[Albion] Roberto De Zerbi - JOINS AS NEW HEAD COACH (4 year contract)

[Hugo Rune]

Maybe we will go out and buy and play a proper winger?

Or maybe he’ll stick with tactics very similar to Potter and we’ll stay in the top 6?

I’m hoping that he and his team have spent hours and hours analysing our journey from EPL survivalists to 4th place. They’ll have a lot to learn from what Potter has done here. But make no mistake, they’ve been recruited to gently evolve what Graham has done here not change everything.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Sounds like a good fit.

I just hope he knows about our special fans we have that like to flip-flop, their views on managers from week to week.

Has anyone started a Roberto De Zerb OUT thread yet

I assume he has already joined this board to get an understanding of us fans.

 

[The Wookiee]

So he hasn’t got a work permit….brilliant brexit benefit.

It’s what people voted for

I told you we should have employed big Sam!

Is it any different if we had gone for Gallardo the Argentine fella ?

 

[dazzer6666]

Good article re De Zerbi’s tactical approach

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/a...at-sassuolo-2020-21-tactical-analysis-tactics

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Is it any different if we had gone for Gallardo the Argentine fella ?

No, it isn’t. It takes 3 to 4 weeks and is a formality to check you have have a job to go to. Just like it is when UK workers move abroad to work. I’ve done it three times.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Decent appointment looking at his CV, elsewhere I’ve seen concerns he might by Hypia Mk2?

Not at chance, they well and truly learnt their lesson.

UTA

 

[Icy Gull]

Decent appointment looking at his CV, elsewhere I’ve seen concerns he might by Hypia Mk2?

Not at chance, they well and truly learnt their lesson.

UTA

Exactly, the biggest mistake made with Hyypia is not taking into account that his assistant at the only club he had success was his side kick. The fact things fell apart when the assistant left should have raised alarm bells. As someone else said, the warning signs were there at the Saints pre season friendly

Very un Albion appointment, and hopefully the last big managerial mistake.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Is it any different if we had gone for Gallardo the Argentine fella ?

No, it wouldn’t be any different for the Argentine fella.

But pre-Brexit, RdZ would not have needed a work permit, nor any of his huge coaching team. That’s the point.

 

[Bakero]

Not sure if posted before, but this is a fascinating piece about De Zerbi. He would certainly make an interesting appointment!

https://medium.com/@stirlingj1982/dangerous-provocations-79acd3a890f

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4S...i=SvDvun-aQWuEYw6BeA-Upg&utm_source=copy-link Podcast featuring the author of the Brecht-referencing article.

 

[Justice]

The world of football seems excited Bob is now in the PL looking forward to the next chapter. After watching Chelsea play like us most of the time under Potter lots of possession to achieve a draw I have high hopes we will be more of a goal threat.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Good article re De Zerbi’s tactical approach

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/a...at-sassuolo-2020-21-tactical-analysis-tactics

Thanks for posting.

I do wonder whether a couple may struggle with the change.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Exactly, the biggest mistake made with Hyypia is not taking into account that his assistant at the only club he had success was his side kick. The fact things fell apart when the assistant left should have raised alarm bells. As someone else said, the warning signs were there at the Saints pre season friendly

Very un Albion appointment, and hopefully the last big managerial mistake.

To be fair to Sami, the player recruitment around his time was horrific. Totally abject. The squad needed a decent rebuild but instead, the recruitment team brought in the likes of Holla, Toko, O’Grady, Bent, Best, Colunga, Halford and Gardner. He was never going to get good results with those players.

RDZ has our best squad ever with most of the playing staff, young and eager to learn and improve. I think he’ll hit the ground running. De Zerbi started his Shakhtar career brilliantly with victories over Genk and Monaco in the Champions League qualifiers. I expect him to hold our top-10 position in October despite us having to play most of the Big Six.

 

[Icy Gull]

Thanks for posting.

I do wonder whether a couple may struggle with the change.

Hopefully not many of the players!

