- Marseille striker Mason Greenwood was substituted off at half-time against PSG
- He was criticised by manager Roberto De Zerbi, as well as by the French media
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Mason Greenwood was given the lowest possible mark of 1/10 in the player ratings of French newspaper L’Equipe following his performance for Marseille in Sunday’s 3-0 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
The former Manchester United striker went into the game in strong form, after scoring six goals in his first seven games for Marseille following a summer transfer from Old Trafford.
But he was substituted off at half-time against PSG after a dismal display in the opening 45 minutes.
All of the goals were scored during the first half and Greenwood was directly at fault for the third as he surrendered possession with a poor pass moments before Bradley Barcola hit the net.
Greenwood was also criticised for his lack of effort in the build-up to the opening goal scored by Joao Neves.
Mason Greenwood (left) made the eighth appearance of his Marseille career on Sunday
Greenwood played the first 45 minutes and received a rating of 1/10 in newspaper L’Equipe
L’Equipe’s match report tore into Greenwood as it read: ‘[Manager Roberto] De Zerbi waited until half-time to take him off, and even that was too late, as his contribution bordered on disrespect.
‘When he doesn’t have the ball at his feet, he seems uninterested in everything else. His casual jog before the first goal and especially the terrible pass before the third goal were outright fiascos.’
De Zerbi was also critical of Greenwood after Sunday’s game.
Explaining why he took him off, the former Brighton boss said: ‘Because I didn’t like the way he played.
‘If we want to compete for the title we have to push in all matches.
‘I think he was having a bad day. He gave us a lot of goals and points but when you’re at OM, if you want to fight for the championship, you have to push in every match.
‘You can’t say you’re doing a good performance by scoring two goals and then having a bad patch the next match. It’s not possible. He’s a good player but I expected more from him tonight. But not only from him. I always expect more in general.’
Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi substituted Greenwood off during the half-time break
Champions Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 3-0 victory away at Marseille in France’s Ligue 1
Greenwood joined Marseille from United in a £30million deal in July.
He had not played for the Premier League club since January 2022. He was arrested during that month on suspicion of attempted rape, assault, and coercive behaviour.
All charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in February 2023 following the ‘withdrawal of key witnesses and new material coming to light’.
Despite the case against him being dropped, there was vocal opposition from some sections of the Marseille fanbase to his signing, with a group of fans launching a ‘#GreenwoodNotWelcome’ campaign when he was initially linked with the club.
Marseille’s mayor Benoit Payan also opposed the move.