[Albion] De Zerbi: 'We deserved to lose...I understood the problem in January!"

[AZ Gull]

In recent nsc attacks on RDZ it gets thrown at his door that Dahoud was his and his alone signing, now Fati’s been added to the attacks. Now from you we know the deriders are basing that on his enthusiasm and some calls.

I had thought Albion signings were at first a fairly scientific process, with some qualitative aspects such as the player’s mindset, throughout a collaborative with the manager too.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. There will be thousands (tens of thousands?) of players in the StarLizard database. Different players would be suitable signings depending upon who the current Albion manager was and their particular style of play. It has consistently been reported that the manager has the final say on whether a player signs or not.

 

[AZ Gull]

We’re in a really weird place just now.

We’re a few days away from the biggest and most exciting away game we’ve ever had, yet the general vibe feels a bit down doesn’t it?

Given the thread you've posted that comment on.....

Our manager isn't really helping that vibe, is he?

A year ago he was talking about having "blood, heart and balls". In August he was saying that other clubs couldn't buy our soul and our spirit.

And now he seems to be taking thinly-veiled, public pot-shots at Tony Bloom/our board.

How about exhibiting some of what you preach, RDZ - or are you all mouth and no trousers?

 

[Berty23]

I think "Alexis has become Pedro if he was not injured" might be one of my favourite nonsense quotes of all time on here.

Jeez, what are people smoking tonight

Just showing that the person in the position highlighted has been Pedro. Generally he has played off Welbeck when we are full strength - on pens as well. That is the point I was making.

Or alternatively if we are counting deeper Alexis then gilmour for him so caicedo compares with Baleba and that is a problem!

I am just showing that we have got a squad it is just they are injured. Had they been injured last season then we would also have struggled.

Don’t forget Undav was also deemed surplus to requirements. He is doing very well in Germany. Another one on RDZ.

 

[Littlemo]

For a man who talks so much about the attitude and personality of his players, he seems to have a bad understanding of how the personality and attitude of the coach can affect the mood of the club and fans when he is talking in interviews.

I really like RDZ as a manager and am as far from RDZ out as you could get but I could do with him moaning less though. You can look at any club and see that they don’t all have the squad depth they want, Man City even went through a bad patch when they lost Rodri & De Bruyne, Newcastle have been poor because of injuries and they have Saudi money, Liverpool won a cup with a team of kids. He will never be in a job where he gets everything he thinks he needs.

I do think the club could have done a bit better with signings tbf, it’s not that I don’t think he has a point, we have a lot of kids who need work and the experienced players we have, Milner, Lallana, are maybe just that bit too old now to be as useful on the pitch as we need. We could probably do better in getting experienced players who still have the legs to run about.

It’s a balance though. Buying in experienced players can end up being at the expense of developing a younger player. We saw last year JPvH, Undav and Gilmour not get any time till he had to play them due to fatigue of the senior players, and Undav left because he wouldn’t get time because of Pedro coming in. Gilmour said in his documentary that he would probably not still be at the club this season if the Wolves game hadn’t gone so well for him. I think it’s possibly the same for JPvH. That’s a lot of players lost through just not getting much of a chance.

 

[dwayne]

Given the thread you've posted that comment on.....

Our manager isn't really helping that vibe, is he?

A year ago he was talking about having "blood, heart and balls". In August he was saying that other clubs couldn't buy our soul and our spirit.

And now he seems to be taking thinly-veiled, public pot-shots at Tony Bloom/our board.

How about exhibiting some of what you preach, RDZ - or are you all mouth and no trousers?

Good post.

I've always seen through RDZs carefully managed persona and the way he not so subtly drops in headline grabbing quotes to his interviews (yes I'm very cynical) ....

But you kind of forgave him because he had such a big positive , run through walls personality, and you wanted him to succeed for himself as well.

However this season , what the heck has happened ?!? It took big persona mourinho over 10 years to turn into a miserable bastad, it's taken RDZ one season !!!! I know the results are not going brilliantly over the last few months and it's impacting his perception outside the club but it can't be THAT BAD here.

He's killing the vibe. Roma is one of the biggest games in the club's history If not the biggest and you wouldn't put it past him to put out the reserves to make a point. (He won't though and we will give everything im sure).

 

[rebel51]

Thomas Frank ridiculous what’s he done ? Not young either

Your reply is ridiculous, do you think we are an amazing catch then? He's not exactly getting his pension yet either.

 

[rebel51]

The club want champs league in the next 3 years. The appetite isn’t matched by the investment.

They may want it, but they would have to be taking phychadelics to really believe that.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Does that mean they were personal picks by RDZ overriding StarLizard based principles at the club, or just that RDZ helped get them over the line once the club had decided?

This would have been exactly my response too.

We have a recruitment team at the end of the day. The coach can feed into that or he can get a deal over the line, but the words of the club have always been that the coach coaches and recruiters recruit.

There have been instances where people have come here just because of the coach of course. More than one have said they come here because of RDZ and, previously, Potter.

Fati feels like when we signed Bridge under Poyet. Everyone in world football had heard of him (or so I thought until I read NSC!) so he needed to be persuaded that little old Brighton was the right place.

