Roberto De Zerbi has been appointed as the new Brighton coach, here are the five things you may not know about the Italian tactician.

The ex-Sassuolo boss has signed a four-year deal with the Seagulls and will be unveiled to the media on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II.

De Zerbi is one of the most exciting Italian coaches. He brings an offensive mentality to his team, usually deploying a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation. His role model is Pep Guardiola, who he met in Manchester last month. Football Italia brings you the five things you may not know about the new Brighton boss.

Playing career

The 43-year-old is a former attacking midfielder. A product of Milan academy, he only played three games in Serie A and spent most of his playing career in Serie B, where he collected 20 goals in 132 appearances.

He racked up 60 appearances with Foggia, 42 with Napoli and 35 with Catania. In 2010, he joined Romanian side Cluj, managing five appearances in the Champions League. He played five games in the group stage, including two against Bayern Munich and Claudio Ranieri’s Roma.

Guardiola as his role model

The Manchester City boss is De Zerbi’s role model. Back in June 2021, days after Chelsea’s Champions League victory against the Citizens, his quotes caused outrage in Italy: “[Thomas] Tuchel is a great coach, but I would rather lose the Champions League Final with Guardiola on the bench than win it with another coach.”

Last month, De Zerbi travelled to Manchester for dinner with the ex-Barcelona boss and other Italian football personalities, including Roma legend Daniele De Rossi. Pep is an admirer of De Zerbi and praised Sassuolo’s attacking mentality four years ago during an event organized by La Gazzetta dello Sport in Trento.

Super League

De Zerbi was one of the few Italian voices against the European Super League that 12 elite European clubs launched in April 2021. He was in charge of Sassuolo at that time and the Neroverdi were about to face Milan in Serie A. The Rossoneri were among the teams initially taking part in the competition.

“I don’t like to play against Milan because they are part of these three clubs, but if [Sassuolo’s CEO Giovanni] Carnevali forces me, of course, I will go,” he said on the eve of the game.

“I am so angry I spoke about this with the lads for 30 minutes yesterday.

“Football belongs to everyone and is meritocratic. They released a statement at midnight with their new website. It was like putting their flags in a territory they had taken from someone else.

“It’s like the son of a labourer can’t dream of becoming a surgeon, a lawyer or a doctor. It’s as if they had told me as a kid in the schoolyard that the ball’s mine. I’m taking it. Football has a role in society that’s different from other sports.”

Sassuolo didn’t only play against Milan, but managed to beat the Rossoneri 2-1 at San Siro thanks to a Giacomo Raspadori brace.

War in Ukraine

De Zerbi signed a two-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2021 after three years at Sassuolo. He was forced to flee the country in February 2022, days after the Russian invasion. De Zerbi was in Ukraine during the first day of the conflict and initially refused to leave his hotel in Kyiv.

“I am here to do sport and I could not turn my back on the fans,” he told Sportitalia on the first day of the war. There are 13 Brazilian players here and my staff. We could have returned home, but we preferred to wait. Last night we woke up to the noise of explosions.

“There are no heroes here, but our job puts us in front of responsibilities. We were supposed to play on Saturday, so I could not run away.”

Once all his foreign players left the country, he also returned to Italy with his staff. “We are at home, we are happy because we returned to our families, but we won’t be really happy until the people of Ukraine are free,” he told Sky Sport upon his return to Italy.

“We are really sorry for the people of Ukraine, who are giving a huge lesson to Western countries in terms of pride, dignity and sense of belonging.”

No Bologna talks out of respect for Sinisa Mihajlovic

De Zerbi could have replaced Sinisa Mihajlovic at Bologna after the ex-defender was sacked earlier this month. However, he refused to even begin talks with the Rossoblu out of respect for their former coach, who is being treated for leukaemia for the second time in three years.

“I’d like to, but I can’t do it after Sinisa. Money can’t buy everything,” De Zerbi allegedly told Bologna directors who had contacted him before putting Thiago Motta under contract.

The story was confirmed by Mihajlovic’s wife Arianna on Instagram less than two weeks ago.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector