Former Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood is making headlines once again and Marseille’s director of football has had to step in.
Greenwood enjoyed an excellent start to life at Marseille but has come under scrutiny more recently amid a shocking run for the Ligue 1 side which has seen them lose four of their last five league games.
The ex-Man Utd star has managed 16 Ligue 1 goals in 29 appearances but manager Roberto De Zerbi dropped him from the starting lineup for two games on the bounce last month, claiming he needs to “sacrifice” more.
De Zerbi said: “No one can have more respect for him than I do. But that doesn’t change anything: I expect more from him. He has to do more, because what he is currently showing is not enough.
“If he wants to achieve his ambition of becoming a champion, he has to be more consistent, sacrifice more and be more determined.”
De Zerbi’s man-management ploy hasn’t paid off, with Greenwood scoring just once in his last five games and being handed a score of 1/10 by local paper La Provence in the 3-0 defeat to Monaco last time out.
The paper reported: ‘As gifted as he can be – when he wants to be, and that’s increasingly rare – the former Man Utd player exasperates with his lack of seriousness. You really want him to make more effort, especially when he’s having a bad day. He had two shots saved by Philipp Kohn. As for the rest? Nothing.’
In the aftermath of that performance it was suggested that former Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg and teammate Adrien Rabiot approached the club’s director of football, Medhi Benatia, to ask that both Greenwood and Brazilian winger Luis Henrique should be removed from the squad.
Benatia has moved to quash the claims, telling La Provence: “Can you imagine? He didn’t come to see me. And what’s more, do you think I need a player to tell me that?
“Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is one of the most professional in the locker room, a guy who only wants to unite and carry everyone along with him, like Rabiot.
“Today, Adri is dying inside, he only wants one thing: to reach the Champions League. These two are truly two examples, and at no point did they come to see me to dismiss Luis Henrique or Greenwood. The people who say that don’t want the best for OM.”
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Marseille dropped behind Monaco into third place after that defeat last weekend and with just the top three earning entry into the Champions League they’re at real risk of their season falling apart, with Lyon one point behind them and both Lille and Strasbourg just another point further back.
But Benatia also dismissed claims that there is a split in the dressing room fuelled by discontent over the tactics of head coach De Zerbi.
“When a coach reads in L’Equipe that he’s lost the dressing room, he’s devastated. It’s absolutely false,” the Marseille sporting director continued.
“He gives love to everyone, and even a little too much for my taste. I always tell the players, the staff, and the employees that I’m not here to make friends. I only want people who work hard for OM.”
Marseille face bottom side Montpellier at the Velodrome in Ligue 1 on Saturday as they look to get their season back on track with five games to play.
