A super season
Roberto De Zerbi is enchanting the Premier League with his Brighton. Enough to be courted, the tabloids say, by Chelsea. And Inter too, in addition to Thiago Motta, have thought of him for the aftermath of Simone Inzaghi. In addition, the former Sassuolo coach also received compliments from Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola: “Brighton is the team that builds the game better in the world,” said the Catalan. “They offer a style of play that we are not used to.” Or even Jamie Carragher: «Brighton, in terms of quality, have the best ball possession in the league. It’s incredible what De Zerbi is doing and how he is doing it. I hope he stays at Brighton for a long time as I’d love to keep watching him.” Brighton, since the arrival of De Zerbi, is in fact the team that has had the most shots on goal in the Premier League (147), the second with the most ball possession (62.45%), the third with the most goals scored (43) and the third with the least number of shots, inside or outside, received (214).
De Zerbi as a footballer
De Zerbi, from Brescia, as a child started playing for the team in his neighborhood, the US Oratorio Mompiano. His technical qualities have not gone unnoticed by observers of the Milan who wanted him in his youth sector. He made his professional debut in 1998 for Monza, in Serie B. After various experiences in Serie C, he stood out in the 2004-2005 season in Serie B with Arezzo and then played for Catania, Napoli (with whom in 2007 he also made his debut in Serie A), in Brescia, in Avellino and also in Romania with Cluj.
Career on the bench
In 2013-2014 De Zerbi began his career on the bench at Darfo Boario. But he’s on bench of Foggia from 2014 to 2016, in C, which begins to be known and appreciated throughout Italy. In September 2016 he was called to coach Palermo in Serie A, the following year he led Benevento but it was in the three-year period at Sassuolo, from 2018 to 2021, that he consecrated himself as a top coach. Then in the 2021-2022 season he moved to Ukraine allo Shakhtar Donetsk. «I try to play against everyone with the same style and the same courage. We are all equal on the pitch and to win you need to score one more goal than your opponent. You don’t have to change your mentality depending on the rival you have in front of you», De Zerbi’s creed. Which some ago seemed very close to La Liga, in Las Palmas. But nothing came of it.
The war and farewell to Shakhtar
Then the start of the war in February 2022, the days of terror spent locked up in a hotel in Kiev and the painful farewell to Shakhtar. The foreign players managed to leave the country but the Ukrainian players remained. «Between 4 and 5 we were woken up by explosions, it’s the worst day of my life. We are a group with Brazilians, Ukrainians and us Italians: I don’t intend to return to my country before my players,” said De Zerbi. And so he did, not without difficulty: the then Foreign Minister Di Maio and the president of the FIGC Gravina mobilized to bring him back.
His nicknames
As a footballer he was nicknamed “The little genius» in homage to Dejan Savicevicnumber 10 of the European champion Milan in Athens, on 18 May 1994. Instead, in Foggia for everyone he was the “Light” for his technical qualities expressed as a footballer under the orders of Pasquale Marino and for having brought back to the Apulian city the desire players and the general public at the stadium.
Football idols
De Zerbi’s favorite footballer was Robert Mancini, despite having had people like Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Zvonimir Boban, Roberto Baggio close to Milan: «But from that group I brought with me the mentality of the collective rather than the class of the individual. It was lucky to meet them: on Sunday they won, yet on Tuesday we started from scratch. At Milanello you breathed seriousness, all-round sacrifice: that DNA has stayed with me », he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
The family and privacy
De Zerbi is married and has two children. His wife’s name is Elisa. But given his confidentiality and the lack of his social profiles, not much is known about him on a personal level. However, one day he made a joke about his wife: «Do I take care of market operations? Let’s say that when I like a player I try to make him feel important. My wife says I’ve never courted her as I do with a market target».
The rejection of Mihajlovic’s Bologna bench
When Bologna sack Sinisa Mihajlovic after four years, they immediately think of De Zerbi to replace him. But a no arrives: Roberto thought that the city, with which Sinisa had forged a particular bond especially during the years of his illness, would not have welcomed him. And, also out of respect for Mihajlovic, he refused the offer. Another matter would have been if the Serbian had resigned. A gesture particularly appreciated by Sinisa’s wife, Arianna, who wrote on her social networks: «Two great men. I hope that young people will learn from the teachings of these two giants. You can’t buy everything with money.”
