Mason Greenwood received a backhanded compliment from Roberto De Zerbi about his work rate after helping Marseille to a big win over Brest.
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Forward impressed in convincing victoryRegistered a goal and assistChampions League qualification up for grabsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The ex-Manchester United winger added another goal to his tally in that contest, taking him to 19 in Ligue 1 this season – as he matched the debut campaign efforts of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba at Stade Velodrome.
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Greenwood also teed up Amine Gouiri for one of the three efforts in his hat-trick – a stunning overhead kick – and appears to have earned full favour again with his manager after seeing questions of his attitude result in a recent spell on the bench.
WHAT ROBERTO DE ZERBI SAID
De Zerbi told of the performance from his team in a 4-1 victory: “The players are happy… have you ever seen Mason Greenwood work like today? It was the first time. You have to give the players credit. Sometimes you lose points because of bad attitudes, but not because they're not good guys.”
AFPDID YOU KNOW?
Marseille started with a 4-2-3-1 system against Brest, as De Zerbi tinkered with his tactical approach again. He added: “The Marseille press pushed me to change my system! If you play with four at the back with Mason Greenwood as a winger, you lose defensively. I have to adapt. I'd like to have 90% possession, I suffer on the bench. But I understand that these players have certain characteristics.
“In the last few home games, I saw that we didn't have the same energy with the ball, we had lost something. We had to change something. When I understood that, I thought about it every day to try something different.
“I'm not going to change for the sake of change, we're not in a casino going from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3. I change when I understand that it's the right time, that the team needs it to find different combinations and different tactical options.”