Michel slams Marseille as ´too nice´

Marseille coach Michel slammed his team as “too nice” after they succumbed to a 2-1 loss at home to Ligue 1 newcomers Angers.

Michel was furious with the first-half performance at the Stade Velodrome, with Angers reaching the interval 1-0 ahead courtesy of Thomas Mangani’s 38th-minute penalty.

Angers midfielder Arnold Bouka Moutou received a long throw from goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle and was allowed a free run into the box before he was clumsily tripped by Marseille’s Remy Cabella.

Mangani converted from the spot and Romain Thomas’ 70th-minute header ensured Michel Batshuayi’s strike was only a consolation.

“We were very bad in the first half. You can’t start a match like that,” said Michel.

“We were too nice and sometimes there’s no explanation. I didn’t expect us to play like that.

“The idea was to play the way we did in the second half. Without putting in a great performance, Angers took the three points, because we let them play.”

The result sees Angers sit fifth in the  table on 15 points, while Marseille are seven points adrift in 14th.

Marseille have not won in three games and their next test is Slovan Liberec in the Europa League before they visit Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.