Olympique Lyonnais didn’t need that. Stuck in a sporting crisis (penultimate in Ligue 1 with two small points on the clock) and extra-sporting crisis, notably with tensions between John Textor and Jean-Michel Aulas, the Rhone club is going through a (very) eventful period. And it is not the latest statements from Moussa Dembélé, who left Les Gones for free in the off-season to join Al-Ettifaq (Saudi Arabia), which will fix things. Far from there. The 27-year-old center forward gave an interview to Foot Mercato during which he completely trashed the (former) Lyon leaders.
First, the former Gones striker regretted a lack of respect from some of them. And in particular from Bruno Cheyrou, who served as head of the recruitment unit: “His interview to say that the players are active was a big lack of respect. I don’t know where he thought he was that day, maybe on a slave ship or on a cotton field where people are objects or numbers, he said. I’m not an asset, I’m a human being! You have to respect people.”
He also did not spare Vincent Ponsot, the general director of football. “He too was disrespectful. In February he did an interview saying he had received offers and I refused to leave. But he is lying, he assured. If he received offers and didn’t tell my agent about them then that’s professional misconduct on his part, not mine. I was in negotiations with several clubs in January 2023. If we negotiate with a club, it means we agree to leave, right?!” This outing – which he describes as “sneaky” – had consequences for him and his family who suffered, among other things, “repeated insults”.
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The one who wore the colors of Celtic Glasgow then portrayed the leaders as manipulators who “communicate constantly” and seek to “smoke the supporters”. For him, they have “no long-term footballing project, no vision”, they are “only playing the flute”. Above all, he largely called into question their sporting skills. “The leaders are all incompetent and arrogant,” he said. There is a football director (Vincent Ponsot, editor’s note) who does not know football. That’s some sick stuff! It’s as if I were editor-in-chief of Foot Mercato but I didn’t know how to read or didn’t know the alphabet. Do you see what a crazy thing this is?” To support his point, he took a concrete example: the search for Laurent Blanc’s successor. “Fabio Grosso is coming but it was also about Graham Potter and Gennaro Gattuso. Between Grosso, Potter and Gattuso there is a difference in style and management. This means that even the choice of coach is made at random without really knowing what style of coach they want and what they need. It is bullshit !”
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But if he attacked the Lyon management, Moussa Dembélé nevertheless wanted to highlight the work of certain leaders, such as Juninho Pernambucano, who held the position of sports director between July 2019 and December 2021. “They did fleeing Juni who had a plan. Personally, I had disagreements with Juninho but he defended the interests of the club with passion and I protected my interests, he maintains. He understands what football is, a group, the values of the club etc… We must not forget that Maxence (Caqueret), Malo (Gusto), Castello (Lukeba), it was Juni who brought them up. He brings back Paqueta, Guimarães, Emerson, it’s world class. He anticipated, he analyzed and he moved forward with a plan. Florian Maurice is also in the same category of leaders who knows his job, football but who has been put aside. We are now awaiting responses from those concerned.