WHEN Jurgen Klopp announced his plan to leave Liverpool in January, Roberto De Zerbi was named second favorite to succeed him.
When favorite Xabi Alonso announced at the end of March that he would remain at champions Bayer Leverkusen, De Zerbi’s Brighton were the next visitors to Anfield.
And the match was considered a test for the Italian for the position.
De Zerbi was also heavily praised as a successor to Erik ten Hag at Manchester United and Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
And given that Chelsea had locked up everyone else from Brighton, he was also seen as a strong candidate to take over at Stamford Bridge should Mauricio Pochettino leave.
This high-octane, nicotine-fueled frog box was Europe’s most sought-after trainer.
He guided Brighton to Europe for the first time, his team was hugely entertaining – combining Klopp’s manic intensity with Pep Guardiola’s purity – and everyone seemed to want a piece of him.
De Zerbi was certainly not shy about acknowledging this.
Hence his tendency to talk about his frustrations with the frequent public insinuations that Brighton, England’s most admired and best-run club, were not to his liking.
Fast forward a few months and the Italian is unemployed, has no job offers on the table and is looking increasingly unlikely to land a place at United, Bayern or Chelsea this summer, while Liverpool are betting on Dutchman Arne Slot.
BEST UK BOOKMAKER FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERSs
Last week’s decision by De Zerbi, 44, and Seagulls owner Tony Bloom to part ways was a rare example of “mutual agreement”, meaning mutual agreement.
Brighton somehow managed to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League – below hated rivals Crystal Palace.
This may be largely due to a substantial injury crisis, but Bloom’s main concern was his manager’s agitations over the club’s recruitment policy.
The most remarkably lucrative recruitment policy the Premier League has ever known.
When Brighton went off track and signed Mahmoud Dahoud on a huge free salary from Borussia Dortmund last June, at De Zerbi’s insistence, the midfielder failed and was loaned back to the Bundesliga with Stuttgart.
Bloom knows what he’s doing. Your club’s ability to conjure up exceptional young talents for almost nothing, sell them for a high sum and then replace the same ones, borders on witchcraft.
One of the last to come off the production line, Irish striker Mark O’Mahony, is so similar to Brighton’s first-choice Irish striker Evan Ferguson that you wonder if Bloom has some futuristic cloning facility in a bunker beneath the Amex . .
However, an impatient De Zerbi does not want to work within Brighton’s structure and has gained an undesirable reputation as a high-maintenance manager.
Despite his progressive tactics, he is old-fashioned in his desire for autonomy in an age when owners demand that managers – or “head coaches” – know their place within the “model” of a club.
A generation ago, when big-personality alpha male managers were the norm, De Zerbi would have been in a top-tier role.
As it stands, it’s unlikely we’ll see him starting next season in the Premier League.
For example, it is difficult to imagine Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford opting for such an abrasive personality to take charge of United should Ten Hag, as expected, take the bullet after Saturday’s FA Cup final.
This is a shame for De Zerbi and for many of us who enjoy watching his progress.
Although Brighton never adapted well in the long term, we hope it returns soon.
The Italian is innovative, infectious and absolute box office gold.
Someone needs to have the courage to appoint a coach who will challenge them rather than someone who will keep their mouth shut and do as they are told.
7
ROCKY RIDE
At last week’s Footballer of the Year dinner, Gareth Southgate claimed that Phil Foden’s excellent campaign has “made my job a lot easier” – but the opposite may be true.
Earlier this season, before Foden’s leap to world-class status, the England manager questioned the player’s stated desire to start matches in the center rather than on the wing.
There will now be a clamor for Foden to play more centrally at the Euros – and yet, with Real Madrid Galactico Jude Bellingham as England’s number 10, that will be difficult.
You can hear them now, the old cries for Southgate to release the handbrakes, throw off the handcuffs and demand that England play like Brazil’s 1982 World Cup team (which didn’t reach the semi-finals).
Could Southgate deploy Declan Rice as a sole midfielder, with Foden and Bellingham in front of him, plus two wingers and Harry Kane up top? It’s highly unlikely.
And even if he does, everyone will be asking why Jack Grealish and James Maddison aren’t starting too.
Instead, we could end up with Foden being pushed to the left, just as Paul Scholes was pushed by Sven-Goran Eriksson.
That’s because there is no other place for the player who secured the title for Manchester City with two early goals against West Ham on Sunday.
The idea of a month of debating “boring, boring Southgate” is boring before it even starts.
7
OLIVER TWIST
It was hugely amusing that Wolves had Nelson Semedo sent off via VAR at Anfield in the first match since their admirable attempt to eliminate the widely hated system in the Premier League.
More interesting was Michael Oliver’s decision to ignore his VAR Stuart Attwell and concede Arsenal’s late winner against Everton despite a Gabriel Jesus handball.
As VAR should only exist for “clear and obvious” errors, I got Oliver right.
But here’s another problem with the system – senior referees like Oliver are occasionally emboldened enough to overrule a more junior VAR and stick to their original decision.
Less experienced referees literally never ignore a more experienced man at Stockley Park.
And this inconsistency is yet another of the ‘unintended consequences’ of VAR that Wolves spoke about.
7
CHAMPIONS IN WAITING
AS we prepare for the next transfer window, a pertinent question is why so few top-flight clubs sign Championship players.
Let’s look at last season’s two top scorers in the second division – Chuba Akpom moved from Middlesbrough to Ajax and Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres went to Sporting Lisbon, where he is now valued at £80 million after topping the Portuguese scoring table with impressive 29 goals.
Two of the best signings from this year’s January sales bucked that trend, with Aston Villa signing promising Boro midfielder Morgan Rogers, while Crystal Palace’s swoop for Blackburn’s young star Adam Wharton is proving to be a coup of master.
Premier League clubs scour the world for talent but often overlook some gems right under their noses.
7
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
THE WORLD of boxing is full of sharks, risk-takers and Saudi apologists – but it is also home to some diamonds.
At 3:30 a.m. Sunday at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena, British heavyweight Derek Chisora distributed a large bag of free Five Guys burgers to hungry workers working late.
7
CUP FOR THIS?
FIRST solid prediction for next season: Newcastle will win their first major trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by winning the Europa Conference League.
Then we can all debate whether this really is a great trophy and talk about the 70-year wait for national titles.
7
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