 

[oldboyroy]

Roberto was watching our games and was wanting us to contact him wasn't he according to some press reports(as soon as Potter left). Club says he was only candidate they talked to despite many quality candidates. Just interesting that we've appointed the guy who did some homework and put his name forward rather than us sounding out others to see if they were interested (currently in work managers).

 

[Icy Gull]

To be fair to Sami, the player recruitment around his time was horrific. Totally abject. The squad needed a decent rebuild but instead, the recruitment team brought in the likes of Holla, Toko, O’Grady, Bent, Best, Colunga, Halford and Gardner. He was never going to get good results with those players.

RDZ has our best squad ever with most of the playing staff, young and eager to learn and improve. I think he’ll hit the ground running. De Zerbi started his Shakhtar career brilliantly with victories over Genk and Monaco in the Champions League qualifiers. I expect him to hold our top-10 position in October despite us having to play most of the Big Six.

This is true re Hyypia but he proved to be equally shite at Zurich and tried to play a style of football totally unsuited to the players at his disposal at the Albion. CH was an inspired replacement to steady the ship and take us on.

 

[The Wookiee]

No, it isn’t. It takes 3 to 4 weeks and is a formality to check you have have a job to go to. Just like it is when UK workers move abroad to work. I’ve done it three times.

I guess the only difference is - people could blame Brexit for him needing a work permit

 

[usernamed]

Apologies if fixtures, but looking at his time at Sassuolo he alternated between a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-4-3 as needed, suggesting that he does have the tactical flexibility you need in the PL.

He sets up differently to GP, the wingers play high and wide and the full backs don’t push up as high, allowing central midfield space to join the attack.

Despite the high wide wingers there isn’t a great deal of crossing into the box, and the preference is working it in to the attackers, using the wide men to create space for them.

We’ve seen that can cause problems with congestion in the box, but RDZ seemed to be able to get his attackers firing even in really congested spaces. Let’s hope this miracle can be repeated.

If not, I’d expect a GP style evolution from this historical method of play to one more similar to our recent performances under GP, RDZ seems pragmatic rather than a slave to an ideology.

The other tool in RDZs toolbox is rapid change of tempo, lulling the opposition by casually strolling round the pitch until suddenly switching to a high speed push forward.

Where we could get caught is in playing out from the back. Given our first game is against Liverpool, the sight of Sanchez standing with one foot on the ball while Diaz/Salah rush toward him will potentially induce a mild heart attack in me, if in nobody else.

All in all, while I’m expecting a bumpy start given our fixtures, I’m quietly excited for the future.

 

[BN41Albion]

Sounds like a good fit.

I just hope he knows about our special fans we have that like to flip-flop, their views on managers from week to week.

Has anyone started a Roberto De Zerb OUT thread yet

I assume he has already joined this board to get an understanding of us fans.

Yes because no other club in the world has a percentage of impatient demanding fans, especially in Italy

 

[Hugo Rune]

Roberto was watching our games and was wanting us to contact him wasn't he according to some press reports(as soon as Potter left). Club says he was only candidate they talked to despite many quality candidates. Just interesting that we've appointed the guy who did some homework and put his name forward rather than us sounding out others to see if they were interested (currently in work managers).

What’s more interesting is that he fits ‘the profile’ of a Tony Bloom managerial appointment like a glove. His success over 3 seasons with a tiny club in Serie A is stunning. No wonder Juve were sniffing.

Maybe we approached other managers ‘through the front door’ in employment but their clubs refused us permission to talk? It seems to me that the ‘free agent’ met the criteria of what was required so why cause the turmoil of speaking to other managers (in positions) when the perfect candidate was so getable?

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I guess the only difference is - people could blame Brexit for him needing a work permit

They could, yes and there are some who prefer that debate to the BHA manager one. Processing the work permit will make little difference to his job though. When I was in Singapore I was in the office and getting to know systems and people much like de Zerbi will be doing. I did have to walk around to the Ministry of Employment with my documentation and collect the passes although I’m sure the new BHA manager will have a minion to do that for him.