Roberto De Zerbi reckons lots of top-class coaches are “a bit crazy” and claimed: “I think I might be one of the craziest.”
The new Brighton boss has been mentored by Marcelo Bielsa and Pep Guardiola - and shares their obsession with the beautiful game. But the Italian, 43, has shown there is method in his madness by winning Albion’s last three games - including against Chelsea and Arsenal - after taking over from Graham Potter in September.
“I think now it’s already my team but I follow perfection and perfection doesn’t exist,” he said. “So my work is never finished. My idea is that I would like to achieve perfection. Is that the road to insanity? Many coaches are a bit crazy and I think I might be one of the craziest.
"When I say crazy, I mean what you want to give your players, the importance of your work in your life. In this case, football. The vision of your work. Bielsa lives for his work and me too. Very close to an obsession.”
The Italian stayed for one week with the Argentine at Lille in 2017. He appreciated his “passion” for the game and for treating him as an equal. “Like I was Van Gaal or Mourinho but I wasn’t Van Gaal and I wasn’t Mourinho,” he recalled.
De Zerbi has also visited Guardiola in Manchester at the start of the season. “Pep was fantastic with me like Bielsa,” he said. De Zerbi has clear principles on and off the pitch but he happily admits his mistakes. The engaging Italian claims his footballing philosophy is very simple. “Coaches are all thieves but we have to have one new idea,” said the new Brighton boss. “Mine? I love to try to win the game with the ball. I want to enjoy it.”
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But his refusal to take the job at Bologna, his vocal opposition to the European Super League and his time in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk have shown he also has strict guidelines on his etiquette away from football.
“I don’t want to be a teacher of life but I have - not too many - but four or five rules in my style of life,” he said. “I don’t want to compromise these rules.”
Before De Zerbi accepted the job at the Amex Stadium in September, he was approached by Bologna. The Serie A side had caused outrage by sacking coach Sinisa Mihajlovic while the 53-year-old was battling leukaemia for the second time in three years. De Zerbi, 43, did not know Mihajlovic personally but politely declined - and was publicly thanked by the Serb’s wife Arianna.
“One of my most important principles is before the coach, there is a man, there is a person,” he explained. “I really care about being correct with everyone. In my life, I can look everyone in the eye and be correct and honest with them.”
It is the same with the European breakaway league which De Zerbi opposed in April 2021 just before taking his Sassuolo to Milan - and threatened not to play in protest - before winning 1-2 at the San Siro.
“I was a fan (of Brescia) and I remember well what fans do to watch the games, the sacrifices that they make,” he said. "We have the possibility to beat Manchester City. It is 80% we can lose but the dream is to win. I want this dream. This is football.
“When Leicester won the Premier League, that was the best of football. The possibility to win the Champions League for Shakhtar is there. If you close these dreams for the small teams, you can close football for me.”
Last November De Zerbi took his Shakhtar team to Real Madrid. In February, he refused to leave Kyiv after the Russian invasion until all his players and staff were evacuated. “The problem wasn’t me or my staff,” he recalled. “The problem was my Brazilian players couldn’t leave with their families and children. That was my problem.”
De Zerbi now asks his Brighton players to show “courage” to survive and prosper in the Premier League. “I found a big team, with players ready to play against these monster teams,” he said.
But the Italian has the courage to admit his mistakes. “I don’t want people to think that I am a superhero,” he said. “I am human, I can make mistakes in the dressing room. The person who makes the most mistakes is the coach. When I make mistakes, I say sorry.”
Dressed in black in a central Brighton Italian restaurant, De Zerbi is certainly a colourful character. No wonder the Brighton players have quickly taken his warm style. So to finish, tell us about a mistake. “Today, yesterday, which one?” he laughed. “OK, the last one.” It happened in the dressing at Arsenal on Wedneday night with his assistant and translator Enrico Venturelli.
“I wanted to explain how I wanted my player to take a position, to stay strong and I took Rico and I pushed Rico and ‘Boff’, he fell over,” De Zerbi laughed. “He was not ready for that. That was the lesson finished! One player was in tears of laughter.”
- De Zerbi is backing the American Express Shop Small campaign, which encourages the nation to support their high street and enjoy the benefits of shopping small ahead of Small Business Saturday on 3 December. Brighton & Hove Albion sponsor American Express was the founder and remains principal supporter of Small Business Saturday which is celebrating its tenth year in the UK. For more information visit: americanexpress.co.uk/shopsmall
