After weeks of debates over his poor form, on Sunday Dimitri Payet finally looked a bit like the player who tore the Premier League apart for West Ham, as Marseille beat Saint-Etienne 3-0.
It was his corner that led to the opener, and the 30-year-old enjoyed a good game against his former side, playing the full 90 minutes for just the fifth time this season in the league.
Seemingly determined to prove his critics wrong, the former West Ham star’s performance came off the back of yet another article in France about his struggles, as one of his ex-managers, Elie Baup, discussed the situation with Le Parisien.
He said: “Like everyone else, Dimitri needs to be 100%. We would have to know where he is psychologically compared to the top level. How is he approaching future challenges? Does he still have that hunger.
“I heard him say he would understand if Rudi Garcia put him on the bench. That surprised me because that’s not the Dimitri I know, someone who wants his spot and wants to hold onto it.”
However, Baup also suggested there might be something more than just niggling injuries and a lack of regular football behind all this: his exit from West Ham.
He explained: “Payet suffered a huge amount of pressure for a year, him leaving England, his return at Marseille. He was very exposed, he couldn’t breathe. Maybe, subconsciously, he needed to let go a bit.”
Marseille have done admirably well despite their record signing’s struggles, currently joint second in Ligue 1 with Monaco and Lyon, and if the Saint-Etienne game was the start of his return, they might end up making that runners-up spot their own.
Either way, if he did struggle with his exit from West Ham, few Hammers’ fans will feel sorry for him.
When you admit to ‘being a d***head’ to get what you want, you aren’t going to get any sympathy whatsoever.
