‘He understands football’ – Roberto De Zerbi on Brighton loanee Matt O’Riley | OneFootball

After three matches with Olympique de Marseille, Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Matt O’Riley (24) is starting to find his feet with Les Olympiens. Roberto De Zerbi was complimentary of the Danish midfielder during his pre-match press conference ahead of OM’s trip to Strasbourg on Friday evening, attended by Get French Football News. “He’s a player we were following along with Medhi Benatia for a while, he’s played very well for Celtic as well as for Brighton,” said De Zerbi on Thursday afternoon. “We were already set to sign him when I was there [at Brighton], and there were big teams from the Champions League who were also trying to sign him as well.”“He’s someone that understands football and knows how to play different positions,” added De Zerbi. “He played well on Madrid even if he started on the back foot – but he compliments Højbjerg really well. He does the simple things, in the right way.”O’Riley has already played in several positions for OM so far. Against Real Madrid he was positioned higher up the pitch in a number 10 spot, whilst against Paris Saint-Germain (1-0) he was in a box-to-box role alongside Højbjerg and was one of the players who had to run the most for De Zerbi’s side during the first win for OM against PSG at the Vélodrome in Ligue 1 since 2011.GFFN | George Boxall – reporting from La Commanderie, Marseille.