Legendary Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi is convinced that Roberto de Zerbi is the perfect Jurgen Klopp replacement at Premier League giants Liverpool while labelling the Brighton and Hove Albion coach ‘a genius’.
While one Pep Guardiola was certainly ahead of the game in his admiration for Roberto de Zerbi – hailing the Italian’s impact at Sassuolo long before he had become a household name in English football – another iconic tactician was even earlier to the party.
It was during his time in Italy’s third tier, with Foggia, that De Zerbi first came to the attention of the two-time European Cup winner Sacchi.
Even nine years ago, when the now-Brighton coach was a relative managerial novice, Sacchi knew that a man tipped by some to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool had a one-way ticket to the top of the coaching game.
Liverpool backed to replace Klopp with Roberto de Zerbi
“I’ve known him since he was a youth player at Milan,” Sacchi begins. “He’s ideal for Liverpool, but above all for Barca. And I’ll explain why.
“It all started years ago. When he was at Foggia, he came to my house and we talked. After that talk, we agreed that he would send me videos of his football. Four or five games. When I saw them, I called a Serie A club to sign him. He was a revolutionary.
“De Zerbi is a strategist, and not an Italian-style tactician.”
HITC Football understands that, while former fans’ favourite Xabi Alonso remains Liverpool’s preferred option to inherit the house that Klopp built, the Bayer Leverkusen boss is far from the only contender.
De Zerbi has admirers at Anfield too. So do Ruben Amorim of Sporting Lisbon and the current Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann.
A run of just three wins in 12 Premier League games – including heavy defeats to Fulham and Luton Town – may have diminished De Zerbi’s reputation in the minds of a few observers but Sacchi is keen to avoid letting his opinion by tainted by recency bias.
Brighton boss is ‘a genius’
“I remember De Zerbi didn’t take much care of his defence previously, but he has improved in this. He knows the game, and this goes beyond knowing football,” Sacchi adds. “Guardiola does not exaggerate when he praises De Zerbi, a guy who loves what he does.
“He’s a genius. I wouldn’t sleep much thinking about his team.”
Klopp famously brought ‘heavy metal’ football to Liverpool. Hiring De Zerbi, with his pop-punk haircut and his shared love for free-wheeling attacking, would not require the Reds to swap their electric guitars for saxophones, the 44-year-old sharing many of the principles that have underpinned Klopp’s success.
His remarkable ability to turn good players into great ones, meanwhile, should also appeal to a Liverpool side who tend to prioritise up-and-coming talent rather than established superstars.
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