‘I accept the criticism’ – Roberto De Zerbi reflects on Marseille’s recent troubles | OneFootball

Olympique de Marseille were unable to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to RC Strasbourg Alsace when they hosted Angers SCO on Friday evening. The second-best attack in the league with 16 goals in seven games stuttered once again as they fell to a 1-1 draw with the bottom-placed team in the league.

It was a bruising draw for Roberto De Zerbi’s squad, moreso because Angers had dropped to ten men in the 26th minute when a reckless tackle from Lilian Raolisoa (24) was upgraded from a yellow card to a red after the intervention from VAR. However, four minutes later, Neal Maupay (28) would be sent off for accumulating two yellows in quick succession.

It felt like a wasted chance, and De Zerbi was quick to accept the criticism of his side for failing to take advantage of the situation and punishing the worst-performing team in the league. “As I accepted the compliments after Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Brest, I accept the criticism.”

Roberto De Zerbi on Marseille’s start

“We have to accept it,” the Italian manager stated, “These results, after a good start, are annoying but we have to be fair and aware that we are building a new Marseille, it goes through difficult days but I have confidence in my players. We conceded a free kick when we had just scored, [and] we scored the goal for 2-1 but there was a handball.”

He continued, “We have to have more character. Things can’t happen like that. I’m not asking for time like other coaches, but I know that it takes [time] to build teams, it’s hard to have everything right away, the game, the mentality, the physique… We have to stay focused, give more, work, take care of the details…we have to improve on these aspects.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland