Roberto on why he made Dominic Solanke captain at Old Trafford
Roberto De Zerbi explained that he made Dominic Solanke skipper against United ‘to show my confidence’.
The striker responded with a late equaliser to earn us a much-deserved point at Old Trafford on Saturday.
It was looking like a frustrating evening in Manchester as we’d dominated for long periods only to find ourselves 1-0 down and then reduced to 10 men following Rodrigo Bentancur’s red card.
The team found another gear, and were rewarded when Dominic won the physical battle in front of goal with Lisandro Martinez to glance home Sandro Tonali’s cross for 1-1 in the 92nd minute.
Asked in his post-match press conference why he had made the call to make Dominic skipper, Roberto replied: “After the last game, the criticism, I wanted to put him captain to show my confidence and the confidence of the team, because all other players were happy when I said Domi Solanke was captain. When one player of us is in a difficult situation, all other players and staff and myself, we have to show to be close with him, like a family, like a team, like a normal team."
Speaking to us further about what that goal would do for Dom, Roberto added: “He deserved everything he did today.
“He's a great guy, great player, he suffered for the criticism, because we didn't score, we didn't win, we have no striker, no, no, we have the striker and we have a great striker.
“I think in this moment for us, we can't find a striker better than Dominic Solanke, he has to improve in physical condition, in confidence, and he was captain for that reason.”