A week or so ago, we relayed to you some of the comments made by the press in France about former West Ham forward Dimitri Payet, and it wasn’t pretty.
(But it was funny for West Ham fans, read it here)
Accused of being overweight, and failing to lead a Marseille team that has the potential to qualify for the Champions League, his return to Ligue 1 hasn’t been the success story the French side hoped it would.
While there were signs of improvement against Metz in midweek, Sunday night’s game saw the former West Ham star produce a performance he will want to forget immediately.
L’Equipe agree with this, giving him the worst rating on the pitch (a 3/10) and dedicate a whole article to him, mostly about his great and rather dramatic downfall from his London Stadium/Upton Park days.
Going from landing in Marseille in a private jet with the face of a ‘tired rockstar’ after his stand off with the Hammers to being the worst player on the pitch in the space of a year is a cause for concern, as €30m was spent to save him from his West Ham ‘nightmare’.
The question the French newspaper ask is: Has the weight of age and injuries started to take its toll?
Or is he simply struggling to cope with his new status?
Either way, everything he’s done up until now since his return has been largely forgettable, including his set pieces.
