Andrea Maldera has said that his time working with Roberto De Zerbi at Albion has made him younger.
The first team coach was on press conference duties on Friday with Roberto De Zerbi absent and spoke fondly of his time so far with us and his relationship with the head coach.
“This is my second season working with Roberto, but we have known each other for a lot of seasons, we are friends,” Maldera said.
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“My father was his coach when Roberto was in the academy of AC Milan and I worked for a lot of seasons at AC Milan and after that I worked with the national team of Ukraine. We spent a lot of time on the phone talking tactics because for me he’s one of the best coaches in this moment.
“When he was a coach at Foggia or Sassuolo, I was working at AC Milan and we spoke a lot about football and I studied his idea a lot.
“When he went to Shakthar Donetsk we spoke about the Ukrainian players and we always had a big discussion about football. Two years ago he changed some people on his technical staff, he called me and I was very happy.
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“For me it’s a dream. I am 53 but I am young for a second time with him and working in the Premier League. My life is two parts, the first is with AC Milan when we won the [Italian] league 2010/11 and played in the Champions League.
“But now with Roberto he has a big energy, a big passion, he involves you a lot. I become younger with him.”
De Zerbi has undergone dental surgery and may not be in attendance at today's game, which he will be serving a one-match touchline suspension for following his yellow card against Crystal Palace last weekend.
“Roberto is not happy,” Andrea added. “I spoke with him yesterday morning, he wants to stay with the team. He isn’t here physically but he is with his personality. The players have a big responsibility. We hope today they play for him.”