Brighton became one of the best non-leading teams in the Premier League: ninth in the 2021/2022 season, sixth in the next season. Above Tottenham and Chelsea. The Seagulls’ success is mainly due to the coaching work of Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi. But something went wrong in the current draw.
Potter took over the leadership of the Seagulls in the spring of 2019. And he turned the Premier League outsider into candy. But in the fall of 2022, wealthy Chelsea arrived and lured Graham to his home. What did Brighton do? I hired an even better trainer! Under De Zerbi, the Club played at an unprecedented level and reached a European competition for the first time: the Europa League. Furthermore, he also claimed to be in the top 4. And they almost reached the FA Cup final, losing to Manchester United on penalties.
The Italian immediately gave Brighton wild possession. Even against Manchester City, the loser kept the ball more often. “They offer a type of game that we are not used to. De Zerbi’s influence in England will be enormous,” Pep Guardiola suggested. And it turned out that he was right. Furthermore, in addition to possession, the Seagulls also perfectly mastered counterpressing: the result was a kind of cross between the football of Guardiola and Klopp.
Furthermore, De Zerbi is also an excellent psychologist. “We saw that everything worked as Roberto wanted. Because of the type of person he is. Because of the parental relationships that he recreates with the players. I remember telling him to tell me what he wanted. That he is willing to explain to his companions why they should follow him. And I did it: I explained to him that at first it would be difficult, but we would see the results and we would achieve it. Even taking into account that he spoke bad English and I don’t speak Italian, we understood each other just by looking into each other’s eyes,” said Adam Lallana. And he didn’t cheat.
Adan Lallana and Roberto De Zerbi
Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
“De Zerbi puts little squares on the field, so you know that if you have the ball in this area, where there are only four squares diagonally, then each player will only have six options to pass, it’s incredible. Distances are important, as is the position of the body, the intensity of the movement, the first touch. All is important. He wants to achieve excellence and turn ordinary players into stars. I’m 100% sure he’ll turn out to be great. I told him about this. He will coach the best teams in the world and win the Champions League,” Kevin-Prince Boateng revealed the Italian’s secrets.
“Look at the type of football that Allegri and De Zerbi’s teams play. Do you think one wants to win and the other doesn’t? De Zerbi does not play for aesthetics, he plays to win. Many people think that their style of play is the best way to win and that it is that easy. Everyone wants to win. “I’ve never met a coach or a player who didn’t want to win, or someone who didn’t want to play well,” Guardiola said.
“If you believe, like me, that Guardiola is the best coach in the history of football in the last 30 years, you can imagine how happy I am. I became a coach thanks to Guardiola because he loved his Barcelona. I studied it a lot. I don’t want to copy anyone, but I adopted a lot of ideas when I started my coaching career. “Pep is number one,” De Zerbi responded.
Roberto De Zerbi and Pep Guardiola
Photo: Mike Morese/Getty Images
And recently Pep even stated that he sees the Italian as his successor: “My admiration for De Zerbi grows every season. Roberto has done and is doing a fantastic job at the helm of Brighton. I am sure that Roberto can coach any team. I do not have doubts. He can coach Brighton and any team in the world. This is the next manager of Manchester City.
Look at Filip Djuricic’s words: “Roberto showed us that we can play against big teams. If you play against Inter with 70% possession, it means that something has changed in your head. You play against Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez, but you lead the game. This gives great confidence. We had a very close relationship with De Zerbi. “I see him as a second father.”
This is what Jurgen Klopp said about De Zerbi: “We all know how difficult it is to play against Brighton.” Roberto is doing an incredible job there and with him Brighton have become a completely different team. I think Brighton have improved a lot since Roberto took charge of the team. When he took over the team, we had no idea what to expect. Yes, we saw his football at his previous club, but we didn’t know what his Brighton would be like. It’s impressive how quickly he implemented his philosophy into the team and things have only gotten better since then. His football is completely different. I couldn’t organize a match like that, it goes against my character, but it’s still great football. The coach is demanding with the players, the team has a clear positioning, the passes are given at the right time. It’s very interesting to watch, I love watching them, to be honest.
Roberto is a top-level coach, he does everything very well. The truth is that Brighton are very good, on a good day they can beat any rival. Now the good news is that we can do it too.”
De Zerbi trained a top-level player:
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Recently, all the big clubs with vacant positions have approached De Zerbi: Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Milan. But why now, when his Brighton are in 11th place? The Seagulls have gone four games in a row without winning. The answer is simple, like in the movie “What Men Talk About.” Because.
Brighton is not a top club at all. De Zerbi already got the most out of it. Like before Sassuolo. Yes, in the first year with the Italian, Brighton was the second team in the Premier League in possession of the ball after Man City and the third in scorers after City and Arsenal. But this is Brighton. A recession was inevitable. Especially after they sold Sánchez, Mac Allister and Caicedo. Even the best clubs experience crises due to the loss of leaders, let alone the less favored ones.
Brighton continue to maintain their line and play as they are used to. He cannot be underestimated. Especially in the game against City, Guardiola definitely understands football and understands the complexity of the opponent. Today Pep and Roberto will meet again. If the hosts win, Arsenal will be ahead of City in terms of points dropped.
