The Marseille coach responds to attacks from his mother-agent: “The situation was poorly handled by his entourage. And now he’s on the market. He’s sorry, I gave him some fatherly advice, and we’ll see what he does.”

A bar brawl, like something out of an English pub. And no sign of remorse. This is one of the reasons why Roberto De Zerbi gave the green light to suspend Adrien Rabiot after his argument with Rowe last Friday in Rennes. But it was supposed to be a temporary sanction, and instead the player’s entourage made everything worse and led to a breakdown. This is the Italian coach’s version, given today at a press conference ahead of the match against Paris FC: “I’m not shocked because I come from the streets, but I would have expected Rabiot to keep his head down and apologize. Then things would have returned to normal.”

order—  Now, however, Rabiot is on the market and it is difficult to repair the rift: “He only came to talk to me today,” said De Zerbi, “he is sorry, he thinks it was too harsh a measure. But I spoke to him like a father. If I were his father, I would have done the same. I gave him some fatherly advice and we’ll see what he does with it.” De Zerbi certainly did not appreciate the brawl with Rowe: “Let’s get things straight,” the coach began at the press conference, “if two employees fight in any workplace, whether they are two waiters, two lawyers, or two workers, in front of their bosses, there are only two solutions: suspension or dismissal. Together with President Longoria and sporting director Benatia, we decided on suspension, and we hoped for sincere repentance and understanding that even in a football team there is a hierarchy. It was a necessary decision because even our bodyguards had to intervene.”

A glimmer of hope—  De Zerbi then responded to Véronique Rabiot, who accused him of betrayal and inconsistency, given that he “barks” in the locker room: “She said things that aren’t true (…), I was the one who made him captain in Paris and stood between him and the Parisian fans who were throwing bottles at him. His mother says I didn’t give him a second chance like I did with Greenwood. But Greenwood’s were personal issues. Here we are talking about inappropriate behavior in the workplace. It’s true, I bark, I shout in the locker room, but I’m the first to hug my players. I paid more attention to his son than to others. I even offered to move him into my house in Aix-en-Provence and stay in a hotel myself. I love Rabiot, it was supposed to be a temporary decision. We could have pretended nothing happened, but I won’t lose my dignity over a game. It was a brave decision and I approve of it. In big clubs, you need clear rules that must be respected.“ Now the ball is in Rabiot’s court. For his mother, who manages his career, going back is impossible. De Zerbi, however, leaves a door open: ”Rabiot is a good guy, but the situation was mishandled by his entourage. It would have been normal to come back with his head down and apologize. And everything would have returned to normal. We never wanted a permanent split. Now it’s possible that he’ll leave. It’s not easy to play without a player of Rabiot’s caliber, but we’ll try to complete the team. We expect 5-6 additions between now and the end of the transfer window.”