Come back Roberto De Zerbi & save the Premier League from turbocharged Pulisball | OneFootball

Roberto De Zerbi appears to be reaching the end of the line at Marseille.

Ten days after rumours of his resignation swirled around the French media, De Zerbi suffered what might be his most damaging defeat yet – a dismal 5-0 defeat in Le Classique, a result that leaves their faint hopes of the Ligue 1 title in tatters.

It wasn’t so long ago that they’d been talked up as surprise challengers. They notched a rare victory over PSG in the reverse fixture back in September, while a superb run of eight wins from 10 Ligue 1 outings saw them neck-and-neck with the perennial champions come late November.

That run saw arguably the best realisation of De Zerbi-ball that we’ve seen to date. They stuck three or more goals past Lorient, Metz, Le Havre, Brest and Nice – all of whom couldn’t cope with the intensity of their high-risk, high-reward tactical approach.

Things were promising in the Champions League, too. They only needed to avoid complete disaster in the final two matches and they’d be through to the play-off round.

Even after a pair of stinking displays in their 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Club Brugge, Marseille were still going through in the final seconds of the League Phase.

Brugge even displayed a congratulatory message on their big screen, only for Benfica’s last-gasp goalkeeper madness to change everything.

That moment summed up what’s been an absolutely brutal 2026 for Marseille so far. The year began with a shock 2-0 defeat to Nantes. They then conceded an equaliser in the last second of the French Super Cup and went on to lose on penalties to PSG.

And now this. Marseille looked absolutely shellshocked as PSG toyed with them at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening. They conceded five. It could’ve been more.

“It’s a rough patch… we put in a good performance against Rennes and Lens, and then it’s total despair. Once again, I apologise to the fans,” De Zerbi told reporters.

“We’ll talk with [sporting director Medhi] Benatia and Longoria to understand what we can do. Because these defeats hurt, especially in Paris, especially in this way.”

De Zerbi has often spoken of his admiration for Marcelo Bielsa, one of his greatest influences, who had a similar time of it at the Stade Velodrome.

Bielsa’s Marseille, at their best, were a force of nature. They won eight successive Ligue 1 outings early in his tenure and spent 14 matchweeks at the top of the table, but flamed out spectacularly.

Les Olympiens actually recovered to win their last four matches of Bielsa’s one and only season, but the damage had been done. They succumbed to a desperately disappointing fourth-place finish in the end.

At least the apprentice can now say that he’s following in the footsteps of his great master.

There’s still plenty to salvage from this season. Marseille are still in the Coupe de France. After PSG’s shock exit, they’re arguably the favourites. The title is gone, but Champions League qualification remains eminently achievable.

But you look at the past few weeks, and it’s impossible to escape the feeling that we’re approaching the endgame. As with Bielsa in his lowest moments, you don’t see him coming back from this.

Ligue 1’s loss could soon be the Premier League’s gain. Half of the league could be looking for a new manager come the summer, and the idiosyncratic Italian has constantly been linked with a return.

English football is crying out for De Zerbi’s singularly dogmatic approach. Be it exhilarating success or dramatic failure, his football never fails to captivate.

The Premier League’s new normal has become stale in his absence. Set pieces. Long throw-ins. Marginal gains. Winning your duels. Yawn.

English football is begging for an iconoclast to break the mould and deliver us from this turbocharged Pulisball.

We can’t see that being Bielsa himself – at the age of 70, and a bit busy