Fulham 3-0 Brighton: Defeat at Cottage leaves De Zerbi dejected
Losing at Craven Cottage comes as no real surprise to Seagulls supporters these days. But what was a shock – and a rather worrying one at that – was just how pitiful the Albion performance was in Fulham 3-0 Brighton.
Fulham ran out such comfortable winners without ever needing to get out of second gear. And then came an enlightening post-match interview with a dejected Roberto De Zerbi in which he appeared to question the club’s approach over the past two transfer windows.
“I think for us it is a very tough moment but I’m not speaking (only) now about it. I am starting to explain the future in September, in October, in November, in January – especially in January,” said De Zerbi after Fulham 3-0 Brighton.
“Now we can’t change anything. We have to move on to play better, to fight better, to play with different energy,” he added.
The insinuation was pretty clear. The Albion did not do the summer business De Zerbi felt was required to not only cope with the added workload brought about by European football, but try and replace Alexis Max Allister and Moises Caicedo.
De Zerbi then went public with his thoughts of what was required in the January window nine days before it opened. Three or four new players with a particular onus on central midfield.
Brighton went in another direction, signing three players for their Under 21s. Valentin Barco was the only reinforcement brought in for the first team squad – and as 19-year-old from Argentina, he will need time to adapt to life in England.
Almost from the day De Zerbi arrived, comparisons were made to Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named. The passion. The way they talked about football. The instant connection with fans. The desire and mentality to win every game. And not being afraid to speak their mind.
Poyet frequently challenged and questioned the club in public over what he felt was a lack of signings, ultimately leading to those infamous glass ceiling comments after what turned out to be his final game before being sacked.
De Zerbi now appears to be doing the same. With contract talks ongoing and Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester United considering a summer move for De Zerbi, Brighton may find it that much harder convincing their head coach to remain if he does not feel backed or that the club’s ambitions are less than his own.
Before Fulham 3-0 Brighton, De Zerbi said that he would pick a starting XI to compete at Craven Cottage rather than one with an eye on Thursday night’s Europa League round of 16 tie against Roma.
Unless De Zerbi had been hitting the limoncello a little too hard on Friday afternoon, this turned out to be a white lie. If anything, his selection screamed of proving the point that Brighton do not have enough squad depth.
Six defenders were in the side, including Jan Paul van Hecke stepping into the midfield area where De Zerbi had been so vocally insistent the Albion had to strengthen.
Nothing says “I told you we needed more midfielders” than a centre back out-of-position – even if they are as talented a footballer as Van Hecke.
Pascal Gross and Simon Adingra were rested to the bench. Lewis Dunk was hauled after an hour to give him a breather ahead of the trip to Rome. Danny Welbeck and Igor Julio did not feature at all.
Yet for these almost 600 words in defence of De Zerbi, the Albion head coach is not totally absolved of blame for a run of form which now reads five wins in 20 Premier League matches.
This goalkeeper rotation nonsense has to stop. Pick either Bart Verbruggen or Jason Steele and let them keep the shirt until they make a series of mistakes which means they deserve to be dropped.
Logic would currently dictate that man should be Verbruggen. Brighton have won three and drawn one of Verbruggen’s past four games between the posts. Steele has lost all four of his.
Steele might be the much greater entertainer – as we saw in Wolves 1-0 Brighton – but most Albion fans probably value things like clean sheets and points more than their goalkeeper making two-footed tackles and recording the highest xG of any Brighton player.
De Zerbi also needs to drop any formation which involves a back three. Brighton consistently give their worst defensive performances with three centre backs, including such classics of the genre as losing 4-0 to Luton.
It boggles the mind that every Albion fan can see switching goalkeepers and three at the back is detrimental to hopes of picking up points, and yet one of the most sought-after and talented managers in the world persists with it.
With grim predictability, it was a defensive cock up which gave the Cottagers the lead in Fulham 3-0 Brighton. Adam Webster looked like a dog running around with a balloon on its nose as he attempted to head sideways to Pervis Estupinan.
Rodrigo Muniz intercepted and as Webster tried to recover the situation, Harry Wilson danced around the sliding centre back before curling into the far corner.
Neither Webster nor Estupinan covered themselves in glory, continuing their poor recent individual form. More problematic was the Albion needing to break down a Cottagers outfit who are the masters at gamesmanship now holding a one-goal lead.
That task was made doubly hard when Fulham went 2-0 ahead 11 minutes later. Wilson turned the provider this time, crossing for Muniz to head home having got in front of Dunk far too easily.
And there we all were before the game, saying how nice it would be for Dunk not to be facing Aleksandar Mitrovic at Craven Cottage. Turns out you can take the Mitrovic out of Fulham and Dunk will still struggle in the air against a Cottager.
Brighton were at least better in the second half, although it would have been difficult to play much worse. Evan Ferguson poked a Adam Lallana through flick just wide and then fired a one-on-one from a long Van Hecke pass straight at Bernd Leno.
When substitute Facundo Buonanotte hit the post with a low drive from 18 yards, you began to sense – if you hadn’t already – that this was not going to be the Albion’s day.
De Zerbi certainly had that impression, if him burying his head in his hands and jacket on the highlights in response to Buonanotte rattling the upright was anything to go by.
A miserable afternoon was completed when Fulham added their third on the counter in stoppage time. Hell will presumably be freezing over at some point this week as for the first time ever, a Gross Turn did not come off.
Instead, Bobby De Cordova-Reid dispossessed Der Kaiser, went galloping clear and passed right for Adama Traore to apply the finish.
Hardly ideal preparation for facing a Roma side who warmed up for Thursday by running out 4-1 winners away at Monza in Serie A.
But for all the doom and gloom around the Albion at the moment, Fulham 3-0 Brighton will be banished from the mind if the Seagulls can soar to further European heights at Stadio Olimpico.
