Roberto De Zerbi produced his thesis on Footballing ideas at Italy’s national coaching academy in Florence.
He stayed true to his philosophies that were once his thoughts from attacking-midfielder to coaching.
Former Liverpool and England midfielder Adam Lallana comments on De Zerbi’s resignation that the 44-year-old had “just made football (make) so much more sense to me since he’s been here.”
Skipper Lewis Dunk told the reporters, “I see football in a completely different way since the new manager has come in. The idea of what I did before, I thought it made sense. But when you learn something completely different, you believe in it, and this makes sense. You think: Why didn’t I know this?”
De Zerbi’s methods have remained intact even as the stakes increase. “The idea of the coaches is in progress every day, every week, every month,”
“You can change something, you can do something different, you change depending on the players, but the DNA is still the same.
The DNA of the play is me, my character, my history, my family, and what I was like as a player. I keep myself inside of my work.
I have the idea clear in my head. We are able, everyone, to speak about football, but speaking in detail in different situations, the changes, the solution, is different.”
Early stages of Roberto De Zerbi
De Zerbi grew up watching his local team- Brescia, with his dad, Alfredo. Brescia was one of the clubs that he played for, starting his career at AC Milan Academy and peaking at Napoli.
He only appeared in three Serie A leagues, but his experiences, good and bad, helped him to grow as a coach.
“I want to enjoy,” he says. “I’m living a dream, and to live a dream, you have to enjoy. The second is to keep the mentality when I was a player. I wanted to be a protagonist on the pitch. To be a protagonist, you have to keep the ball, to have the ball.”
De Zerbi’s way of footballing
De Zerbi’s style revolves around attracting opponents who press high or low and, at that right moment with the right movement, choosing to pass.
“The fans pay for their season tickets, and when we play with the shirt, we are playing for them, for the club, for the people who work inside. They don’t play on the pitch, but they work for the club and the fans…we can change teams, but the fans stay forever.
We have to know the importance of the fans and to respect the club.” he says during an interview.
De Zerbi constantly thinks about his ideas through his love for the game. Tony Bloom, Brighton’s owner-chairman, describes De Zerbi as being “addicted to football,” which is, in fact, an accurate statement.
“Sincerely, if I love working in football, if I love watching the game on TV, if I love speaking with my staff or other people about football…it’s not work, it’s not a job, it’s a passion.”
“There’s not a right time to show your passion — passion is 24 hours a day. It’s not a problem. If I want to enjoy it, I speak about football. If I want to work, I speak about football.”
De Zerbi’s version of Brighton has been defying expectations. It is an addiction that is reaping rich dividends for Brighton.
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