'Have you ever seen him work like today?' - Roberto De Zerbi aims backhanded compliment at Mason Greenwood as ex-Man Utd forward plays key role again in Marseille win over Brest

The ex-Manchester United winger added another goal to his tally in that contest, taking him to 19 in Ligue 1 this season - as he matched the debut campaign efforts of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba at Stade Velodrome.

Greenwood also teed up Amine Gouiri for one of the three efforts in his hat-trick - a stunning overhead kick - and appears to have earned full favour again with his manager after seeing questions of his attitude result in a recent spell on the bench.

De Zerbi told DAZN of the performance from his team in a 4-1 victory: “The players are happy... have you ever seen Mason Greenwood work like today? It was the first time. You have to give the players credit. Sometimes you lose points because of bad attitudes, but not because they're not good guys.”

Marseille started with a 4-2-3-1 system against Brest, as De Zerbi tinkered with his tactical approach again. He added: “The Marseille press pushed me to change my system! If you play with four at the back with Mason Greenwood as a winger, you lose defensively. I have to adapt. I'd like to have 90% possession, I suffer on the bench. But I understand that these players have certain characteristics.

“In the last few home games, I saw that we didn't have the same energy with the ball, we had lost something. We had to change something. When I understood that, I thought about it every day to try something different.

“I'm not going to change for the sake of change, we're not in a casino going from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3. I change when I understand that it's the right time, that the team needs it to find different combinations and different tactical options.”

Marseille remain second in the Ligue 1 table and on course for Champions League qualification. The chasing pack have, however, bunched up behind them, meaning that there is little margin for error from De Zerbi’s side across their final three fixtures.