[Football] De Zerbi offers to resign as Marseilles coach

[One Teddy Maybank]

Chelsea away?

As a football fan I found that a thrilling game, as a Brighton fan it was a WTF game!

We also rode our luck big time early season as we were opened up like a tin of sardines by teams who just couldn’t finish whilst we had a purple scoring run. The tactics? Who knows what they were because I certainly didn’t other than thinking it was suicidal football.

Had forgotten that, good call, that’s two……

Way too high, foot race with every ball we defended….

 

[BadFish]

Had forgotten that, good call, that’s two……

Way too high, foot race with every ball we defended….

Southampton thought the tactics were so good they used them against us.

 

[Justice]

Playing gung ho football away from home against in form sides, when you have an injury ravaged squad, is either naive or arrogant or both. Fab did the same at Forest, were you as forgiving of that? Interestingly neither manager held their hands up and admitted getting it wrong post match.

Roma away we shot ourselves in the foot to some extent Dunk was having a Dunk bad day getting bullied by a strong CF has always been a weakness in his game. Personally after Wolves Steele would have not played in my starting 11. Agree the line up wasn’t great although I suppose we didn’t know the fitness levels of some of the players.

 

[el punal]

True, I knew exactly how Potter was trying to get us to play from the off, pre Forest under Fab I didn’t have a clue what our tactics were. I have seen a massive improvement since Forest and Fab seems to have binned whatever ridiculous tactics he started off with.

You’re being a bit harsh on FAB. Like the majority of the players he too is getting used to playing in the Premier League. A big learning curve for all concerned. Up to mid-November we were always in the top 6 or 7. From then a frustrating set of matches which we could/should have won but didn’t. At the start of the new year we managed two respectable draws to Villa and Arsenal, two good wins against Ipswich and Man Utd, an annoying defeat to Everton and, yes, the calamity at Forest.

In some ways the Forest result demanded a reset from all concerned and thus far it seems to have worked. A much more balanced team with minimal changes. I wouldn’t say Hurzeler’s tactics have been ridiculous (apart from Forest) but selections have been puzzling - possibly down to injuries to players and therefore unable to play.

Anyway, three wins on the bounce and all of them convincing is probably the confidence booster we all needed. A couple of tricky fixtures against Bournemouth and Fulham will cement that confidence or not.

 

[Lever]

Where is Roberto’s right hand? Also looks like he has a towel to clean up after, or maybe it’s a Vinnie Jones on Gazza moment.

exactly......

 

[Doc Lynam]

I thoughts his players were like his “sons.” Doesn’t like a ref decision and he threatens to leave his latest football family.

 

[Flounce]

You’re being a bit harsh on FAB. Like the majority of the players he too is getting used to playing in the Premier League. A big learning curve for all concerned. Up to mid-November we were always in the top 6 or 7. From then a frustrating set of matches which we could/should have won but didn’t. At the start of the new year we managed two respectable draws to Villa and Arsenal, two good wins against Ipswich and Man Utd, an annoying defeat to Everton and, yes, the calamity at Forest.

In some ways the Forest result demanded a reset from all concerned and thus far it seems to have worked. A much more balanced team with minimal changes. I wouldn’t say Hurzeler’s tactics have been ridiculous (apart from Forest) but selections have been puzzling - possibly down to injuries to players and therefore unable to play.

Anyway, three wins on the bounce and all of them convincing is probably the confidence booster we all needed. A couple of tricky fixtures against Bournemouth and Fulham will cement that confidence or not.

True, I was just responding to @One Teddy Maybank comment that I’d always been Potter IN and went to Fab FENCE after Forest. I have dropped off the fence back into Fab IN since Forest though.

 

[Flounce]

True, but I can't imagine de Zerbi setting fire to his match plan in front of the players during the post-mortem in training.

More likely to set fire to the dressing room.

