Juric: ‘I am certainly an admirer of De Zerbi’ ahead of Marseille vs. Atalanta

Ivan Juric admits he is ‘certainly an admirer’ of Olympique Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi, but insists Atalanta results do not reflect their performances.

It kicks off at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT.

La Dea have been feeling the pressure in Serie A and Europe, becoming increasingly frustrated at the number of scoring opportunities wasted, leading to five consecutive stalemates before the 1-0 defeat to Udinese.

It is a very tough test for them away to De Zerbi’s Olympique Marseille tomorrow, but Juric keeps faith with his squad.

“The performances up until Udine were positive,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“In football, there are many components that can prevent you from winning games. There was a drop in intensity with Udinese, we hope not to repeat that mistake again.”

There have even been suggestions that Juric’s position could be in doubt if the results don’t start improving rapidly.

“All you need to do is watch the games, as we had great performances against Milan and Lazio. I told the team to keep building on what we did that was positive, because we have not been fortunate so far.

“Nobody needs to reassure me, people are trying to create a situation that does not exist. I talk to the club directors, we are always in contact, and nothing special has happened. I really do believe we’ve had some great performances, just not getting the results that we deserved.

“I am experiencing the situation well, at times people can be malicious and not evaluate things the right way. I will try to be a bit lighter in my interviews, following the example of Max Allegri, he knows how to strike the right tone.”

It is somewhat inevitable that Juric will suffer in comparison with his mentor Gian Piero Gasperini, who was on the Atalanta bench for nine years.

“I am not irritated by the comparison, I know he did amazing things here. I will always have total love for Gasp, I knew the expectations were going to be high.

“I swear, I am not worried as long as the team keeps playing like this.”

There will be no stranger to Italian football on the Olympique Marseille bench, as De Zerbi is making his mark in France after the English spell at Brighton and Hove Albion.

“It will be tough with Marseille, as De Zerbi is a great coach, and is training a squad full of talent,” added Juric.

“This is a fired up team who are very difficult to face. Roberto had impressive experiences abroad, I can see that this time in France has helped him to grow and improve, as it’s still his style of football, but more aggressive now.

“It is a pleasure for me to watch his teams play. I am certainly an admirer of his.”