Arthur Vermeeren has achieved a first in France. Unfortunately not a statistic to be proud of. On Sunday, the midfielder received his first ever red card in his career after a flying tackle on Nantes goalkeeper Anthony Lopes in the 25th minute. To make matters worse, his teammate Bilalal Nadir also received a red card and Marseille lost 0-2 in front of its own audience.
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was near desperation after the match. “I would like to know why we keep riding a roller coaster here in Marseille, with those peaks and valleys,” he said. “This is my twelfth season as a coach, but nowadays you have to be more of a psychologist than a trainer.”
Arthur Vermeeren was also criticized after his early exclusion. “’He had a bad training week, so I called him into my office on Saturday. I told him that I had confidence in him and would let him start even though he had not trained well. He thanked me for that. That’s why I didn’t expect such a performance today.”
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But those words were not well received everywhere. Christophe Dugarry – 55-time French international, ex-world champion and currently analyst at RMC – did not spare his criticism for De Zerbi. “He never lets the same players play twice, not even in the same position. The substitutions, you don’t understand anything about that. I don’t understand what that gentleman is doing. In five matches he has used four different tactical systems.”
According to Dugarry, the Italian coach must make more use of his extensive staff. “‘And then he explains to you that he has to become a psychologist… Stop with that psychology, man! You have seven assistants, just do your job as a trainer. That’s all we ask of you.” Marseille is currently third in Ligue 1, but is already eight points behind leader Lens.
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