Metz’s Frédéric Antonetti on draw against Marseille: “Our game plan was to frustrate Payet.” | OneFootball

Speaking in the wake of his team’s goalless draw against Marseille this afternoon, Metz manager Frédéric Antonetti indicated that countering Dimitri Payet was at the heart of his game plan this Sunday.

His words transcribed in RMC Sport, Antonetti singled out Payet as Marseille’s major threat, as well as ranking Mattéo Guendouzi in the world-class category as well.

Les Grenats came away with a draw despite going down to ten men after Jemerson’s dismissal, and could even have come away with the three points were it not for a block on the Marseille line from one of their own, in Kiki Kouyaté.

“Payet is a world-class player. The others are very good players but he’s the one who makes the difference. Even a blind man can see that. You don’t need to be an expert to see it. Guendouzi, for me, is also a world-class player. I am not here to analyse Marseille’s team but they have some very good players. Payet is the world class player, but he wasn’t always like that, it took him time to get there.”

“When Payet receives the ball between the lines it’s dangerous. Ünder also has some qualities to accelerate things; Milik also has quality but he didn’t get much service because we stopped the ball from getting to him. Our game plan was to frustrate Payet. The few times he got the ball, something was happening. He notably hit the bar. We were trying to win the ball back and go up the pitch quickly. That’s the story of the game.”