“If you put their heads under water, some won’t be able to come back.”

For several matches, the central defense of Olympique de Marseille has been the subject of numerous criticisms after disappointing performances. Defensive errors, notably on the part of Leonardo Balerdi and Lilian Brassier, were singled out by supporters and analysts. However, Benjamin Courmes, journalist for FCMarseille, defends the Argentine defender in the face of these harsh criticisms.

On the DFM set Tuesday, Benjamin Courmes expressed his disavowal of the whistles and the pressure put on players in difficulty. “Is it the solution to whistle the players? If the guy is mentally weak… If we start hitting Balerdi directly again when he has shown the mental capacity to react, we're not going to start resenting Balerdi again anyway…”he stressed.

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Balerdi’s resilience: an asset to be preserved

Benjamin Courmes highlights the mental resilience of Balerdi, who has already proven his ability to bounce back from mistakes. For him, repeatedly attacking a player who has shown signs of reaction would be counterproductive. “If you put their heads under water, some are not able to come back”he insisted, emphasizing that repeated criticism can destabilize a player and damage his self-confidence.