After the new defeat of OM, beaten by Lorient (2-0) on Saturday for the 30th day of Ligue 1, Mehdi Benatia described his team’s performance as a “scandal”, as they struggled in their sprint for the Champions League. The sports director promised a tightening of the screw, and intense weeks ahead at La Commanderie.
He had planned not to speak until the end of the season, “because we talked too much in the first six months.” But, furious after OM’s disappointing performance in Lorient, Mehdi Benatia couldn’t resist addressing the media.
“I have no problem with being told that the players I brought in, who were very good in September, are now very bad. No problem. I brought in a new coach (Habib Beye) who is also not good, I accept it… But when I see the match we played today (Saturday), even if I don’t feel like talking, I am obliged to speak to the press, because it’s a scandal. It’s a scandal,” he fumed, with a dark look.
“Zero, nobody has come back to the dressing room and turned the table around,” said the fiery Marseille sports director. Referring to “a sense of responsibility” and not sparing his players following a defeat that could cost dearly in the race for the Champions League. “You play against Lorient, who have nothing to play for, and you don’t win a duel, you don’t make a forward run, you’re not taking initiative, you don’t try anything… You watch them, and in the stadium, they’re doing the wave because they nutmeg you, dribble… Yes, that’s the truth,” he quipped.
“When you come here, with five finals to play (the last five matches), aiming for the Champions League objective, that should be obvious, but it’s not. (Addressing a journalist) In your opinion, how many came back to the dressing room and turned the table around? Zero, nobody. Everything is fine, the bottles are in place, all that. So, you play for Olympique de Marseille, you play a match like this and you accept it?” Benatia continued.
“Very little dangerous and punished for two glaring marking errors, OM, temporarily fourth, risks seeing the podium move further away and Lyon and Rennes surpass them. The Olympians were coming back from a training camp under the sun of Marbella, aiming to improve team cohesion and work on certain tactical aspects. “Some will leave, because they have the World Cup, they already have a club… And then in two months, we’ll say, ‘Ah, damn, he’s actually good!’ But here, on the other hand, you didn’t make the effort. That’s what’s more serious.”
And Mehdi Benatia continued: “So, I told them (the players) not to plan anything for the next four weeks. We will spend more time together at La Commanderie. (…) Morning, afternoon, we will work, with a good nap in between. And we will work,” he promised.
“If the players think someone in the club has slacked off, we will show them that we are ready to spend every day at La Commanderie. There are people who come to work every day at 7 am and don’t earn what we earn. If, to boost things, it’s good to spend time together, we will do it.”
