OM got their hands on the rare gem. At least that’s Maxime Lopez’s point of view. The Marseille kid knew Roberto De Zerbi far from the grounds of the Robert Louis-Dreyfus training center: in Sassuolo. And while the Italian coach inherited the reins of the Olympique de Marseille squad, Lopez painted a flattering portrait of him.
Roberto DeZerbi settled in the heart of the Marseille city on June 29. Moment when the three-season contract he signed was made official by the communications department of theMarseille Olympic. After a great start and a precise game idea last August, the team of By Zerbi encountered some difficulties against theALSO Auxerre (1-3) and against the PSG (0-3) in particular. But nothing to push Maxime Lopez to change his mind regarding the coaching qualities of the Italian coach he worked with at Sassuolo.
“De Zerbi is a genius. He wants you to have fun.”
At the microphone of Sky Italia, the ex-player of OM and Sassuolo did not hide his admiration towards the new master of thought ofMarseille Olympic who is none other than a genius in his eyes. “De Zerbi is a genius. He wants you to have fun. I spent eight months with him. If I think about it… Well, we had a “phenom” team. Berardi, who I consider to be the strongest footballer I have played with. Raspadori, who was very young, Caputo, whom you Italians respect so much. But also Boga, Traorè, Locatelli… Too much, too strong.”
“If I had stayed the following season, we would have reached Europe”
At the end of the 2020/2021 season and after three years spent at the Italian club, Robert De Serve left Sassuolo for the Shakhtar Donetsk. In just one year spent under his services, Maxime Lopez was convinced that the resident of Serie A could have gone for a European place the following season. “When he left, I told him in confidence: ‘Coach, if I had stayed the following season, we would have reached Europe. Maybe not in the Champions League, but still in the top places.” The president Pablo Longoria and his sports advisor Medhi Benatia therefore made the right choice by entrusting the reins of the new project to Roberto By Zerbi.
