Defeated in Lorient after a lackluster performance on Saturday in Ligue 1 (2-0), the OM players angered Medhi Benatia, who made a fiery statement in Morbihan. Following this debacle, the Marseille management decided to significantly toughen up the schedule for the coming days, culminating in the home game against OGC Nice next Sunday at the Vélodrome.

"It's a scandal. We're going to spend a little more time together," a furious Medhi Benatia declared after OM's 2-0 defeat to Lorient in Ligue 1 on Saturday. During a lengthy outburst in Morbihan, the Marseille club's director of football expressed his frustration in the mixed zone, as the race for Champions League qualification rages on with four matchdays remaining in the season.

Following this defeat against Lorient, the Marseille management has decided to significantly increase the intensity of the schedule for the coming week, leading up to the home game against OGC Nice next Sunday at the Vélodrome. While Monday is usually a day of rest, Habib Beye's men will be in action this week with a training session scheduled. For Tuesday and Wednesday, the management has planned one session in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Three nights together at the Commanderie

One of Medhi Benatia's major promises, aimed at uniting the Marseille squad and rallying them for the final stretch, was to spend more time together. This will be the case, as from Thursday until Sunday's match against Nice, the OM players will spend three full nights at their training center during a pre-season retreat organized at the Commanderie.

Saturday's performance at the Stade du Moustoir and Benatia's media appearance, in which he invited the players to "not plan anything for the next four weeks", have therefore been followed by strong actions and decisions as "sanctions", so that the players realize that their attitude in Lorient, their lack of desire and intensity, were perceived as unacceptable by the management.

McCourt supports Benatia's decisions

While Medhi Benatia's public statements (as well as the measures taken after the defeat in Lorient) further widen the gap that has developed this season between the demands of the football director (demands reiterated in the locker room throughout the season internally by himself or by other officials in the sporting sector, which has sometimes created tensions) and the lack of involvement and professionalism of some players, it remains nonetheless true that Benatia's strong statements in Lorient and the sanctions that now follow, with the toughening of the week's program, are validated by the OM management and even the owner Frank McCourt.

During his pre-match press conference before OM-Metz, and even in the locker room after the game, the American owner reminded the players of their duty to give their all to achieve the objective set at the beginning of the season: qualification for the Champions League. At every level of the club, the Lorient fiasco and the team's performance and attitude—especially after a training camp in Marbella, the organization and financing of which had been approved by Frank McCourt's team—were met with considerable dismay. Benatia therefore has the support of the American boss in his desire to take a tougher stance and intensify the weekly training schedule to hold the players accountable.