 

[Beanstalk]

'I'm not going to coach in France again!' - Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi fumes at 'scandalous' refereeing as Mason Greenwood & Co humiliated at Auxerre | Goal.com

A furious Roberto De Zerbi declared that he will never coach in France again after Marseille went down 3-0 against Auxerre.

www.goal.com

Tbf, it's absolutely mad that the referee was assigned to another Marseille game this season. Marseille had requested that he not referee their games, and to not only be given that match, but to give some pretty controversial decisions against Marseille (good penalty appeal for a clumsy Auxerre challenge and an absolutely mental red card decision - not even a foul imo) shows some validity in his frustration. Absolutely ridiculous for the league to assign that referee to L'OM this season.

It's a stupid league anyway, with PSG looking set to go invincible despite losing their superstar in Mbappe, and I think we all know that 2nd is the likely ceiling of any club in that league that's not PSG and that's what RDZ will deliver. If he can go into next seasons UCL and go on a bit of a run, it'll be counted as a miraculous success and he'll be at a top club (or City) when the Summer 2027 managerial merry-go-round gets into full swing.

 

[Flounce]

Tbf, it's absolutely mad that the referee was assigned to another Marseille game this season. Marseille had requested that he not referee their games, and to not only be given that match, but to give some pretty controversial decisions against Marseille (good penalty appeal for a clumsy Auxerre challenge and an absolutely mental red card decision - not even a foul imo) shows some validity in his frustration. Absolutely ridiculous for the league to assign that referee to L'OM this season.

It's a stupid league anyway, with PSG looking set to go invincible despite losing their superstar in Mbappe, and I think we all know that 2nd is the likely ceiling of any club in that league that's not PSG and that's what RDZ will deliver. If he can go into next seasons UCL and go on a bit of a run, it'll be counted as a miraculous success and he'll be at a top club (or City) when the Summer 2027 managerial merry-go-round gets into full swing.

Wish we could have managed to block whoever was on VAR at Spurs two seasons ago from ever being involved in an Albion game again! His name eludes me but he certainly has an agenda against us.

 

[Han Solo]

Tbf, it's absolutely mad that the referee was assigned to another Marseille game this season. Marseille had requested that he not referee their games, and to not only be given that match, but to give some pretty controversial decisions against Marseille (good penalty appeal for a clumsy Auxerre challenge and an absolutely mental red card decision - not even a foul imo) shows some validity in his frustration. Absolutely ridiculous for the league to assign that referee to L'OM this season.

So you think thats the way it should work? Clubs saying "We dont want this, this and this referee, because they give us cards we think are controversial" and the leagues saying "oh, of course, which ones would you like instead?"

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

True, I knew exactly how Potter was trying to get us to play from the off, pre Forest under Fab I didn’t have a clue what our tactics were. I have seen a massive improvement since Forest and Fab seems to have binned whatever ridiculous tactics he started off with.

Make your mind up. How can you say they’ve been binned when you didn’t know what they were?

 

[Flounce]

So you think thats the way it should work? Clubs saying "We dont want this, this and this referee, because they give us cards we think are controversial" and the leagues saying "oh, of course, which ones would you like instead?"

You’re right but it’s a fact that some referees have a big club bias in England…..imo

 

[Flounce]

Make your mind up. How can you say they’ve been binned when you didn’t know what they were?

Simple, I can now see tactics, before all I could see was suicidal football with no idea of what the tactics were

We got very lucky against quite a few teams in early season wins because of their ineptness in front of goal imo

 

[Brian Munich]

Playing gung ho football away from home against in form sides, when you have an injury ravaged squad, is either naive or arrogant or both. Fab did the same at Forest, were you as forgiving of that? Interestingly neither manager held their hands up and admitted getting it wrong post match.

FH brought the squad together and took a match to the Forest tactics at training the following week, didn't he? That's a fairly explicit admission to the players that he f***ed that one up.

For what it's worth, I don't thinke tha RDZ was a tactical genius, but he was the perfect manager to bring in at the time. We had a very strong squad that had started the season well - we were 4th - and we needed someone to come in and enthusiastically pick up what Potter had left behind.

