Last Saturday, Ben Arfa was allowed to fill in for three minutes for Lille, which did not go further than a goalless draw against Bordeaux. After the match, Ben Arfa is said to have erupted in anger in the dressing room, according to French media. “We play too defensively,” the attacking midfielder lashed out at coach Jocelyn Gourvennec. “We don’t play as a team competing for European football. We are not Guingamp!”
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Words that obviously did not go down well with his coach, who immediately removed him from the match selection. “From my position as coach, I have to intervene if something happens that can drive the team and the dressing room apart,” Gourvennec said at his press conference. He also spoke of ‘an incident’ in the locker room, calling it tordu (disturbed).
Ben Arfa then reacted furiously via social media. “You call me crazy? You and the chairman are the most insane of them all!” Ben Arfa’s Instagram page said. “Your problem is incompetence. go LOSCWe don’t play relegation football here.”
With those statements, Ben Arfa made himself impossible with the French national champion. The club has launched a disciplinary investigation and Ben Arfa’s contract may be terminated immediately.
Lille, last season’s champion of France, is only seventh in Ligue 1 and still has to fight very hard for a European ticket. A move to Angers is scheduled for Sunday.
(Source: Het Nieuwsblad)