Life under Roberto De Zerbi: Scoring, soaring, and schadenfreude:
Life at Brighton and Hove Albion under Roberto De Zerbi is proving very fruitful four months into the Italian’s reign.
Currently, the Seagulls are sitting in eighth place in the Premier League, with a game in hand on fellow European-spot-chasing rivals Fulham.
Two wins in the last three league games reflects an impressive return, especially considering the defeat was against table-topping Arsenal.
The Seagulls have safely negotiated passage to round four of the FA Cup, on a weekend when cup upsets (cupsets!) were rife.
Brighton’s last four matches in all competitions have seen 21 goals in total (14 for, 7 against). No wonder Mark Chapman keeps saying on the BBC how much fun the Albion are to watch at the moment.
I have written a few pieces here in recent months arguing that the most important piece of transfer business that Brighton could have done was hold on to Graham Potter.
Well, I am happy to hold my hands up and admit that I was wrong to doubt the club’s recruitment policy. I praised the club’s player recruitment and should have had faith that replacing the manager would have followed the same path.
The fact is, Brighton have come out of losing Potter with an even better manager. Watch De Zerbi be constantly linked with “bigger” clubs once the penny drops.
I am not going to start putting the boot into Potter. What he did for the club was extremely impressive, and I was very sad to see him leave for Chelsea, especially the manner of his departure.
Although there is a palpable sense of Schadenfreude (the taking of pleasure in the suffering of others) among the Brighton fandom aimed at Chelsea right now – and understandably so – deep down I don’t want to see Potter sacked prematurely to then hop onto the ludicrous management merry-go-round.
I remember saying to a Chelsea-supporting friend of mine when he asked me what he should expect from Potter at Chelsea that Potter will need time. It took the best part of two seasons before he got Brighton really firing.
My friend did not entirely enjoy me telling him that even during last season, when the Seagulls recorded their highest ever league finish, they still had an 11-match winless run, six games consecutive defeats and three months without a goal at the Amex.
Scoring goals was always an issue for Albion under Potter, and so it is proving to be for Chelsea. De Zerbi, however, does not seem to suffer from the same affliction.
De Zerbi’s style is not a million miles away from Potter’s – with an emphasis on possession and an aggressive press – but the Italian has really helped release the shackles of Brighton’s forwards.
Kaoru Mitoma has licence to be direct. Evan Ferguson has made an impressive impact with two goals and an assist in his last two league games.
De Zerbi even appears to have transformed Adam Lallana and Solly March into regular scorers, a feat that seemed almost impossible under Potter.
Impressively, all this has been achieved while simultaneously laying down the law to Potter’s most potent Albion attacker, Leandro Trossard – give us 100 per cent, or don’t play.
There were many calls for Gareth Southgate to unshackle his England forwards before and during the World Cup in Qatar.
It seems to me that for the men’s national team to begin to emulate the great success of the women’s side that Southgate needs to be a little less Potter and a little more De Zerbi. But, I digress…
I, and many others, kept saying that under Potter was the best squad, playing the best football in the club’s history and now De Zerbi has progressed again, in an astonishingly short amount of time.
He has shown me that there is no reason to be anything other than optimistic about what the future holds for Brighton.
The Seagulls are scoring, soaring and life at Brighton and Hove Albion under De Zerbi is proving fruitful.
Mark Elms @Mark_Elms71
