[Albion] Roberto De Zerbi wanted to join the best — then they overlooked him

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Altered State

Member
Feb 19, 2008
83
Olney, Bucks
Bayern Munich appears to be back on the table.

RDZ does need to restore his reputation, though, and a great season with us in 24/25 would do that. He'll have to work to Bloom's plan, and if he's a top coach he'll succeed while doing that.
 


Ike and Tina Burner

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2019
457
"like Ruben Amorim, another rising star of the next generation, he gave the impression he had outgrown his current employers"

I would actually say Ruben Amorim is a good example to show how well behaved De Zerbi has been. The bloke, or somebody in his camp, seems to be feeding Romano crap about him being desperate to leave. Pretty tame compared to Roberto's shoulder shrugging in press conferences.
 




Austrian Gull

Well-known member
Feb 5, 2009
2,470
Linz, Austria
Bayern is still not impossible - they have been turned down by their first four choices. RDZ might get it because of that.
 










METALMICKY

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2004
6,150
True. But I'm not sure the Indy would have gone with the headline: "Roberto de Zerbi wanted to join the best - then he pissed on his own chips"

Currently certainly dribbling on them. Zero points from our remaining games which is distinctly possible would be full flow and even Bayern and the Italian clubs would be looking elsewhere
 


Milano

Well-known member
Aug 15, 2012
3,425
Sussex but not by the sea
At the end of the day the club were/are offering him better pay, but I'd wager the balance is they want to increase his departure compensation terms and increase the contract length. So he needed to negotiate rather than not sign it. This has become an unwelcome sideshow which must be affecting the players, just look at Klopp and LFC.
It would also have been better in hindsight if the club hadn't made public the fact that they'd offered this new contract (if it was the club?)
 




Acker79

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2008
31,921
Brighton
Either I'm reading it wrong or there's an inexplicable dig at Sussex in there.

Perhaps it would have been a new addition to Brighton’s fixture list this season. Instead, with Albion out of Europe, slipping into the lower half of the Premier League, De Zerbi may be facing up to spending next spring in Sussex.
And if there are worse fates, if it is an exaggeration to say he has a reputation to rebuild, for some there may be hubristic element to De Zerbi’s fall.

If there are worse fates than spending next spring in Sussex? C'mon. It's not that bad.
 


Eeyore

Colonel Hee-Haw of Queen's Park
NSC Patron
Apr 5, 2014
23,810
There's some interesting stuff in there, but the journo offers no actual evidence for the headline's main assumption.
Quite, there is no actual evidence that he was ever a serious consideration for any of them.
 






Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
15,014
True. But I'm not sure the Indy would have gone with the headline: "Roberto de Zerbi wanted to join the best - then he pissed on his own chips"
I thought, like me, @Guinness Boy was doubting the '...wanted to leave...' bit, as opposed to the part about being overlooked.

They seem to be basing that on nothing more than 'impressions'.

'...he gave the impression he had outgrown his current employers, that he deserved better.'

'De Zerbi has to combat the impression he got ahead of himself.'
 


Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
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Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
I thought, like me, @Guinness Boy was doubting the '...wanted to leave...' bit, as opposed to the part about being overlooked.
Indeed. There's no evidence for that at all.

Of course, equally if Bayren Munich or Liverpool DID want him we can't exactly compete with either.

Total non-story from that point of view, but there is some nice balance in there regarding our poor form and attributing it across injuries, player sales and RDZ'a coaching foibles, which is sometimes missed on NSC.
 


Stato

Well-known member
Dec 21, 2011
6,649
The premise in the headline is a massive assumption, unsupported by anything in the article. Boil it down to what is known and what is inferred or presumed, let's say fact and guesswork:

We've stopped scoring goals: Fact;
European games seemed to be RDZ's destiny but now he might have to lump being stuck here: Guesswork;
He gave the impression that he'd outgrown us: Guesswork;
He needs to get results: Fact;
In order to be considered for jobs that meet his ambitions: Guesswork;
Getting stuffed won't impress potential employers: Fact:
Getting thrashed in Rome was the result of mistakes/inexperience throughout the organisation and injuries: Intepretation but hard to not say Fact;
He's been working with a weaker starting 11 this year: Fact;
RSZ hadn't realised what our model was: I'd say guesswork, but from his repeated public pronouncements of what our model is, just Wrong:
RDZ's approach comes with inherent risks: Fact (as do all strategies);
We ain't making Europe; Guesswork, but a decidedly educated guess that we'll call Fact:
Will he stay or will he go? Will that be his choice or the club's? Does he want to go? Deos he want to stay? If he does want to go, is it partly his fault that he isn't going - Not information, just ponderings;

Look at just the green bits and it's not a story. We all knew that already and it could be summed up in 'we're going through a tough moment' which he tells them in every press conference. Everything else is opinion, conjecture or just wrong.
 






Iggle Piggle

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2010
5,411
Indeed. There's no evidence for that at all.

Of course, equally if Bayren Munich or Liverpool DID want him we can't exactly compete with either.

Total non-story from that point of view, but there is some nice balance in there regarding our poor form and attributing it across injuries, player sales and RDZ'a coaching foibles, which is sometimes missed on NSC.

Where I'd disagree is that there is at the very least circumstantial evidence that he isn't exactly whistling Good Old Sussex by the Sea when he wakes up and donning his Peter Ward top. The moody Press conferences, the unsigned contract and the performances on the pitch for a start. Jolly is also right that we are weaker than we were last year - especially in centre mid - and it's not all down to RDZ but if he did want to leave I'm not sure some of his pressers would have convinced the egotistical "I'm right" owners that he is the right fit.
 




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