Roberto De Zerbi is no longer the coach of Marseille: the reasons for the (consensual) farewell and the story of a very good coach but who struggles to establish himself definitively.
The formula is that of contractual termination. Not an exemption but still the premature end of a story that was beautiful at the beginning and difficult as the months passed until the disappointment of the failure to qualify for the second phase of the Champions League and the humiliating defeat against PSG in the championship. The two straws that broke the camel’s back, even if both the Brescia coach and the club chose to close early.
It had been clear for a few days that they were moving towards separation. The nightly statement did nothing but certify everything: “Following discussions involving the club’s management – owner, president, sporting director and coach – it was decided to make a change at the helm of the first team. It was a difficult and collective decision, taken after careful reflection in the best interests of the club to face the sporting challenges at the end of the season. Olympique de Marseille would like to thank Roberto De Zerbi for his dedication, his commitment, his professionalism and his dedication, demonstrated in particular by the second place obtained in the 2024/25 season. The club wishes him the best for the future.”
De Zerbi is no longer the coach of Marseille, who leaves after dragging them to second place last season in Ligue1winning the hearts of the people of Marseille, but today far from the fight for the title with PSG, in difficulty in the race to qualify for the next Champions League and, above all, out of Europe because the autumn campaign in the big ears cup was disappointing: 3 victories and 5 defeats. Out of everything.
A bad blow for a coach who has not yet managed to make the final leap in his career. Left Italy to go to Ukraine, bench of Shakhatar Donetskwas involved against his will in the outbreak of the war which interrupted his work and led him – with a gesture of extraordinary sensitivity – to leave the country only once he was sure that all his players were safe.
Then the adventure to Brighton in the Premier League: taken over in the running and 6th at the end of the first year showing that he could be one of the coaches of the future even for the top teams, showered with praise by none other than Guardiola, less incisive in the second year ending in 11th position and with a farewell wanted above all by him. Brighton would have happily kept him. Indeed, he proposed a rich renewal of employment, but De Zerbi was looking for other ways to go.
In France it started very well and ended badly. Now it returns to the market with a horizon to explore because apparently the benches of the big Italian companies are occupied. An exception, perhaps, would be Napoli if they were to divorce Antonio Conte at the end of the year even if De Laurentiis likes and has always liked Vincenzo Italiano.