 

[Nobby]

We’re in a really weird place just now.

We’re a few days away from the biggest and most exciting away game we’ve ever had, yet the general vibe feels a bit down doesn’t it?

It is weird

But if you’re Tony Bloom and the Board, you are always looking at the long term as well as the short term.
Strategically, the club is ahead of where they were probably expecting to be at this stage.

With a long term strategy, you will always have blips, bad days, bad weeks, bad months, maybe even bad years.

But as long as the overall long term trend is growth and an upward trajectory, then the plan is working.

And Brighton and above Albion’s long term plan is working.

As supporters, we will always be concentrating on the now - the latest refereeing performance, the latest team selection, the latest comments by the manager,
Bloom will be looking at the general squad depth and will know that this is one of those seasons where we will maybe not improve in the league.
This season, the squad has been hit with a horrendous injury list, maybe the worst we’ve ever seen. And so, the Board will accept that results are not as expected sometimes and look forward to a period where we have a more normal squad depth.

We’re on track long term, this season may end up with a slightly lower league position than last, but at worst, we’ve achieved a last 16 spot in a major European competition.

And quietly, under the radar, we will be building the targets for the close season, improving the squad yet again, and looking to progress further.

If the Head Coach goes, he will be replaced by another, maybe even better. The squad will be better, and this season will become another memory. Who knows, we’re not out of the Cup yet.

The plan is still working, we’re just in one of the short term dips.


Keep the Faith guys and UTA

And for those going to Rome, sing your hearts out.
We’ve never had it so good!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Good post.

I've always seen through RDZs carefully managed persona and the way he not so subtly drops in headline grabbing quotes to his interviews (yes I'm very cynical) ....

But you kind of forgave him because he had such a big positive , run through walls personality, and you wanted him to succeed for himself as well.

However this season , what the heck has happened ?!? It took big persona mourinho over 10 years to turn into a miserable bastad, it's taken RDZ one season !!!! I know the results are not going brilliantly over the last few months and it's impacting his perception outside the club but it can't be THAT BAD here.

He's killing the vibe. Roma is one of the biggest games in the club's history If not the biggest and you wouldn't put it past him to put out the reserves to make a point. (He won't though and we will give everything im sure).

He’s had his spirits crushed under the weight of our injuries of late but this is the same De Zerbi who went mental at the end at Forest, which was November or dived into the crowd against Palace which was a few weeks ago. This is another one of your generalised, pseudo cynical, trolling posts that has no basis in fact. Well done for catching a fish this early on Sunday I suppose.

The last paragraph is particularly typical Dwayne. You say something that’s true - for me Thursday is our fourth biggest game ever after Hereford and the two Cup Finals - and pair it with something ridiculous to get a reaction. RDZ is extremely unlikely to throw a game back in his homeland just to make a point. In fact, it’s obvious to the other 2499 or so away fans yesterday, apart from you, that he picked a poor team yesterday so that he didn’t get more injuries for Rome.

 

[dazzer6666]

It is weird

But if you’re Tony Bloom and the Board, you are always looking at the long term as well as the short term.
Strategically, the club is ahead of where they were probably expecting to be at this stage.

With a long term strategy, you will always have blips, bad days, bad weeks, bad months, maybe even bad years.

But as long as the overall long term trend is growth and an upward trajectory, then the plan is working.

And Brighton and above Albion’s long term plan is working.

As supporters, we will always be concentrating on the now - the latest refereeing performance, the latest team selection, the latest comments by the manager,
Bloom will be looking at the general squad depth and will know that this is one of those seasons where we will maybe not improve in the league.
This season, the squad has been hit with a horrendous injury list, maybe the worst we’ve ever seen. And so, the Board will accept that results are not as expected sometimes and look forward to a period where we have a more normal squad depth.

We’re on track long term, this season may end up with a slightly lower league position than last, but at worst, we’ve achieved a last 16 spot in a major European competition.

And quietly, under the radar, we will be building the targets for the close season, improving the squad yet again, and looking to progress further.

If the Head Coach goes, he will be replaced by another, maybe even better. The squad will be better, and this season will become another memory. Who knows, we’re not out of the Cup yet.

The plan is still working, we’re just in one of the short term dips.


Keep the Faith guys and UTA

And for those going to Rome, sing your hearts out.
We’ve never had it so good!

All of that. Some fans seem to think that having finished 6th last season, anything below that is a disaster and signs of the wheels falling off, when in reality it was a colossal over-achievement. The long term plan and prospects remain on track.

 

[keaton]

Would the words of Roberto De Zerbi himself, and Tony Bloom, be enough to convince you?

When Dahoud joined us a certain RDZ said that he was excited and had wanted him when he was at Sassuolo:-

View attachment 177876
After the opening day win at Luton RDZ said that Dahoud was specific for our idea of football, style of play:-

View attachment 177877
And as for Fati, the Argus has reported that RDZ 'phoned Ansu five times, and Tony Bloom said RDZ had made it clear to the player how much he wanted him:-

View attachment 177878

Yes, that doesn't in any way show they're RDZ signings

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Still astounded by the negative reaction on here. Ours and RDZ's success last year was largely built around a world class pairing of Mac and Caicedo, with goals and assists from brilliant wingers March and Mitoma. He got the best out of them and it didn't matter that in some games we shipped a few.

