“
Payet, Payet, Payet
” the Stade Vélodrome warmly chanted the name of its playing master, after the technical recital offered by their captain against Lorient on Sunday (4-1).
In all the good moves, the Reunionese delivered an XXL performance, like his start to the season.
Sometimes contested, Dimitri Payet is now unanimous among assiduous observers of Olympique de Marseille.
Keystone of the system of Sampaoli, the 34-year-old player, lights up a team, on alternating current since the launch of this new exercise.
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The key man of OM
Positioned as a false 9 in the absence of Arkadiusz Milik, Dimitri Payet pulled out of the game. Between the lines, the former Nantes player displayed all his class on the technical level to make the Marseille game more fluid and serve his teammates in the best conditions.
Author of three assists, Dimitri Payet highlighted the wide range of his passing skills.
According to
WhoScored
, he is the player who delivered the most key passes since 2009 behind Mesut Ozil and Lionel Messi.
But this role falls to other responsibilities, which the principal concerned quickly accommodated.
Very skillful in front of opposing goals, the French international was illustrated by his lucidity in the last gesture, as evidenced by his 5 goals scored in only 6 Ligue 1 matches.
Involved in 9 achievements, Dimitri Payet is the 3rd most decisive player in the league behind Kylian Mbappé and Ludovic Ajorque.
Symbol of success at all times, Dimitri Payet has finally found the net on a free kick.
A long famine stopped facing Lens.
With the return of the Polish striker against Lorient, the Reunionese has found a more traditional position of playmaker. In a balanced match, OM was able to count on a Dimitri Payet of the great evenings.
Author of two assists, Dimitri Payet is behind his team's four goals.
The leader is quite simply the best decisive passer in Ligue 1 since the 2007-2008 season.
A masterful performance which perfectly illustrates his start to the season.
Performance that can allow him to find the Blues?
This is what Jérôme Rothen thinks: “
A Payet in this condition, Didier, you have to call him back.
There is no stronger than him in number 10 in this positioning.
"
Performance linked to the trust that reigns between the playmaker and his Argentinian technician.
The emerging romance between Jorge Sampaoli and Dimitri Payet is bearing fruit.
Passed by Sevilla FC and the Argentine selection, the Olympian coach is under the spell of his captain.
“
He plays at a very high level because of his qualities, he is one of the best players I have worked with in my career.
He is the technical leader, the key player of this team.
He sets himself very high challenges, and so far he is succeeding.
"
Same story for the main concerned, seduced by the methods deployed by the OM coach.
“
In fact, we spoke once and we won't need to do it again. He just asked me to be myself and be happy.
»He confided in an interview with
the team
. By also making a small comparison with another Argentinian technician who was extremely important to him, Marcelo Bielsa. “With Sampaoli, there is more dialogue
. He's closer to the players, he even messes with us sometimes. We can exchange. If the executives think that this or that should be corrected, he knows how to listen.
"
Author of 8 goals and 10 assists in 17 matches since Sampaoli took office in February 2021, Dimitri Payet has found a smile with the former coach of Chile after having experienced an extremely complicated end of the year 2020. So contested by some of the supporters, the French international had made efforts to find better form.
Despite everything, Dimitri Payet is 34 years old and has a harder time having physical problems.
Injured twice since the start of the season, Payet must be spared, but his absence has a considerable influence on his team's play.
"
I want him to always be there, we don't take any special precautions with him, but sometimes worries prevent him from being there,
" Sampaoli underlines.
A symbiosis between the coach and his player which brings Payet closer to his personal goal, namely to reach 100 goals and 100 assists in Ligue 1. Currently, the native of Saint-Pierre has scored 95 goals and distilled 96 offerings.
A crucial week
With only 2 points scored in 2 days, OM are obliged to obtain a result on the lawn of Lazio this Thursday.
The Europa League is close to the heart of OM and its flagship player, finalists of the competition in 2018 against Atlético Madrid.
Second best player of this edition, Dimitri Payet hopes to return to success in order to position himself well for qualification.
But the Reunionese also has in the sights the Classic against the PSG which is held this Sunday.
Worthy representative of OM, the one who declares himself "
Marseille now, and for life
" says he is ready to face the leader of the championship.
“
It will be a Champions League match, we will fight with our weapons.
"
Decisive in the first leg last year, Payet will want to put an end to a series of nine consecutive seasons without success for OM against their historic rival, at the Stade Vélodrome.
