Without Dimitri Payet, Dario Benedetto was weaned from the ball against Angers. - D. Cole / AP / SIPA + JS-M. at Paint (consultant: AH)

  • Without Dimitri Payet, OM got very few chances against Angers this Saturday. Marseille only managed two shots.
  • The numbers prove it: this season, OM are half as bad without their playmaker.

The diagnosis is formal. OM has a possibly incurable disease. Not the coronavirus, no, you can put this mask on and breathe calmly. The illness from which Marseille suffers is not contagious. It is called "Payet-dependence. Without their playmaker, OM delivered a lackluster performance this Saturday against Angers (0-0).

It was not until the 62nd minute to see the first shot on target, a first in Ligue 1 since December 8, 2018. The rare occasions were distant attempts, a little desperate: OM only managed two shots. In short, without its creator, the club has great difficulty in obtaining real opportunities, despite possession of a hegemonic ball (64%). "If Payet were present, he would no doubt have taken something out of his hat, smiled, relieved, Angevin coach Stéphane Moulin. But he was not there and that served us well! His team was able to retreat to its rear bases and wait patiently for the draw.

"If we are Payet-dependent, we are Payet-dependent!" "

“Dim 'is able to unblock situations in small spaces, to make the last pass. This is what we missed, especially when faced with a team that is very close together like Angers, ”says Steve Mandanda. "The game goes a lot through him, he brings us his technique and does us a lot of good", shifts Jordan Amavi, who refutes, however, the idea of ​​addiction: "We had opportunities even without him", coward the side, who obviously does not speak of the same match as us.

0 shots after 30 minutes of play pic.twitter.com/hsMGdIJVuJ

- Lino Treize (@LinoTreize) January 25, 2020

André Villas-Boas is more lucid and “assumes”: “If we are Payet-dependent, we are Payet-dependent, that doesn't worry me! Juve is Cristiano-dependent, Barcelona is Messi-dependent. "But AVB is relieved to find its creator on Wednesday, against Strasbourg, in the Coupe de France:" Against a closed team, we need creativity, a player capable of dribbling and breaking the lines ... And c is exactly Payet's profile! "

Proof through stats

Without him, OM has no face. Payet's Marseille is dominating, conquering and opportunistic. Marseille without Payet is clumsy, borrowed and clumsy. The numbers prove it. This season, when Payet is on the field, Marseille pockets 2.3 points per game and scores 1.6 goals per game. Without him, OM will turn 1.2 points and 0.8 goals per game. It's simple: OM is half as efficient without Payet.

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  • André Villas-Boas
  • Dimitri payet
  • Angers SCO
  • Angers
  • Marseilles