Brighton beating Aston Villa will make more women aged 65 happy
What do you want most from Brighton against Aston Villa? Three points? More Kaoru Mitoma magic? Solly March finally scoring a Premier League goal? Or to see a woman in her 60s enjoying herself?
Roberto De Zerbi would opt for the latter, based on his comments following the Albion beating Arsenal 3-1 in the League Cup at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
De Zerbi said when reflecting on another stunning 90 minutes of football from his Brighton side: “There is a picture when Mitoma scored the second goal. The image I have in my head is of one woman in her 60s, 65 maybe? And the most beautiful part is the enjoyment – for the players, for the fans, and for me.”
Not since Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named was at the helm of the good ship Brighton have the Seagulls had such a quotable manager. Like Poyet You Know Who in those first few years he was in charge, every interview De Zerbi further reinforces that he gets this football club.
His enthusiasm is contagious and that is why he has managed to forge such a connection with supporters, the strongest many of us have felt to a manager since, well, Gus The Sark Lord.
It also helps that De Zerbi appears to be bloody good at his job. Three Premier League wins in a row is a feat Graham Potter failed to achieve once in his three-and-a-bit seasons at the Amex. If Brighton beat Villa, then De Zerbi will have done it within seven weeks of arriving in England.
The only time the Albion have been victorious thrice in succession in their current spell as a top flight club came in October 2018. Chris Hughton oversaw 1-0 successes against West Ham, Newcastle United pre-Saudi Sportswashing and Wolves.
Three victories built so much on solid defence that Maty Ryan was named PFA Player of the Month for October. Ryan remains the only Brighton man to win ever win the award.
Leandro Trossard was nominated for last month’s accolade on account of his five goals. That a Brighton forward rather than goalkeeper is now being recognised as one of the leading performers in the Premier League over a six game spell is a sign of how the Albion have been transformed in style and approach under both Glow Up Graham and De Zerbi.
Possession football did not always equal results, however. Getting this Brighton side to win more games was one of the challenges facing De Zerbi and so to secure three wins in a row so soon into the job would be a significant milestone.
The scenario De Zerbi walked into with the previous head coach gone, the entire first team staff following suit and the transfer window having just shut with Player of the Season, best player and top goal scorer all sold looked pretty bloody daunting.
And that was before even taking into account fixtures in his first month at the helm against Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Realistic expectations were for De Zerbi to nurse the players through until the World Cup sustaining limited damage. He would then have six weeks to work with those not in Qatar, after which Brighton could start the post-Glow Up Era properly.
Merda che, De Zerbi said. Which roughly translates to sod that. Instead, the Albion will go into Christmas sitting fifth in the table if they were to beat Villa and Manchester United suffer defeat away at Fulham.
De Zerbi has genuinely worked miracles. The sort of miracles that Aston Villa fans with their overinflated sense of importance cannot understand happen to Brighton and not their club.
Cast your mind back to January when the aforementioned best Albion player who would eventually be sold to Spurs for £25 million was entering the final 18 months of his contract.
Villa fans were livid that their £35 million bid for Yves Bissouma was rejected by the Seagulls. How dare Brighton call Aston Villa a direct rival and refuse to sell to them, when Villa won the 1982 European Cup.
Likewise, Villa fans were adamant that Potter would have jumped at the chance to leave the Amex and replace Steven Gerrard as manager.
Maybe if enough money was waved under Glow Up Graham’s nose, but it certainly would not have been for footballing reasons.
You see, winning the European Cup 40 years ago has no impact on how well run a football club is in 2022. Brighton have structures, methods of working and recruitment of a specific type of player in place Villa (and most of the Premier League) can only dream of.
These allowed Potter to thrive. Without them, Glow Up is struggling at Chelsea. De Zerbi meanwhile can come in and make the Albion look even better than they did under the previous head coach.
When Gerrard was eventually sacked, Villa turned to Unai Emery. They now possess an elite-level head coach who is enjoying the new manager bounce, as evidenced by their stunning 3-1 win over Man United in his first game in charge last week.
Villa will be dangerous opponents at the Amex as a result, full of confidence and wanting to seize one last opportunity to impress their new boss before the long break for the World Cup.
Once the honeymoon period is over for Emery, he will need time to transform Villa. That their fans were so desperate to sign Bissouma and take Potter is evidence that what Brighton do is working… Villa, like Chelsea now, effectively want to become the Albion.
And all the while the Seagulls continue to soar in the top six, that will be the case. It is a huge compliment to Brighton, these players, De Zerbi and his desire to continue making women in their 60s (65 maybe?) very happy.
