‘There’s a touch of Guardiola in him, he breaths football and life’ – Marseille head of football Medhi Benatia on working with Roberto De Zerbi | OneFootball

Medhi Benatia, Roberto De Zerbi, and Pablo Longoria: the trio in charge of Olympique de Marseille’s so-called ‘three-year project’. It’s safe to say there’s been ups and downs, but Medhi Benatia has today sang the Italian coaches praises and revealed the details of their working relationship, in an interview with Italian paper Corriere Dello Sport.“We talk until 2am, often on video calls because the coach wants to see people face-to-face. At any hour,” revealed Marseille’s head of football and a former Juventus defender. “Working with him is just exciting and stimulating, he lives for football, just like me.”De Zerbi won’t feature on Marseille’s bench against Strasbourg tonight, after picking up a red card in the final minutes during OM’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain last Monday. His assistant, the calm and steady former Ukraine technical coach Andrea Maldera will be on the touchline. “His passion is overflowing; you should see how he prepares matches. There’s a touch of Guardiola in him, but trust me, he’s unique. He breaths football and he breaths life. In that order.”Les Olympiens travel to Stade de la Meinau to face Strasbourg hoping to finish the weekend closer to the top of the Ligue 1 table. GFFN | George Boxall