After the third defeat in a row, Olympique Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi is in a precarious position. Now the Italian has commented on the events for the first time.
You might think that coach Roberto De Zerbi of Olympique Marseille would be spending a rather relaxed time on the Cote d’Azur. But as the French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported and De Zerbi partially confirmed at the press conference on Friday against Toulouse, things went haywire at the Ligue 1 club, currently in third place, at the beginning of the week. After Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at relegation candidates Stade Reims and the resulting loss of second place in the table to AS Monaco, the Italian had called out individual players in front of the entire team.
Defender Pol Lirola, in particular, was hit hard. “Nobody wanted you at this club last summer. I was the only one who believed in you. And you thank me by defending like that? Am I supposed to fail?” said the former Brighton coach.
According to French media reports, the 45-year-old is said to have instructed the professionals to stay at the club’s premises on Saturday night and to cancel the rest days on Sunday and Monday. When De Zerbi then refused to train the team on Monday because the “attitude” was not right, the players mutinied.
The players only returned to the training ground after an hour-long discussion with sports director Medhi Benatia. But Benatia is also said to have disagreed with the idea of playing against Reims. “Against this Reims team, with your level and line-up, you should have won, even without a coach to lead you,” the former Bayern defender (29 Bundesliga games) is reported to have said.
On Friday, De Zerbi made the first somewhat ironic comments about the events: “I’m very happy to be Marseille’s coach because I love controversy (…) I had a very bad time this week”. The fact that something like this happens is something “that happens in all clubs, but in Marseille it comes out,” said the OM coach. He stated that he knew who had spoken to the press and explained: “I look like a criminal, but I’m not. There are parts that are not true.”
In addition to De Zerbi, Neal Maupay also commented on the rift: “It’s inevitable that after poor performances, things have to be sorted out, just like in a family. But we’re all behind him.” The striker rejected the accusation of refusing to train: “There was never any talk of that.”
However, the 28-year-old confirmed to the press that “something along those lines was said”. But it was “stupid” to do something like that with seven matches remaining. The former Brighton & Hove Albion striker emphasized the reconciliation between the team and the coach: “We came here because we know the coach. He is so passionate, he wants to achieve our goals.
Whether the rift has really been healed on the south coast of France will be revealed on Sunday. Toulouse will be visiting the Stade Velodrome if they want to avoid their fourth consecutive defeat. They are one point behind their rivals Monaco and 22 points behind the leaders, Paris Saint-Germain.