But without those 4, well of course we won't be that good. The replacements just aren't the same level and losing Pedro/Hinsh, the two big success stories of the season, is icing on the cake. Of course the manager will be frustrated.

 

[Flounce]

As a fan I am certainly becoming a little more entitled than I like. I was fuming at yesterday’s performance during and immediately after the game, but after a night’s sleep I accept that given the schedule, the upcoming Europa League games, the injuries to key players and the fact that there are two teams in a game, results like yesterday are the downside of DeZerbi ball. In fact we all knew that stuffings were on the cards when De Zerbi arrived having seen the way he likes to play.

What I don’t like is RDZ moving into Poyet territory with his post match comments.

As some have said a result in Rome will change everything, including giving the team the confidence that has fallen off a cliff in attacking over the last three games. Lose and this place will be in Potter out territory I fear and I think RDZ’s dissatisfaction with the January window will go up a notch

 

[Bold Seagull]

He’s had his spirits crushed under the weight of our injuries of late but this is the same De Zerbi who went mental at the end at Forest, which was November or dived into the crowd against Palace which was a few weeks ago. This is another one of your generalised, pseudo cynical, trolling posts that has no basis in fact. Well done for catching a fish this early on Sunday I suppose.

The last paragraph is particularly typical Dwayne. You say something that’s true - for me Thursday is our fourth biggest game ever after Hereford and the two Cup Finals - and pair it with something ridiculous to get a reaction. RDZ is extremely unlikely to throw a game back in his homeland just to make a point. In fact, it’s obvious to the other 2499 or so away fans yesterday, apart from you, that he picked a poor team yesterday so that he didn’t get more injuries for Rome.

Amazing that when managers give generic answers fans get upset they can’t say how they feel or how it is.

Manager says how he feels and how it is, and fans react that he shouldn’t.

Tony himself if interviewed might echo RdZ and say we needed strengthening in January but we were unable to get the deals we wanted.

Certain players looked fatigued against Wolves, and even some of our fit players are carrying niggles.

Given our player sales in 2023, and the injuries this season along with the youth were having to throw in, personally think we’re still overachieving.

 

[Bold Seagull]

As a fan I am certainly becoming a little more entitled than I like. I was fuming at yesterday’s performance during and immediately after the game, but after a night’s sleep I accept that given the schedule, the upcoming Europa League games, the injuries to key players and the fact that there are two teams in a game, results like yesterday are the downside of DeZerbi ball. In fact we all knew that stuffings were on the cards when De Zerbi arrived having seen the way he likes to play.

What I don’t like is RDZ moving into Poyet territory with his post match comments.

As some have said a result in Rome will change everything, including giving the team the confidence that has fallen off a cliff in attacking over the last three games. Lose and this place will be in Potter out territory I fear and I think RDZ’s dissatisfaction with the January window will go up a notch

Why is it a downside of DeZerbi ball? You can lose that game playing any tactics you want with a changed side we had and Fulham rested and up for it.

 

[Hometownglory]

I guess I am a little dissapoointed at how this could all unfold with RDZ. Whilst no one is bigger than the club, he has taken this team and club to a new level. You can't always use 97 as a benchmark for not allowing yourself to be disappointed in the present day. Of course no matter what happens in Rome or where we finish this season the rise has been beyond many of our wildest dreams.

 

[Nicks]

Why has NSC decided Dahoud and Fati are De Zerbi's signings? I think i saw something about RDZ being a long term fan of Dahoud, but Fati? Thought he was a last minute replacement for Enciso?

Dahoud was signed on a free and Fati is on loan so no big money was wasted really.
And I'm sure the recruitment team checked them out in great detail before giving him and the top man the go ahead

 

[Flounce]

Why is it a downside of DeZerbi ball? You can lose that game playing any tactics you want with a changed side we had and Fulham rested and up for it.

The downside is conceding goals pretty well every time a team with fast PL standard players break and have a shot on target. Our keepers are never man of the match because they are left so exposed when De Zerbi ball is countered by low block and fast breaks. I don’t remember the last time an Albion keeper was MOTM but I remember plenty of opposition keepers getting the award.

It annoys me how much shit Steele and Bart get when we concede when it’s normally a f*** up in the system that leaves them with little chance of a save.

 

[Littlemo]

Amazing that when managers give generic answers fans get upset they can’t say how they feel or how it is.

Manager says how he feels and how it is, and fans react that he shouldn’t.

It’s not that he shouldn’t say how he feels, on most subjects it’s fine like we laughed when he slagged off the refs, or when he talks about players etc. when it comes to the topic of the club and Bloom/Barbar, then he needs to be more professional and raise his problems with them behind closed doors.

It doesn’t do any good, because it’s not like they haven’t been trying to get players in and will do again in the summer, and it just gives an impression of being unhappy/the club not being in a good place and with some comments, him not being committed. I am not sure that a lot of this is even a true impression.