De Gerby calls on French media to stand up against Ligue 1 refereeing


Marseille boss Roberto De Gerby was again furious with the referees after his side’s 1-1 draw with Strasbourg on Sunday.

The French giants lost more ground in the title race, slipping nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain – who are yet to lose a game this season.

De Gerby knows his side cannot afford to drop many more points if they are to catch Luis Enrique’s side and could only express his disappointment after the game.

He said: “Since I’ve been in France, I’ve seen things that I don’t always understand and it’s not just OM. Maybe because I’m Italian… I came to OM because it’s the biggest French team.

“I respect everyone, but the media also has to take a stand sometimes.

“Have you seen the stats of this match? Yes, we deserved to win, we are ahead in many areas, we have three or four times more expected goals than Strasbourg.

“That should have been enough to win, but like on Tuesday against Lillewe didn’t get what we deserved. I see teams winning games by doing a lot less good things than us.”

De Zerbi’s Marseille have been on the receiving end of poor refereeing this season, which has seen them lose ground in the title race as a result.

Similar to Jose Mourinho in Turkey, the ex-Brighton manager feels angry that there isn’t more turmoil about the level of refereeing.

But De Gerby admitted in the end that they cannot make excuses and his players must learn to finish games.

He added: “It’s a shame it’s happening at such an important time of the season. We still have seven injured, those who played did well, but there was fatigue. Neil, who is a player I love, played the last three games in the series.

“Greenwood is not used to playing so many games in a row. Cornelius didn’t play in his usual position because Lirola didn’t feel like it for 90 minutes. Murillo, Kondogbia, Rongier, Wahi, Harit, there are many. We have to deal with it and not use it as an excuse.”