Marseille boss says he needs ‘way more’ from Arsenal loanee

Ethan Nwaneri was an unused substitute for Marseille against Nice on Sunday, with manager Habib Beye criticising the Arsenal loanee’s application in training.

Ethan Nwaneri was once again named on the bench for Marseille over the weekend, his 10th consecutive game not in the starting lineup under new manager Habib Beye.

Nwaneri is yet to start a single match under the Senegalese coach, and that doesn’t seem likely to change based on Beye’s pre-match comments on Sunday.

“He’s a quality player, but he has to give us way more in his day-to-day commitment,” Beye said (via GFFN). “Other players gave way more.”

Things are not going well for Marseille at the moment, as they’ve slipped out of the Champions League qualification places and down into sixth, which would only earn them a Europa Conference League qualifying play-off next season.

With AS Monaco just two points behind them in seventh, Marseille appear more likely to drop further down the table than to regain a top-four spot in their final three matches.

The top three in France earn automatic qualification for the Champions League’s League Phase, whilst fourth earns a Champions League qualifier.

Yet in spite of Marseille’s struggles, or perhaps because they’re so desperate for results, Nwaneri has had to settle for cameo appearances in recent weeks.

Whether this turns out to be a bad loan for Nwaneri’s career remains to be seen.

If he takes the hardship and criticism on board and uses it as motivation, it could turn out to be a really positive learning experience. If not, it’s a waste of five months of his career.

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