Daniel Riolo, editorialist for After Foot on RMC, defended Habib Beye, OM coach, and Medhi Benatia, sports director, after the 5th place, synonymous with the Europa League, won against Rennes (3-1) on Sunday.
OM saved the honor of its crazy season on Sunday by winning against Rennes (3-1). Failing to achieve the priority objective of qualifying for the Champions League, Marseille will play the Europa League. A lesser evil according to Daniel Riolo who deplores the wave of criticism suffered by coach Habib Beye, since his appointment in February to replace Roberto De Zerbi. He is surprised by the much more measured treatment for Sébastien Pocognoli, coach of Monaco, only 7th and deprived for the moment of the European Cup (ASM will play the Conference League if Lens wins the Coupe de France).
“We had to almost shoot Habib Beye”
The After Foot editorialist targets “all those who made absolutely abominable comments about OM and Habib Beye”. “Pocognoli took the team much earlier in the season (in October 2025, Editor’s note), he had more time than Habib Beye and the quagmire was not the same,” he recalls. “Monaco, which has a similar budget to OM with the objective of the Champions League, can also aim for the Coupe de France but what will we say about Monaco and Pocognoli? If Habib Beye has been harassed in all directions, what should we do about Pocognoli? Monaco finishes seventh and will make a Conference League play-off against a team from the Islands Faroe Islands. They’re going to play against sheep in August. What should we say about Pocognoli when we almost had to shoot Habib Beye?
Daniel Riolo also stepped up to the plate for Medhi Benatia, sports director who will leave his position and who spoke at length on Sunday evening. “There are a lot of interesting things in his interview and a lot of opinions that I share with reservation,” he confides. “He referred to certain matches where the players did not show up. When he said that no matter the rants, the confusion from each other and that he behaved well towards the players, you cannot – when you are a professional player – take revenge in this way. That is to say not respond professionally. You are in professional misconduct in the match at Lorient (2-0 defeat) or against Nantes (3-0) when you are that bad on the pitch.”
“You can’t provide this kind of service even if you can no longer support the sports director”
He accuses the players of individualism and selfishness in their way of expressing their disagreement with the leader. “No matter when your superior treats you badly, you also play for the people who come to the stadium, the people of Marseille,” he continues. “You don’t just play for the sporting director, the coach or the president, you play for all the players. We can blame Medhi Benatia for the management since he brought in these players. He is ready to hear this reservation but he says: ‘Even if they can’t fool me, I have everything set up to them’, everything which did not exist in Marseille but which existed in the European clubs he had frequented such as player care.”
“He organized everything beautifully,” insists Daniel Riolo. “It’s possible that he has a form of demand that is poorly understood by the players, since he has a hard and tough character and some may not tolerate being spoken to in this way. I want to hear it, management is part of the profession and from this point of view, Medhi Benatia has methods which may be questionable for certain players. But there are performances which, regardless management, are unacceptable, unqualified. When McCourt came and said: ‘You are playing with my investment’, he is right. They are professionals, not capricious 20-year-olds who earn millions and you cannot provide this kind of service even if you no longer support the sports director.
