Rosanna Pedrollo devoted roughly 50 years to Brescia, starting in the club’s administration in 1968. In the early 1980s she met Roberto De Zerbi’s father, Alfredo, through his role coordinating the supporters’ clubs.
She recalls that he was ever-present back then, arranging away travel, keeping track of which players would visit each supporters’ club, and managing the logistics.
Alfredo loved football. He was passionate and fiery yet kind—polite, energetic, and unafraid to voice his opinions even when others disagreed.
Pedrollo says few people in today’s game are like him; much has changed, but his commitment to the club was unmistakable.
She remembers De Zerbi as a four- or five-year-old mascot, following the team home and away with his father. Known to friends as ‘Roby’, he would watch training sessions and help create tifos for home matches.
He was also a gifted player, turning out for USO Mompiano near his heroes before moving to Lumezzane and then joining AC Milan at 12.
According to Pedrollo, Alfredo dearly wanted to see his son play for Brescia one day—something he mentioned to her many times.
That hope was realized in 2008 when De Zerbi spent 19 matches on loan at his hometown club.
His first taste of coaching also came in the city, assisting a friend with youth teams at ADC Mario Rigamonti. Many of the principles that shape his management today, however, were forged during his family’s hardships in the early-1990s economic crisis.
At that time, his father was forced to sell their mat factory and the family home, and they moved into a small apartment.
De Zerbi later told Lamrani they had to rebuild their lives from scratch, and Lamrani says he has stayed true to his youthful ideals and working-class roots.
The day after signing his first professional contract with Milan, De Zerbi was at the bank arranging a mortgage to buy his parents a house.
Coming from modest means, success has not shaken his core values, adds Lamrani, who also worked as Marcelo Bielsa’s disciplinary coach and interpreter at Leeds United.
He has maintained the solidarity and generosity his parents taught him and has never disowned his social origins. He knows exactly where he stands—on the side of ordinary people.
He instinctively supports the oppressed, a stance that reflects a rebellious streak shaped by his own life story.