Present at a press conference 48 hours before the trip to Nantes, Roberto De Zerbi obviously did not escape a question about last week's Classic lost to PSG (0-3). The Italian wants to move on quickly: “Greenwood and Rowe started the warm-up after the others but both are fine. This week in training, after the defeat against PSG, it was difficult to digest. It weighed on us even the following days but we trained well and we are ready for the next match to go well” he explained in comments reported by La Provence.
A defeat that weighed!
One thing is certain, it is not this debacle that will make him doubt his players: “All my players respect the OM jersey. It can happen that you don't have a good match, that was the case, but they respect the club and I would put my hand in the fire to defend them. I will never question their good faith. Maybe there will be a change at the player level but not in the game. When we have more of the ball, we create more situations, we are more dangerous and for me, success will come through that (.. .) I have a team that is strong but to find the balance, as I said, it is a process that has just started. We have to be able to control the game better and play with high pressure, which I didn't see against PSG and I didn't like it. But I am confident that we will get there. I don't know when but I know we will get there.“
Finally, he concluded on his team's defensive problems: “Defensively, we can do better but we don't defend badly. Often we create goals against ourselves. What I expect is more personality on the ball and for my defenders to be aggressive. Let them attack the match and not suffer it. I think we have to win, like all matches to stay at the top of the rankings, that's all that interests me. If we win, we stay third and we make 20 points in 10 matches. Playing for OM is a privilege, it shouldn't be stressful and it's something that my players share with me. We can get more points but it's not catastrophic and I think that for a team that has been completely rebuilt, we're off to a good start to the season..”
