‘He was fake’ - Former Newcastle United player attacks manager and supporters
Achraf Lazaar has bizarrely attacked Newcastle United despite flopping following his arrival in 2016.
Former Newcastle United defender Achraf Lazaar has viciously attacked Rafa Benitez - and also took a swipe at the club’s supporters.
Toon fans could be forgiven for asking “who?” when asked about the Moroccan international. Signed in 2016, he made just four league appearances during his five-year stay on Tyneside.
Benitez bought Lazaar ahead of the Championship-winning campaign but preferred the dependable Paul Dummett at left-back. After being largely shunned in his debut season, the rest of his Newcastle career was spent on loan.
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‘A fake man’ - Achraf Lazaar
Five years after his Newcastle contract expired, Lazaar - effectively retired having been without a club since 2025 - has now slammed his former manager. The 34-year-old lambasted Benitez and admitted to enjoying several late nights on the town to cope with his on-field snubs.
"Personally, I didn't have a good relationship with him,” Lazaar told Flashscore. “Even though he had strongly pushed to sign me, at Newcastle he never gave me a real chance to play. In my first game, I was fouled a lot, and he immediately told me, 'This isn't Serie A'. I felt lost, I didn't speak English, and my former agent, after pocketing his cut of the transfer, had practically abandoned me.
"Benitez would play me once every three weeks: it's impossible to build match fitness like that. His training sessions were different: we never ran, it was just possession drills for 40 minutes and then home. At Palermo, I was flying, whereas at Newcastle I was getting tired immediately because I had lost my stamina.
"In England, they did a lot of gym work, and taking a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo's book, I started doing heavy lifting programs. I bulked up too much, and the muscle injuries started.
"I was incredibly stressed out because I went from being chased by the whole of Serie A and Lyon to warming the bench in the Championship. I used to go out at night with friends until two or three in the morning just to escape that situation, even though I didn't drink.
"Benitez used to tell me I didn't know when to play one or two touches and stopped me from taking men on. I once told him that if he wanted someone who was only good at passing, he shouldn't have signed me, considering he chased me when I had Inter, Milan, and Roma at my feet.
“He was a fake man. He used to badmouth Real Madrid players, saying it was their fault because on Thursdays they would fly to Marbella on private jets."
Achraf Lazaar swipe at Newcastle United fans
Lazaar also bizarrely took aim at Newcastle fans for a “cold” reception - claiming they never recognised him around the city. In an egotistical rant, the Toon flop fired another swipe at his teammates for blasting music in the dressing room.
"English football is the strongest in the world but, in Italy, it's a religion, and I'm sad that this feeling is fading today,” Lazaar added. “In England, despite playing for clubs like Newcastle, Watford, or Sheffield Wednesday, I didn't really feel like a footballer off the pitch.
"At Palermo, I was worshipped and pampered like a king. At Newcastle, instead, the fans were cold. The stadium was magnificent, always packed with 55,000 people, but on the street, no one knew who I was. I could drink a coffee next to them, and they'd barely say hello. I missed that beautiful Italian pressure where the fans give you hell if you lose.
"Furthermore, in England, before matches they would dance and blast music in the dressing room. I, on the other hand, needed silence and focus, I just needed to hear my studs on the floor."
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