De Zerbi has shades of Poyet about him – and that is no bad thing

His is the name we are not meant to mention. The manager airbrushed from history. Whisper it quietly then, but watching Brighton playing under Roberto De Zerbi for the first time brought back memories of when a certain Gus Poyet breezed into the Albion back in 2009.

De Zerbi made his debut in the dugout away from home against Liverpool, one of the best teams in the division who Brighton were not supposed to stand a chance against. Just like Poyet when the Albion went to big spending, star-studded – by League One standards anyway – Southampton.

At Anfield, De Zerbi did not care who the opponents were. Brighton played bold, brave, attacking football. It took Jürgen Klopp and his Redmen completely by surprise and caught the imagination of both Albion fans and the wider footballing public.

Poyet went to St Mary’s and paired Glenn Murray with Nicky Forster. He pushed Dean Cox and Elliott Bennett high up the wings, almost making it a 4-2-4 formation.

The result was a stunning 3-1 victory. Those 2,709 Albion fans who travelled to Southampton for a Sunday 4.30pm kick off with no trains running along the coast could sense after just 90 minutes that something special was about to happen.

And that it did. Poyet went onto deliver one of the most enjoyable seasons in the history of Brighton & Hove Albion.

His 2010-11 League One champions romped to the title with four games left, playing passing football from another planet nobody thought possible in the third tier. Brighton had never dominated a division in that manner before. It is unlikely they ever will again.

Poyet was a marvel… until it all ended in such a sour manner that the Albion refuse to acknowledge his existence, anyway.

The excitement De Zerbi has generated following his debut in the dugout is comparable to that brought by Poyet. There is that same sense that the Albion might have found someone to take them to previously unscaled heights, just as Poyet did after years in doldrums.

God knows what this gut feeling is or where it comes from. Football fan intuition maybe? Can you feel something in your waters relating to the success of an Albion manager when he has been in charge for all of one game? And when you are a bloke who does not have any waters?

Hopefully that is a question answered in 2024 by Brighton lifting the Champions League trophy, rather than in May with relegation to the Championship.

That sense that De Zerbi has it – whatever it may be – is not the only similarity to Poyet, of course.

Their way with words portrays their passion for football. From his first press conference, Poyet just seemed to get what it was to be a Brighton fan.

“The whole team, the whole club, with the city behind them want to go places and I want to be part of it. So I’m looking forward to the next few months or years,” Poyet said upon his unveiling alongside Tony Bloom at the Grand Hotel.

When Brighton played how Poyet wanted, he was never afraid to show his pride: “It’s all about Brighton, it’s all about Brighton. To still play, it’s all about desire, commitment and being proud. It’s all about the fans.”

On the day the League One title was secured away at Walsall, Poyet came out with this cracker: “You don’t realise how happy you can make people. They forget about everything today. They forget about health problems, about family problems, about financial problems. That’s football.”

De Zerbi cannot even speak fluent English yet and here he is, giving off the same vibes. He describes Brighton as “my club” and the squad as “my players”. It is such a simple thing to do but one which instantly draws supporters towards him.

In another classy yet simple move, he used his post-Liverpool comments to send his thoughts to those in Ukraine: “I’m just thinking about what happens a couple of months ago and where I was in February.”

“I was sure today we could play a very good game. I am very proud of being the head coach of Brighton. But my thoughts still go to Shakhtar Donetsk and all of the Ukrainian people.”

What most clearly links De Zerbi and Poyet however is their personality. Both are forceful characters, on and off the pitch.

Watching De Zerbi in the dugout is likely to provide almost as much entertainment as his players on the pitch. At Anfield, we had him control a wayward Robert Sanchez goal kick out of the sky with the back of his foot, straight into his own arms.

He then deliberately threw the ball away from Trent Alexander-Arnold wanting to take a quick throw. When was the last time you saw a Brighton manager do something like that?

De Zerbi’s celebration of Leandro Trossard’s 83rd minute equaliser has already gone viral. He ran around his technical area doing little pigeon-steps, like a child who had just been told they are getting McDonalds for dinner.

Poyet was the same sort of entertainer on the side of the pitch. He punched the air and waved his fists around when promotion was secured against Dagenham & Redbridge, the happiest man in Withdean.

Much happier than whenever the Albion were rewarded a penalty. Brighton were so bad at spot kicks during that 2010-11 season that Poyet took to hiding behind the dugout whenever one was given.

And then there was the time he sung “We’re fucking brilliant” over a speaker system to thousands of people in the middle of the day from the promenade at Madeira Drive.

De Zerbi even shares Poyet’s trait for falling out with owners. De Zerbi was sacked as Foggia manager in 2016 after a disagreement with the board.

In some ways, it is surprising that Brighton have gone with such a charismatic personality as their new head coach.

Since Paul Barber was appointed as chief executive in 2012 and Poyet left in such dramatic fashion, every subsequent appointment has been a calm and collected individual with a squeaky-clean image unlikely to ruffle any feathers.

Oscar Garcia, Sami Hyypia, Chris Hughton and Potter… none of them wore their hears on their sleeves nor publicly displayed the passion of Poyet or De Zerbi.

And maybe that is the underlying factor driving that feeling that De Zerbi is going to produce something special as Brighton manager – because the last head coach cut from a similar cloth was Poyet.

Whatever your opinions of Poyet, nobody could deny that it was rarely dull with him charge. It seems unlikely that things will be boring with De Zerbi at the helm.

Strap yourselves in, it is going to be quite the ride. Let’s just hope it does not get too eeeeeeees complicated.