Roberto De Zerbi: ‘I come from the streets, I’m used to this kind of thing. But to see bodyguards defending us…’

Marseille’s training ground was packed with journalists on Friday afternoon, as Roberto De Zerbi responded to the media on the latest affair which has been the talk of French football for the past week. Adrien Rabiot (30) and Jonathan Rowe (22) have been placed on the club’s transfer list after a physical dressing room altercation which took place following OM’s opening defeat to Stade Rennais (1-0). Roberto De Zerbi spoke for the first time to the press on the affair, at a press conference attended by Get French Football News. The Italian entered the conference with a statement of his own. “As Benatia said, I’ve been playing football for a long time. I’m used to talking about what goes on in the dressing room, but things need to be sorted out. It’s necessary. I have a question for you: In a workplace, we have two employees fighting, like in an English pub, with one teammate on the ground because he lost consciousness. What should the employer do in France?”“There are two solutions: either suspension or dismissal. Benatia and Longoria spoke on the phone on Saturday and Sunday. We waited until Monday to make an announcement. A clear decision was made to suspend the players from the squad while we wait to see how they feel. In a football club, as everywhere else, there has to be a hierarchy.”“This fight, where bodyguards had to defend us and separate the players, was the only time I’ve ever seen anything like it. Although I don’t want to dramatise: I come from the streets, I’m used to this kind of thing. But to see bodyguards defending us…”“Yes, they didn’t break any bones, but I’ve never seen a fight like that before. I saw the doctor trying to wake up the other player on the ground, Rowe and Rabiot fighting… On the pitch, you have to show ‘balls’, as you say. But not between teammates. No one should see themselves as stronger than the club. There are strong players and strong coaches everywhere. But we have to manage to behave ourselves and stay in our place. In the long run, it will be beneficial.”“Tomorrow we’ll have to play without Rowe and Rabiot, which won’t be easy. I could have pretended and turned a blind eye. But I’m not going to lose my dignity to win the championship; I will always support the club.”Les Olympiens face Paris FC at the Stade Vélodrome tomorrow afternoon in their second Ligue 1 match of the season.GFFN | George Boxall – reporting from La Commanderie, Marseille