HEAD COACH ROBERTO De Zerbi has left Marseille “by mutual agreement”, the French club said early Wednesday, days after they were thrashed 5-0 by bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
The 46-year-old Italian, who had been in charge since the summer of 2024, has been linked with a return to the Premier League, Tottenham in particular where he is a former target and boss Thomas Frank is under considerable pressure.
Marseille crashed out of the Champions League last month and were well beaten at PSG on Sunday to leave them fourth in Ligue 1.
After days of speculation about his future, a club statement said: “Following discussions between all stakeholders in the club’s management — the owner, president, director of football, and coach — it was decided to make a change at the helm of the first team.
“This was a difficult collective decision, taken after careful consideration in the best interests of the club, in order to respond to the sporting challenges of the end of the season.”
De Zerbi took Marseille to second, behind PSG, in the league last season.
He arrived in southern France following a two-year stint at Premier League Brighton, where he took them to sixth in his first season.
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Before that he coached the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
Under-fire Frank, meanwhile, is convinced he will still be Tottenham manager for next week’s visit of Arsenal despite the club’s relegation fears increasing after a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle.
On the line: Thomas Frank last night. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Spurs were set to be only three points above the bottom three until Manchester United produced a last-gasp equaliser at 18th-placed West Ham.
Fans once again turned on Frank during this latest home loss with chants for old manager Mauricio Pochettino and more calls for the current Tottenham head coach to be “sacked in the morning” in another toxic atmosphere in N17.
He claimed to still hold the support of the club’s ownership and said he had spoken with them on Monday.
“Yeah, I’m convinced I will be,” Frank responded when asked if he expected to be in charge when Arsenal make the trip to Tottenham on 22 February.
“I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.
“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now.
“Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”
Pressed on if he had any doubts about being the right man for Tottenham after they slipped to only five points above the relegation zone, Frank appeared to aim thinly-veiled digs at some of his predecessors.
Frank added: “(I’m) 1,000 per cent sure. I am also 1,000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing.
“I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here, not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs, that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head.
“Carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”
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De Zerbi leaves Marseille 'by mutual agreement' as pressure builds on Frank at Spurs
HEAD COACH ROBERTO De Zerbi has left Marseille “by mutual agreement”, the French club said early Wednesday, days after they were thrashed 5-0 by bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
The 46-year-old Italian, who had been in charge since the summer of 2024, has been linked with a return to the Premier League, Tottenham in particular where he is a former target and boss Thomas Frank is under considerable pressure.
Marseille crashed out of the Champions League last month and were well beaten at PSG on Sunday to leave them fourth in Ligue 1.
After days of speculation about his future, a club statement said: “Following discussions between all stakeholders in the club’s management — the owner, president, director of football, and coach — it was decided to make a change at the helm of the first team.
“This was a difficult collective decision, taken after careful consideration in the best interests of the club, in order to respond to the sporting challenges of the end of the season.”
De Zerbi took Marseille to second, behind PSG, in the league last season.
He arrived in southern France following a two-year stint at Premier League Brighton, where he took them to sixth in his first season.
Before that he coached the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.
Under-fire Frank, meanwhile, is convinced he will still be Tottenham manager for next week’s visit of Arsenal despite the club’s relegation fears increasing after a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle.
Spurs were set to be only three points above the bottom three until Manchester United produced a last-gasp equaliser at 18th-placed West Ham.
Fans once again turned on Frank during this latest home loss with chants for old manager Mauricio Pochettino and more calls for the current Tottenham head coach to be “sacked in the morning” in another toxic atmosphere in N17.
He claimed to still hold the support of the club’s ownership and said he had spoken with them on Monday.
“Yeah, I’m convinced I will be,” Frank responded when asked if he expected to be in charge when Arsenal make the trip to Tottenham on 22 February.
“I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.
“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now.
“Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”
Pressed on if he had any doubts about being the right man for Tottenham after they slipped to only five points above the relegation zone, Frank appeared to aim thinly-veiled digs at some of his predecessors.
Frank added: “(I’m) 1,000 per cent sure. I am also 1,000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing.
“I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here, not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs, that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head.
“Carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”
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Managerial Departure Roberto De Zerbi Soccer