Regarding De Zerbi, I like his system and his mindset. The features of his philosophy are:
- Defend and buildup with 6 players (4 at the back and the two midfielders). That creates a numerical advantage of one vs the opposition unless they overcommit so the game is to find the free player.
- His tactics are simple and it's easy for players to follow instructions - all players should be in their designated positions so everyone on the pitch will know where their teammates generally are without looking.
- All players should be good on the ball - his system is usually possession-based.
- There aren't too many squad changes he has to make if he takes over - generally speaking we have what we need for the system to work.
- There is a togetherness to the tactics and the whole team stays deep together so there aren't many spaces to exploit. Working together as a unit is probably his main philosophy.
- He's shown he can give pretty much anyone in the league a game despite not having the biggest stars on the pitch. He can even give the likes of Pep a game.
Most of this is covered here if you like to hear it from the horses mouth:
To give some context to their position in the league, they are just six points behind us, still operating with a limited budget and they're constantly losing their best players every season. On top of that they've had injuries and a very small squad. I mean, they have Danny Welbeck starting for them.
The players seem to absolutely love him despite him actually having a rotation policy (take notes Ten Hag).
Lots to like in my view. Not saying it's a certainty that he'll come in and make us a top team, but that's the case with anyone we hire. However, my view is that he's a very good coach with a philosophy that will work for us both in the short and long term.
