The bun has not moved.
But the silhouette is a little refined.
Dimitri Payet lost between one and two kilos during the international break.
“He works well, he wants to regain his physical form.
He had a good week of training ”, assures André Villas-Boas before the reception of Porto, this Wednesday at the Stade-Vélodrome.
So much the better, because OM “need” their playmaker, who “lacked confidence”, according to the Portuguese coach.
“We have to protect it,” he concludes.
Will Payet be on the bench again, like when Manchester City received?
The Reunionese disappointed a lot this season, except during the Clasico won in Paris (0-1).
“It is not up to expectations and its status,” points out Alain Perrin, who trained him at AS Saint-Etienne.
His physical form is talking a lot.
"When you're a professional, a high-level athlete, you can't gain weight like that, accuses Pascal Olmeta, Olympian goalkeeper in the early 90s. He would have to take a personal coach, because we have the impression that 'he's demotivated, he doesn't want to anymore.
It is not normal.
Payet did not call in an additional professional during the international break, but he worked hard at the Commanderie, we are told in his entourage.
“Some players have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight,” recounts a physical trainer who knew the former OM captain well.
This is the case: he gains weight very easily.
The n ° 10, who contracted Covid-19 at the end of the summer, also suffered from this truncated preparation.
He is also aware of it: "He continues to work to find his best level," assures a source close to the locker room.
She specifies that, on the moral side, the playmaker "is doing very well": he has just been a dad for the fourth time.
"At 33, he is like a pre-retiree who unfolds"
It would be well inspired to celebrate this news with a good performance against Porto.
And finally to be consistent, while he has scored only one goal and sent only one assist this season.
But Payet has always been inconstant.
“It was his major problem,” recalls Alain Perrin, who first sees a physical explanation: “He is a player who does not have a big engine at the base.
He doesn't have much athleticism.
So he needs a lot of recovery to be in shape and so that his technical qualities and his liveliness are expressed.
He never had a big volume of play. "
The problem is also mental: “At 33, he is at the end of his career, in his last contract, which runs until 2024, recalls Perrin.
It's like a pre-retiree unfolding.
Psychologically, he has nothing more to look for, he no longer has to be conqueror, ambitious.
“Payet has hardly any more hope of playing the Euro with the France team: the competition is very tough at his post.
This was also the case when he arrived at OM in 2013. But at the time, “he was trying to win his place against André Ayew, Mathieu Valbuena and Florian Thauvin, recalls the then coach, Elie Baup.
He was ready, ultra-motivated, had no qualms.
“No weight problem.
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The coach in the cap believes that Payet "needs situations to transcend.
" For example?
“When he provoked Rudi Garcia at a press conference
(Editor's note: in November 2019)
, he could not be disappointing then on the ground.
OM won Olympico thanks to a double from their leader.
Will the critics currently falling on him push him to sublimate himself?
"He does not care," retorts a relative.
Pity…
