Genesio slams Marseille players after second straight defeat

Olympique de Marseille lost at home to Paris FC (2-3) on Sunday evening, suffering a second consecutive defeat following the loss to Monaco the previous week. Bruno Genesio made no attempt to hide his frustration when assessing the result.

The tone of the evening was set from the 23rd second, when Lassine Sinayoko caught the Vélodrome cold. Marseille chased the score for most of the match. Despite a brace from Amine Gouiri that allowed the Marseille side to level twice, a penalty conceded in the dying moments sealed Paris’s victory.

Genesio targeted defensive lapses as the root cause of his team’s problems. “The third goal is indicative of what we did wrong: far too much time in possession, a lack of balance and we got countered like a kids’ team,” he said. The manager acknowledged attacking qualities — “play down the wings, overlaps” — but was categorical: “You can’t expect much when you defend the way we defended.”

Taking some responsibility himself, he nonetheless called on his players for greater tactical awareness. “I ask a lot of my team: to press and defend on the front foot. But you have to know when you can do that and when you need to be a bit more compact. We’ll have to start again from tomorrow.”

Speaking to the press, the coach intensified his warning, highlighting a regression compared to previous outings. “After a match like that, we have reason to be concerned. Unlike last week, where I found the match coherent, tonight we made far too many gross errors,” he lamented. Without giving in to panic — “there have only been three matchdays” — he recalled having alerted the club from the first matchday about turbulence to come.

Marseille’s upcoming schedule leaves little room for error: an away trip to Rennes on Friday, a European clash at Besiktas, then hosting PSG.