The good performance of Neal Maupay in Nantes, a week after a very complicated match for Elye Wahi against PSG, shows that competition is in full swing at the center forward position at OM. Maupay clearly won points, with a complete register and solidity as a fixation point which convinced Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian technician still wanted to keep a positive message towards Wahi, to boost the morale of his young attacker.
Roberto De Zerbi walks on eggshells every time he talks about his number nine. The OM coach demonstrated it again on Sunday evening after the match in Nantes and the very good performance of Neal Maupay. Congratulating the former Nice player's “great match” was one thing, but RDZ did not forget to remind, on DAZN, that Wahi was “also a great player” and that he would be “very useful ” this season.
De Zerbi sometimes uses interviews to convey certain messages. After Maupay's first start with OM, in mid-September against Nice, which ended with the striker opening the score, the Italian technician also made it clear that Wahi “remained number 1”, even if he will not always be able to guarantee his first choices a starting place… he will specify a few weeks later.
Wahi, big loser of the match against Paris
The OM staff knows that this position relies on trust, that the team will need its two leading attackers to have a good season and that Wahi is still a young player. That it is sometimes necessary to reassure, and from time to time to prick, as was the case during the international break in October, during which De Zerbi asked Elye Wahi for more weight offensively, more solidity in duels.
In short, a more combative attitude for a player often criticized for his nonchalance. Wahi had a very good match in Montpellier, but a week later he was the big loser in the extremely disappointing match against PSG, leaving at half-time, just like Mason Greenwood. But the two men do not have the same standing. OM cannot do without their English striker, dynamiter of the Marseille offensive sector and top scorer of the club this season. Wahi, on the other hand, remained on the bench, at Beaujoire, and saw his “competitor” in attack achieve his best performance since his arrival at OM.
Maupay achieved, in Nantes, what OM has been asking of Wahi since the start of the season
After his match in Nantes, Maupay clearly scored points. Beyond his second goal of the season (like Wahi), something is obvious: the former Everton player achieved, on Sunday, what OM have been asking of Wahi since the start of the season.
Having this ability to keep the ball with your back to goal, to make the block go up, and knowing how to break away to play off the ball in quick and precise sequences, De Zerbi's trademark. All with a rather physical client on your back, like Nicolas Pallois.
Maupay's acclimatization is not only technical or tactical. Through his character, his jovial side, his very easy interpersonal skills, and his seriousness in training, Maupay has managed to adapt quickly in the OM locker room, where he is very appreciated.
Zerbi adores Maupay's mentality
The Olympian coach knows that the competitive game between Wahi and Maupay will go even better if the understanding remains cordial between the two men and the staff has no concerns on this subject. “I would like all the players to have Maupay’s mentality,” De Zerbi said, a few weeks after his arrival.
The hierarchy was still shaken up more quickly than expected, at the forefront of the Marseille attack… And Maupay is already much more than a joker, at the center forward position. His excess of commitment and his overflowing determination had earned him a double yellow card against Angers and a rapid exclusion.
He learned his lessons, promised himself to channel this energy and admitted on Sunday evening to having felt a lot of “frustration” following this expulsion. Relieved to have scored, and to clearly apply again for a starting place on Friday against Auxerre, at the Vélodrome.
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