 

[Brian Munich]

You’re right but it’s a fact that some referees have a big club bias in England…..imo

There's no real evidence for it, but it's scientific fact!

 

[Beanstalk]

Wish we could have managed to block whoever was on VAR at Spurs two seasons ago!

Michael Salisbury. Who wasn't involved in any of our remaining 8 fixtures after the Spurs debacle... None of the refereeing team from that day were involved until Atwell took charge of the Newcastle win in MW4 of the following season, and Michael Salisbury was kept of Brighton VAR duties until the 2-1 loss at City on 21 October. Almost 6 months...

Constantine Hatzidakis didn't line a Liverpool game for 21 months after the Robertson elbow incident, and David Coote, whose comments about Klopp's behaviour after a 1-1 draw v Burnley in lockdown, didn't do a Liverpool PL game for 44 months.

I know we are in dialogue with the PL/PGMOL and that PBOBE talks to the organisation after almost every match, as I would expect most clubs are. We can make any requests we want - whether the PGMOL/PL decide to implement them is their prerogative but requests are often heard at the very least...

 

[Flounce]

Michael Salisbury. Who wasn't involved in any of our remaining 8 fixtures after the Spurs debacle... None of the refereeing team from that day were involved until Atwell took charge of the Newcastle win in MW4 of the following season, and Michael Salisbury was kept of Brighton VAR duties until the 2-1 loss at City on 21 October. Almost 6 months...

Constantine Hatzidakis didn't line a Liverpool game for 21 months after the Robertson elbow incident, and David Coote, whose comments about Klopp's behaviour after a 1-1 draw v Burnley in lockdown, didn't do a Liverpool PL game for 44 months.

I know we are in dialogue with the PL/PGMOL and that PBOBE talks to the organisation after almost every match, as I would expect most clubs are. We can make any requests we want - whether the PGMOL/PL decide to implement them is their prerogative but requests are often heard at the very least...

Interesting, thanks. So a Liverpool complaint is taken more seriously

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Simple, I can now see tactics, before all I could see was suicidal football with no idea of what the tactics were

We got very lucky against quite a few teams in early season wins because of their ineptness in front of goal imo

Through a combination of what we saw on the pitch and what was said in interviews there were tactics, for whatever reason they were not working. I have my thoughts on why this was. It's also clear there has been an ongoing review and revision of his approach which has brought us to where we are...which I feel is an good position to be in with 12 games to go, a new and rookies manager and a bunch of new players with 0 EPL experience. I agree the Forest game was shocking, why he decided on one CM I do not know, but it's clear he learnt from this. The Forest game was clearly a f*** up which was acknowledged by Fab....as was the Chelsea away game. It's refreshing to have a manager admit he gets things wrong and refesting that we seem to learn from them.

Suicidal football.....only Arsenal and Liverpool have lost fewer games....that does not seem overly suicidal to me.

 

[Beanstalk]

So you think thats the way it should work? Clubs saying "We dont want this, this and this referee, because they give us cards we think are controversial" and the leagues saying "oh, of course, which ones would you like instead?"

I think it is the way it does work. Do you really think that the clubs aren't in dialogue with the leagues/PGMOL? They may not get their way every time (who would be left to referee Arsenal?) but where there are bigger, more controversial grievances, where both the referee and club's working relationship has suffered, they are very much listened to and their views add to the selection process.

Clattenburg didn't referee at Goodison for 6 years because of a poor performance in the Merseyside derby. Jon Moss went 20 months without a game at Leicester because of complaints made by Leicester City after controversially sending Vardy off for diving. It happens all the time.

Selecting referees is an unbelievably complex process where they take a myriad of things into account before confirming who will be refereeing. In most cases, the league naturally want to avoid controversy ahead of any actual football being played. For a club to complain both privately and publicly, the referee is put firmly in the spotlight and any big decision in the match will be criticised and examined far more than usual. For that reason, there is a common sense approach made by the PGMOL to assigning referees and they likely wouldn't have made the same decision to do as the LFP did and award a controversial name this game.