“I have hot blood! I want to be at the heart of things, I experience training in my own way and in general I don’t like to be left behind!” Roberto De Zerbi has his method and applies it every day, like a passionate person. One or two balls in his hands, always in the middle of his players as soon as an opposition begins, the voice that carries and resonates on the heights of the Commanderie… Roberto De Zerbi imposes his style. The season is only just beginning, but the first weeks of training have quickly allowed the Italian technician to gain the support of the Marseille group.
“Guys, we play short, short, short… to suck in the opponent, and then we play long!”
Beyond the requirement and professionalism, another principle is non-negotiable in the eyes of Roberto De Zerbi: intensity. His sessions will not necessarily be long, but they will have to be rhythmic and will only drag on if he does not manage to get what he wants from his men. The training session open in full to the press on Monday was an illustration of this. Even if it means speaking loudly, stopping the game or kicking a ball in annoyance, De Zerbi wants technical quality and clean sequences. “Run, run, run… to suck in the opponent, and then we play long, guys!”: “A team that retreats is a team that will lose the ball!” In Italian, in English, sometimes with a few words of Spanish, the OM technician repeats his principles of play and this one is according to him essential: knowing how to keep control of the ball, under pressure and in small areas, to attract the opposing team and then take advantage of the free spaces.
Hojbjerg: “He gives us the keys and is very precise in what he asks”
“The coach insists a lot on this ability to get out of the opposing pressure in the most efficient way possible,” analyzes Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for RMC Sport. “Sometimes it comes from the goalkeeper, sometimes from the wings, but often from the middle. And he is a coach who always has a lot of ideas, who senses things and gives us the keys to success. He is a very gifted coach. I like his way of working, of putting in the necessary intensity, seriousness and pressure. It is easy to follow, because he is very precise in what he asks. We have a lot of fun with him and his staff.”
De Zerbi knows that his method will work if he has players who are mentally fresh, involved and determined to learn alongside him. “This radical change” within the squad, as De Zerbi called it, was therefore necessary to create a group and a real connection with his players. Hojbjerg has only been working with the Italian coach for a short time, but he is already won over: “He is also a man with a big heart. It didn’t surprise me, but I discovered a coach with whom it is a pleasure to work and live on a daily basis.”
An expanded staff where everyone knows their part
Guest on Génération After on RMC, Maxime Lopez, the former OM kid who spent a season under the orders of “RDZ”, was also ecstatic about the Italian coach and his human approach. “Humanly, he is exceptional with the players. When I arrived at Sassuolo, he suggested that we go and sleep at his place, to watch the matches together. On the pitch, he transforms, he activates a button and goes crazy. He is a temperamental character, capable of going crazy, but he doesn’t hit anyone, be careful! Sometimes he will shout at someone on his staff, to get a message across.” A staff… ultra-extended, where everyone knows their part. De Zerbi asks his assistants to be as close as possible to the workshops and the ball to guide the players if necessary and if the instructions are not respected. The Italian cannot tolerate mediocrity and a poorly performed exercise.
Very close and very frank with his players
Very tactile, De Zerbi talks a lot to his players, and promises that he will always defend them. It is thanks to this frankness in relationships that the OM coach also allows himself to be blunt without his statements. The Italian coach of OM confided this, at the beginning of the week, in an informal meeting with the press, in all relaxation: he also uses press conferences to get messages across. Clearly asking for more statistics from Amine Harit or Luis Henrique, naming precisely the culprits on a goal conceded (De Zerbi had explained the three errors by Harit, then Murillo and Balerdi during the second goal conceded against Reims, Editor’s note), demanding more assurance from Brassier or an awareness from Wahi on the fact that he is now at OM…
If Roberto De Zerbi says the terms clearly, it is because the speech has necessarily been made beforehand to the main interested parties. Always in the form and with dialogue and explanations. “The door to his office is always open when we need to talk”, appreciates a player. De Zerbi, who defines himself as someone who is whole, also bases his management on this healthy and sincere relationship with his locker room. A locker room that adheres. The Italian recently confided to his troops that he was satisfied or even surprised by their ability to quickly grasp his principles of play, and that it excited him enormously to have a group with a real margin of progression.
- RMC Sport
