Olympique de Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was at the press conference following Sunday evening’s 0-2 win at Angers to round off matchday 21 of Ligue 1 2024-2025. It was an opportunity to talk about the standings, with 2nd place a long way from 1st (10 points) and a little way from 3rd (6 points), with a clear desire not to always remain behind Paris Saint-Germain.
De Zerbi “this obsession with looking ahead, with humility.”
“You have to look behind you, but also ahead. If we don’t have this ambition to aim higher, it can be frustrating and even humiliating. Goals may not be achieved, of course, but that’s okay. If you want to be part of this club, you have to have ambition, this obsession with looking ahead, but always with humility and respect.
It’s something, not necessarily immediately, but in my adventure at OM, in the same way as Pablo (Longoria), Medhi (Benatia), but also players like Rulli, Rabiot, Hojbjerg, Bennacer and Kondogbia, I’m not here to finish second”, comments relayed by RMC Sport.
Of course, talking about winning the championship 10 points behind PSG might sound a little strange, and sound like a panic-stricken announcement for the sake of dreaming a little. But De Zerbi makes it clear that it’s not necessarily for the immediate future. It’s all about aiming high in general and for the future.
You have to appreciate the ambition of your opponents. We don’t want a “given” championship. We need competition, and it’s good that OM has brought in some very good players and a top-level coach who wants to make a long-term commitment. Even if, of course, we hope that PSG will be able to stay one step ahead. This season and next.
