Thanks De Zerbi
The buzz of traffic, the roar of people around the train station. Blue skies and sun. Manchester is blue. Brighton is changing. On the square in front of the station Nick ran into a man he knew who told him he was going to the suburbs to referee a lower-league game. Nick thought this was a joke and played along with it by saying that he might as well come too, as the linesman.
His friend opened his Fred Perry duffel bag and showed him his referee's uniform, a bag of lemons, and a copy of the book Absolute Beginners. Nick saw even these things as trick items, and still playing along said that since he was coming along he might as well carry the duffel bag too.
To follow Albion is certainly a trip, and I’ll remember De Zerbi’s glint. Heady waters are awash. And would we have it any other way within and outside the arena? No, I think would be most Albion fan’s answer and I know I’m going to remember the De Zerbi stint for various reasons again and again. Kinetic is the key work that first comes to mind to describe this era, that and being taken aback. Short passing, beautiful at times, occasionally a mess. Deep positioning and breaking out of impossible pockets to get ahead. Elegant wins were slowly to erode. Zoom in and there is an exciting philosophy to De Zerbi’s approach and it’s refined glitz. Everyone in the system had autonomy, everyone was put to use. Responsibility, however, is not rhetorical; it requires everyone to kneel to its altar. Bad mistakes and decisions were made by players in such a system, but when it worked you could see the potential individuals and the team had to climb. Ideals are one thing, and to see De Zerbi advocate for players to develop was exciting to the maxi.
Dressed in black, wearing white trainers, hands in pockets, pacing and thinking. Gesturing, encouraging, advocating. It was an experience to watch a manager really get behind his team and advocate on the club’s behalf. It was exhilarating (and exhausting) to see him step out of the assigned box on the pitch. I’m not sure which side of the fence I fall on regarding how a manager should behave towards the heightened charge of the competition under the pressurised and banal media glare.
De Zerbi’s strategic approach makes me think of the poet Lucan’s Bellum Civille, which is what I want from a manager. Overlooked as a classic because it rejected metaphysics, it is a classic because of the text’s studied rejection of mysticism in favour of a different system. Indeed, it asks us to look beyond the myth of the all-controlling overseer to grasp the actual dynamics at play in a situation.
In this, I believe you can see why club and manager have parted ways. But, reality’s pessimism should not invalidate the value of the unrealised ideal. It’s good that some of the back room staff are staying. In De Zerbi’s vision of football, who makes history are those who within the constructed events of play make themselves memorable actors. Let’s hope the lessons of this system are embedded for next season’s campaign.
Alongside sussing out how to score.