Five straight defeats and 17th place: Riolo accuses Genesio of sacrificing his players to protect himself

Olympique de Marseille suffered its fifth consecutive defeat, losing 2-1 to PSG at the Vélodrome, leaving the club in an alarming 17th place in Ligue 1 with just three points. Bruno Genesio’s crisis management is now raising as many questions as the results themselves.

After the match, the Marseille manager acknowledged some responsibility while suggesting that other club figures should also be held accountable. “It’s not enough, I take my share of responsibility, as others will have to as well,” he said, also mentioning a “lack of concentration, maturity” in his squad and announcing he would need to meet with the board to discuss the future.

These comments immediately drew a sharp response from consultant Daniel Riolo. “His communication is very poor. He’s trying to escape his responsibilities, he’s evasive and what he’s doing isn’t right. What he’s trying to make us swallow is that Marseille isn’t good, that it’s a bad team.” For Riolo, by publicly suggesting his players are to blame—implicitly calling them weak—Genesio destabilizes a group already lacking confidence instead of protecting it.

The analyst invoked a political reference to illustrate his point: “A manager, once he thinks that and tries to say that others must take responsibility, it reminds me of Jean-Pierre Chevènement’s phrase: ‘a minister either resigns or shuts up.’”

Marseille has earned only three points since the start of the season, all gained on the opening day against Strasbourg. With three weeks of international break ahead, Genesio has a respite to try to rally a dressing room that his own statements, according to Riolo, may have destabilized.