Opinion: Borussia Dortmund right to not hire Roberto De Zerbi as head coach ahead of this season

With October now coming to a close, Borussia Dortmund staff and supporters have been given a taste of what Nuri Şahin intends to do with the club in terms of implementing play style, personnel and tactics. His vision for how the club has played is one that’s quite disputed, with the results not invoking the most confidence in his ability to put his football theory into practice. The most recent result against Wolfsburg in the DFB Pokal has brought the issue to a head, with intense discussions within the club likely set to take place, including the possibility of Şahin being replaced.

According to reports, Şahin wasn’t the only head coach discussed ahead of this season. Former Brighton and current Marseille head coach Roberto De Zerbi was also considered for the role.

At face value, De Zerbi seems like he would have been a solid choice. Brighton played competitive and attractive football under his stewardship up until the end of his tenure at the club. As a club still looking for an identity since the Jürgen Klopp era, on the pitch De Zerbi could have brought fresh ideas and really worked well with the squad Dortmund currently have at their disposal. Marseille sitting third in Ligue 1 is a testament to that, with the club having a quite tumultuous time prior to his arrival. 

It is this current stint at Marseille that also makes the thought of a De Zerbi coaching tenure at Dortmund a little concerning from an ethical standpoint, however. Over the summer, Marseille recruited a certain Mason Greenwood, whose prior history has left a stain on the club’s credibility. When joining Marseille, De Zerbi denied knowledge of the charges Greenwood faced despite the Italian being in the Premier League with Brighton at the time, which I find somewhat unlikely based on the scale of the scandal and investigation.

While there are individuals out there who would be willing to set aside moral code for footballing success, at least in this sense, Dortmund dodged a PR bullet in not having De Zerbi in the role. According to an interview with L’Equipe, De Zerbi stated in his own words that Greenwood was the “first player he called”.

"What’s in his blood: Character, willpower. Elye Wahi, for example, wanted to come at all costs and that’s what he told me straight away on the phone. Mason Greenwood was the first player I called."

- Roberto De Zerbi

While it’s not a given the club would have ever approved a Greenwood signing under De Zerbi, Borussia Dortmund is no place for Greenwood apologists on the basis that “he’s simply good at football”. The club's ethos does not accommodate for such transgressions (as no club should) and De Zerbi’s willingness to take this player on and deny having any knowledge of his situation is a damning blemish on his character; therefore, in my eyes, making him unfit to coach a club like Borussia Dortmund.