‘Marseille is a demanding club’ – Gennaro Gattuso makes no excuses for Lyon defeat

Olympique de Marseille’s worrying start to the year continued with a loss away at Olympique Lyonnais. Alexander Lacazette (32)  scored the only goal in the 1-0 defeat, which allowed for Lyon to take another step away from the relegation zone, while Marseille continued their middling trajectory. 

Marseille have only won once since returning from the winter break against US Thionville Lusitanos in the fifth tier of French football. A victory that was only won by the matter of a single goal despite the sheer difference in wealth and quality on offer. 

The defeat to Lyon leaves the club in 8th place and widens the growing gap between them and a European position to six points. 

‘We didn’t have that killer instinct’

In a post-match press conference, Gennaro Gattuso refused to make excuses for the side’s defeat, “Marseille is a demanding club. We must therefore be demanding of ourselves and I am a responsible person. We must not look for excuses, we have high-level players, internationals.”

However, he believed that there was still hope that the side could swiftly turn around a recent run of form that has looked bleak, “what I’ve noticed is that no one has dominated us since I have been here, but we have always lacked something, with goals conceded in the 94th minute, goals that we miss. I expect more overall from my players, as I expect more from myself.” 

His captain, Samuel Gigot (30), offered a different reading of the game, “we lacked aggression, we were a little too soft. We have to get into them, hurt them. And there you have it, we looked at them a little too much. We played too many passes, we didn’t have that killer instinct.” 

An important Europa League fixture against FC Shakhtar Donetsk soon approaches and Gattuso’s side will have to be much improved if they hope to progress far in that competition. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland