Mason Greenwood finds himself entangled in the turmoil surrounding Marseille following the team’s disappointing Champions League loss to Club Brugge on Wednesday. This defeat has brought his interactions with the club’s sporting director into the spotlight at a critical time for the Ligue 1 club.
According to the Daily Mail Sport, French reports suggest that head coach Roberto De Zerbi might face dismissal before their upcoming match against Paris FC this weekend.
Football director Medhi Benatia has not hidden his dissatisfaction after the team’s failure, which cost them a playoff spot by a narrow margin. He has warned of “consequences” for this European setback.
L’Equipe reports that Greenwood and Benatia reportedly avoid each other during encounters, with the director frequently criticizing the 24-year-old’s performance and behavior both on and off the field.
Benatia’s frustration reportedly stems from Greenwood neglecting a commercial obligation last summer, seemingly unconcerned about the resulting fallout.
Mason Greenwood is thought to have attracted the ire of Marseille’s director of football amid chaos at the club
Medhi Benatia has shared his strong feelings on the club and its players after defeat to Club Brugge knocked them out of the Champions League
The report further details an incident where Benatia allegedly confronted club captain Leonardo Balerdi during a late-night meeting prior to the Champions Trophy clash with Paris Saint-Germain earlier in January.
After upbraiding the players for a number of minutes in the wake of their disappointing league defeat to Nantes three days earlier, Benatia is believed to have been furious when Balerdi raised an issue previously brought by the squad over dressing room space.
Marseille players share their dressing room with a number of club staff, with the space’s position in training complex making it a thoroughfare – with the squad keen for an area with greater privacy.
Benatia is said to have hit out at the skipper with no little aggression, asking him: ‘Tell me, Leo, are the one paying rent on the locker room?’
De Zerbi is not thought to have present for the charged meeting, further highlighting the divisions throughout the club.
The former Brighton head coach position in Marseille may be under threat, but in his post-match rant this week, Benatia did stress that he places the blame with the players.
‘Today, you play a match like that against a team with an average age of 20-22,’ Benatia said after the final whistle on Wednesday. ‘You don’t win a single duel.
‘All week, I’ve been giving team talks. When you have this kind of disgusting, horrible defeat, people tend to blame the coach. But I attend the talks. All week, we knew they were going to attack hard, that they would start strong.
Marseille captain Leonardo Balerdi also found himself in a fiery encounter with Benatia
There is a lingering question mark over whether Roberto De Zerbi will continue in the dugout
Former France international Christophe Dugarry (centre) called the Italian manager ‘a clown’
‘If there’s a player in the box and four of us are watching him, is that the coach’s fault? No, it’s not the coach’s fault. I really hope some of the players will do some soul-searching. We’re good at talking. This generation often gets involved in things that aren’t their business.
‘But when you have to get them on the pitch and you do absolutely nothing, and you have players who haven’t realized what’s going on, it’s a different story. Of the event, which is currently taking place, I cannot accept it.’
Former Marseille star Christophe Dugarry disagreed however, with the ex-France international implying that the Italian manager was a ‘clown’ and ‘overrated’.
‘De Zerbi is more responsible than the rest,’ Dugarry said on Friday. ‘You can criticise the players, but I think they need a message they understand.
‘We mustn’t forget the coach’s role; he has to help the players improve. When I see the OM players so lost, I wonder what’s been done. De Zerbi is responsible. He’s changed the line-up 30 times in 30 games!
‘De Zerbi is overrated. He’s completely disoriented, constantly contradicting himself from one match to the next. Yesterday, he made history – congratulations!
‘He’s completely lost, he’s useless. How can you blame the players if the coach used 30 different line-ups in 30 matches? We were players! It’s already difficult to understand two or three different formations. From the moment the coach decided to use 30 different line-ups, he’s responsible.
‘It’s normal for the players to be lost on the pitch. He contradicts himself in press conferences. In the locker room, we would have laughed at him! We would have said, “who is this clown?” The players are lost.’
De Zerbi has taken the side to third in Ligue 1 this season, and while Champions League glory is off the table, the club remain competitive in the Coupe de France, facing off against Rennes next week.
