De Zerbi: Marseille is special like Foggia, backing Gasperini for title | OneFootball

There's a bit of Foggia and a bit of Milan, all mixed up in a pot where the scent of Marseille prevails. "I don't know if I'm the ideal coach for them, but Marseille is the ideal place for me."

Olympique Marseille, De Zerbi: "Here it's special like... Foggia. The championship? I root for Gasp. On Napoli..."

The words, given in a long interview with Paolo Tomaselli of Corriere della Sera, are from Roberto De Zerbi. An intense interview in which the OM coach talks about everything, from the economic difficulties encountered by his family to the signing of his first real contract with Milan, then to the years spent away from his family in Romania and, today, in France. Always with his methods, which are not only strictly tactical because, he says, "if you see each other every day you can't only talk about 4-4-2".

Indeed, and so De Zerbi in Marseille has become a bit of everything. Coach and friend, confidant and psychologist when, for example, it was necessary to shed the fear of playing at the Velodrome, with the retreat and runs at five in the morning: "Probably - he says - it was the most beautiful thing I've done, the one closest to me as a person: I listened to and understood the discomfort of the boys, who at home couldn't perform. I did something strong, to get them to know each other. And then I held three meetings: in one we brought out the negative feelings we had at the Velodrome; the next day each player told the values they identify with, we wrote them down and hung them up; then we showed a video about the fans at the Velodrome, to make them understand who they had in front of them."

But Foggia and Milan we were saying. Marseille is special "like Foggia 10 years ago: the way of living football is the same and it suits me. Marseille is the ideal place for me because of the value it gives to football: all social contradictions are forgotten for 90 minutes, you perceive it". Then Milan: "Milan's youth sector was a school. Maldini, Baresi, Tassotti and all those great players taught me the ethics of football, the value of training, the fact of training harder after a victory, respect within a group, starting with the schedules. I feel like a son of Milanello, of Milan, the real one".

In his statements, De Zerbi highlighted how Serie A is experiencing a phase of great balance and competitiveness, particularly praising the work of Gian Piero Gasperini with Atalanta.

"I'm happy for Gasperini, who at Inter paid for faults not his own. I kind of root for him, because they had labeled him as someone who couldn't sit on a big bench. And yet he can be anywhere."

The former Sassuolo and Brighton coach then analyzed the championship race, indicating his favorites: "Napoli is more than alive. Inter is perhaps still the strongest. Milan is playing well. It's nice to see so much competitiveness."

De Zerbi's words confirm his constant attention to the Italian championship, despite being currently engaged abroad, in an ambitious project with Marseille.

The reference to the Rowe-Rabiot brawl: "I've never seen anything like it"

In the course of the interview, De Zerbi also commented on the incident involving his players, Rowe and Rabiot, protagonists of a heated clash in the Marseille locker room.

"A brawl like the Rowe-Rabiot one I've never seen. And I come from the street." The coach then explained how the French club handled the situation firmly: "It did us good, because the club chose to do without Rabiot, who didn't want to take a step back."

A clear stance, which confirms De Zerbi's direct style and leadership, always careful to defend the cohesion of the group.

De Zerbi and the vision of football: between passion and method

Roberto De Zerbi, today at the helm of one of the hottest squares in Europe, continues to represent one of the most appreciated Italian coaches internationally. His philosophy of play, based on intensity, building from the bottom and tactical courage, has left a deep mark on every team he has coached, from Sassuolo to Brighton, to his current adventure in Ligue 1.

The coach has never hidden his connection with Italian football and his interest in the growth of the movement: his words on Napoli and Inter reflect the awareness of a coach who knows well the culture and technical value of Serie A.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.