  He held the all-time appearance record for the club.  Capped twice.

AM/SS: Abedi Pele (Ghana)
He was one of the greatest African player ever.  He was best remembered for his career with Marseille, where he won the first ever Champions' League title for a French club.  He was African Player of the Year for three straight years between 1991 and 1993. He was voted 3rd as the African Player of the Century. 

Abedi Pele 

FW: Emmanuel Aznar (France)
Aznar spent his career playing for Marseille.  He won the Coupe de France with Marseille in 1938 and as captain in 1943, and the French championship in 1937 and 1948.  On the 4 October 1942, Aznar set an unofficial record by scoring 9 goals in one match against Avignon Foot 84, and is the only player to have scored nine goals in one match in professional French football history. That season he went on to finish as the league's top scorer with 45 goals in 30 league matches and a total of 56 goals in 38 matches.  Due to the War in Europe, he only represented France in a sickle match.

FW: Josip Skoblar (Yugoslavia)
Skoblar started his career with NK Zadar (1957–58), and later played for OFK Beograd. With OFK Beograd Skoblar won the Yugoslav Cup in 1962 and 1966. He also played for Hannover 96 (1967–70) before moving to Olympique de Marseille.  He was three time top goalscorer in Ligue 1 (1971–73). Skoblar won the European Golden Boot in 1971 for 44 goals in Ligue 1. He won the French league title in 1971, and French league and cup title in 1972. OM fans refer to him as "l'Aigle Dalmate", "l'Aigle Dalmate"/"l'aigle des Dalmates" (The Dalmatian Eagle), or "Monsieur Goal" (Mister Goal).  Capped 32 times.  He went to the 1962 WC Finals.

Josip Skoblar

ST: Gunnar Andersson (Sweden/France)
He started his career in Sweden, before playing for Danish side Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before being transferred to Olympique de Marseille in 1950.  With l'OM he was also Division 1 top goalscorer in 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 and runner-up in the Coupe de France 1953–1954. He was their all-time leading scorer. He also played for other French teams such as FC Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Aix.

ST: Mamadou Niang (Senegal)

He played for Troyes, Metz and Strasbourg before joining Marseille in 2005.  He quickly became a hero at the club.  He was the league's top scorer in the 2009-2010 season.  Later, he played in Turkey and UAE.  He has represented Senegal at international level, participating in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 African Cup of Nations.

Mamadou Niang 

ST: Vilmos Kohut (Hungary)
He played as a striker for the Ferencvárosi TC, French team Olympique Marseille and the Hungarian national team. Kohut got 25 caps and 14 goals for the Hungarian national team between 1925 and 1938. He represented his country at the 1938 FIFA World Cup and scored 1 goal in 2 matches.

ST:  Jean Pierre Papin (France)

Papin is the Ballon d'Or winner in 1991. He was a member of the great Marseille team of the 1990's that won four Lique in a row, but left the season before they lifted their first ever European Cup.  He later played for AC Milan, FC Bayern Munich, Bordeaux, Guingamp, JS Saint-Pierroise and US Cap-Ferret. Papin also played 54 times for the French national team. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1986 and the European Championship in 1992.  

Jean Pierre Papin

Honorable Mention

Maurice Gransart, Bernard Casoni, Jules Zvunka, Larbi Benbarek, Dragan Stojkovic, François Bracci, Jean Bastien, Samir Nasri, Mathieu Valbuena, Georges Dard, Jean Boyer, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Enzo Francescoli, Didier Drogba, Gabriel Heinze, Lorik Cana, Peter Luccin, Joseph Yegba May, Franck Ribéry, Alen Boksic.

Squad Explanation
-- The team is based upon the Bernard Tapie era.  The side was not only the great Marseille team.  It was the greatest club side in French club football's history.
-- Jean-Paul Escale appeared in many all-time lists, but Jaguaré and Steve Mandanda.  I selected Jaguaré was important to the early history of the club.  Mandanda has earned it through his years of services.

-- Didier Drogba spent a single season with the club, but he played well that year.  However, I only put him as a honorable mention. Alen Boksic,  Larbi Benbarek, Dragan Stojkovic, Enzo Francescoli and Franck Ribery also did not spend enough time with the club.
-- The last spot went to Jean Bastien.  I briefly considered Mathieu Valbuena or Samir Nasri for the last spot.  Mathieu Valbuena played many seasons with the club.  Nasri came from their academy and was an important player while he was with the club.  In the end, I chose Jean Bastien who played over 200 games for the club and was a former captain.

Formation