Leonardo Balerdi defends Roberto De Zerbi: ‘It’s not the coach’s fault, it’s us.’ | OneFootball

Roberto De Zerbi dropped a bombshell on Ligue 1 when he declared that he was ready to quit Olympique de Marseille after the club fell to a shocking 3-1 defeat at home to AJ Auxerre. The manager stated, “If I’m the problem, I’m ready to leave” in his post-match comments.

It was a statement that left Leonardo Balerdi (25) and Ismaël Koné (22) defending their manager in the mixed zone. Balerdi was keen to shift the blame away from the Italian head coach and onto the team. The club captain stated, “It’s not the coach’s fault, it’s us the players. We have to take responsibility. He made the effort, he gave us everything.”

The Argentine continued by criticising the attitudes of his teammates stating “Given tonight’s performance we don’t deserve to wear the shirt… I don’t know if it’s the pressure or something else… At the moment, we’re not enjoying it. Mistakes can happen in football, but something else is missing. It’s the attitude and a lot of other things I think.”

Ismaël Koné defends Marseille’s attitude and softens Roberto De Zerbi’s statement

Koné looked to temper the impact of De Zerbi’s statement. The Canadian midfielder who joined over the summer from Watford FC suggested that it was said “in the heat of the moment” and that “it hurts a lot for the players and staff alike. As you know, he’s passionate, so it hurts a lot.”

However, he was far less willing to blame the attitude of the team than his captain. Koné defended the effort of his teammates, “I train with these guys every day, and I think they want it. They want to wear this shirt, they want to represent the coach’s ideas. No one signs a professional contract to do bad things. We all have stakes [here] and we all love this club.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland