Steve Mandanda is this season very much in a place he wants to be. Back at Marseille, a club where it’s fair to say he’s something of a legend, Mandanda has left a difficult period at Crystal Palace behind.
After his Marseille heroics made him the best goalkeeper in Ligue 1 and even led some in France to say he should be the country’s first choice, it looked like Crystal Palace had solved their goalkeeping problems rather impressively.
But injury and then a perhaps strange preference for Wayne Hennessey saw Mandanda sidelined and he quickly started thinking about a return to Marseille, which was granted after months of fee disagreement.
Speaking to L’Equipe ahead of Marseille’s big game against Lyon, Mandanda was asked about his Crystal Palace troubles, and explained: “I have also had some difficult times at Crystal Palace. Although I was well surrounded by Yohan Cabaye’s family and my agent, it wasn’t easy. For football and career, it was the most painful time of my life.
“The hard part was not playing the last six months. Don’t play, don’t train with the group, the coach who does not even look at you… It never happened to me before. And for me, it was unfair because the two who played were no better than me. But there was nothing to do. In this case, either we collapse and we give up, or we work thinking about the future.
“That’s what I did for six months. In training, I did my best to show that I was not shot. It allowed me to come back to Marseille and to be good from the start. I do not regret this season in England because I had always dreamed of playing in the Premier League.”
Whilst Mandanda could easily cite injuries for earlier issues at Crystal Palace, under Sam Allardyce it became clear that Hennessey was simply preferred to the Frenchman, despite the pair arguably having very differing levels.
