Roberto de Zerbi details Marcelo Bielsa meeting and ‘greatness’ of former Leeds United boss

Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi has explained how a meeting with former Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa had a profound impact on his development as a football manager.

The Italian has earned plenty of praise in the last 12 months since taking the reins at Brighton and establishing a high-quality and entertaining playing style that has helped the Seaguls qualify for Europe. But in many interviews with Brighton players, they speak not just of the tactician in charge, but of the man-manager that de Zerbi is also.

And in an interview back in Italy, de Zerbi has revealed how a meeting with former Leeds boss Bielsa, while the Uruguayan was still in charge of French Ligue 1 side Lille, made him realise that being a great football manager is about more than just tactics.

Speaking to Viral Sport TV, and translated by Juani Jimena, the Seagulls boss said: “Do you know what is the greatness of Bielsa? It’s mostly the type of person he is. I like to unify football with life. When I went to visit him [in Lille] for a week with my staff, he welcomed me in the training centre.

“We walked for two or three hours. We spent two hours walking with him. The first hour we spent talking about what life was for him, his thoughts on football and life. The second hour we talked about tactics.

“The guy doesn’t just talk to you about football, he talks to you about other things. Even now, here we are, and we’re not just talking about tactics we’re talking about life. Being identified as a great strategist etc, that doesn’t interest me.