what should OM expect from Roberto De Zerbi?

It was a real bombshell that hit footballing news on the eve of the start of Euro 2024 in Germany. Still looking for a coach, Olympique de Marseille surprised everyone by managing to attract the Italian coach, Roberto De Zerbi (45 years old), into its ranks. Indeed, the native of Brescia has officially reached an agreement with the Marseille club. A real magic trick performed by the duo Pablo Longoria – Medhi Benatia who completed this extraordinary arrival in 48 hours. While Sérgio Conceição had been expected for several weeks, it was ultimately De Zerbi, although on the shelves of AC Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, FC Barcelona, ​​Chelsea and even Bayern Munich, who was packing his bags on the Canebière. A young and modern coach renowned as a fine tactician, RDZ is one of the most coveted coaches in this great waltz of the benches. Without qualifying for a European competition next season, the Phocéens achieved the impossible by reaching an agreement with Roberto De Zerbi who had nevertheless refused big teams due to high salary demands and compensation to be paid to Brighton.

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Born in Brescia, northern Italy, Roberto De Zerbi began his playing career, an hour and a half west of his hometown, with AC Milan. Ultimately, he failed to break through in the Rossoneri jersey, being loaned out to lower league clubs such as Monza, Padova and Avellino before joining Salernitana in 2001. He later played for Foggia, Arezzo, Catania and Napoli, with whom he made his debut in Serie A. An attacking midfielder, he finished his career at CFR Cluj in Romania before returning to Italy in 2013 for a final stint at Trento. In total, he played nearly 300 league matches as a player before becoming an outstanding young tactician. Starting on the bench of US Darfo Boario in Serie D, Roberto De Zerbi then managed Foggia in Serie C, missing out on promotion to the play-offs. His debut in Serie A was with Palermo in 2016. He only lasted 12 weeks, longer than his successor Eugenio Corini who resigned after 56 days. Then he joined promoted Benevento in October 2017 who had a terrible start to the season in the elite. Despite a very solid style of play applauded in Italy, he was unable to avoid relegation. Then comes his famous experience at Sassuolo which lasted three seasons during which the Neroverdi produced one of the most beautiful games in Italy, twice finishing 8th in the Serie A standings. And finally the Ukrainian epic with Shakhtar Donestk and the English adventure in Brighton.

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An attack-oriented tactic

Despite his reputation, Roberto De Zerbi has always rejected the idea of ​​being a philosopher of the game, admitting to mixing his own ideas with those of the coaches who inspire him, notably Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa. He is therefore best known for an attacking style of play, regardless of the opposition, which requires a great capacity for adaptation and anticipation from his players. His teams look to play quickly from the back when their opponents press high. But his players are more composed and calm in possession of the ball when they face a low block. Its tactical objective is focused on the constant search for spaces. To advance the ball, Roberto De Zerbi aims to create numerical superiority situations of 3 against 2 and 2 against 1. The other important element in the Italian tactician’s game plan is to control the pace of the game: “I always tell my players to remember their childhood, playing on dirt and dirt pitches, where the fun came from simply possessing the ball. This joy must continue, even at the professional level. It’s about controlling the game, progressing with the ball. It doesn’t matter if you lose sometimes, as long as you never give up on the beauty of the game. I never criticize a player for failing to do what I asked them to try. What irritates me is when he fails and then shirks his responsibilities”, had clarified the Italian coach about his tactical method. His teams are masters at changing the tempo with a few quick passes to break the lines after a long sequence of possession. In these situations, central defenders play a leading role by remaining stationary with the ball to spread the play and play in multiple areas.

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It was no coincidence that his Sassuolo side recorded the highest possession rate in Serie A in 2020/21 – when they missed out on qualification for the Europa Conference League on goal difference alone. – and the 3rd in 2019/20. During the 2021/22 season disrupted by the War in Ukraine, De Zerbi’s Shakhtar Donetsk also established itself in terms of ball possession. He has used a 4-2-3-1 structure in his recent experiments, with the exception of a 4-3-3 at the start of the 2019 campaign, shortly after taking over at Sassuolo. The double pivot is another key to its preparation. Whether on set pieces or in open play, Roberto De Zerbi places a double pivot in depth to try to attract the opposition up the pitch. His team then looks to play short, further encouraging the opposition to press, before circulating the ball around the outside and generally looking to find the full-backs hugging the touchlines. The goalkeeper acts as a third central defender during this build-up, allowing the full-backs to move up even higher. Once the ball arrives on the wings, it is then returned to the centre-forward or number 10 in the center, one of whom will have come towards the ball. The deep position occupied by the double pivot creates space in the center of the field for the center forward or the 10 to receive the leather.

Emphasis on defensive pressing

Roberto De Zerbi’s teams place a lot of importance on being aggressive without the ball. The central positioning of many players, creating a numerical advantage in midfield, creates good conditions in defensive transitions. Having many players close to the ball after losing possession means that multiple players can strive to regain possession quickly. The Italian coach often asks his players to adopt a man-to-man defensive posture to put vigorous pressure on the opposition. However, the biggest weakness of its defensive structure is the risks taken on several sequences, sometimes being very open to opposing counterattacks. Roberto De Zerbi likes to have a lot of players in central and attacking positions, which helps his teams in counter-pressing. If they do not regain possession during this transition phase, they often open up opportunities for dangerous counterattacks. Although they encourage their teams to defend with an aggressive and intense press, their teams concede far too many chances as a result.

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In 2019/20, Sassuolo had the seventh worst defensive record in Serie A despite being eighth in the table, also conceding the most headed goals in the entire league. His attacking football brings in goals, but this leads to too many chances at the other end of the pitch. Opponents often managed to advance in wide areas, attacking the spaces left by the full-backs who were set up to press high. The tactical genius of Roberto De Zerbi no longer needs to be proven: he produces attractive, offensive and effective football, but which can be very energy-consuming, meticulous and complex to assimilate. There is no doubt that Pablo Longoria and Medhi Benatia will have to give him profiles capable of working over the long term to understand and perform in a rigorous and inflexible system. Note that the Italian tactician knows how to capitalize on and maximize the potential of his players. Young people to develop like Manuel Locatelli, Jérémie Boga, Giacomo Raspadori, Pervis Estupiñán, Moisés Caicedo and Evan Ferguson, but also veterans looking for a second wind such as Francesco Caputo, Gian Marco Ferrari, Giangiacomo Magnani, Danny Welbeck, James Milner and Pascal Groß can attest to this. Marseille has gained an incredible tactician, but one who will have to be given the weapons to deploy its score.