Jorge Sampaoli says his Olympique de Marseille players are beginning to absorb his footballing vision following their 3-1 victory over AS Saint-Étienne at the Orange Vélodrome on Saturday.
Marseille pulled up to fifth with the win, in which Matteo Guendouzi and Gerson both opened their accounts for the club before Cengiz Under scored his third in four games to thoroughly drown out Timothée Kolodziejczak's first-half equaliser.
Sampaoli has instituted a 3-4-2-1 formation at OM since succeeding André Villas-Boas as coach in February - the same one he used to steer Chile to Copa America success in 2015 - and he was understandably pleased after his side made it five games undefeated in competitive games either side of the summer break.
"We could've scored one more goal but unfortunately it was 1-1 at the break," he said. "I'm convinced that over time our football will be better and that we'll achieve the ideal that I want. We must continue to solidify this idea that I have of football, with this team which is completely new, and which still needs to improve in terms of football."
The 67,394 Orange Vélodrome was in full voice - something both coaches thought played its part as much as any tactics.
"It was a very intense and interesting game for the fans," said Sampaoli. "The team played with conviction for 90 minutes. We made people happy. They left the stadium happy. Whether they win or lose, the team is on the right course."
"We made some unusual technical faults because there it wasn't just our opponent we were up against," concurred Sampaoli's opposite number, Claude Puel. "We were a little too under pressure, in the first half, from the atmosphere. I hope that we'll learn quickly and tame environments like these."
