Before OM-Villarreal, Marseille president Pablo Longoria discusses the big pressure recently put by Medhi Benatia on Jonathan Clauss.
The last French representative still competing in the Europa League, OM hosts Villarreal this Thursday evening at the Vélodrome stadium, in the round of 16 first leg. On this occasion, Pablo Longoria gave a long interview to the Spanish newspaper A.S.. And among the many subjects discussed, the president of the Marseille club returned to the dispute between management and one of the best players in the Olympian squad, Jonathan Clauss.
It was Medhi Benatia, sports advisor to Ciel et Blanc, who publicly lit up the French right side, pointing out his “behavioral problems” in two interviews broadcast in mid-February on Amazon Prime Video and Canal+. “We expect a lot in terms of rigor and discipline, especially for a player of his level”, he said in particular. Enough to create great tensions internally.
“The Clauss chapter must be considered closed”
Three weeks later, is the problem resolved? Officially, yes, since the French international starts all matches. “The Clauss chapter must be considered closedconfirms Pablo Longoria. This happened at a time when the team had many players at the CAN, many injured and the basis of the month of January had to be the maximum commitment of all of us who were around the team. »
“I speak of commitment because in difficult times, primary values must emerge, he continues. But these are situations that have already been resolved internally and the only thing we want is the maximum performance from Clauss to achieve the collective goals that we have and his personal ones to go to the Euro. » We will have to wait until next summer to find out if Jonathan Clauss has really digested this pressure.
