When Roberto De Zerbi took over as Brighton Manager in September 2022, he was relatively unknown in Premier League circles…but we all know who he is now!
After a sixth place finish last season the Seagulls are playing Europa League football and, even after a recently sticky run of form they are handily placed in seventh in the 2023/24 league table. While the Premier League 2023 betting odds reckon Brighton will do well to match last season’s achievement, De Zerbi’s team are fourth favourites to win the Europa League at a SBOTOP price of 15.00. Only European regulars Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma are at a lower price and that shows just how far Brighton have come in such a short space of time.
De Zerbi’s predecessor, Graham Potter left the club with a glittering reputation for progressive coaching and his team playing attractive football, but he subsequently struggled in his new job at Chelsea and was sacked within seven months of taking that particular poisoned chalice. In the meantime Brighton went from strength to strength under their new man and De Zerbi took them to a new level.
He arrived on the South Coast after managing Shakhtar Donetsk to the top of the European League which was halted following the Russian invasion. But De Zerbi already had a reputation for his sides playing exciting football, managing Benevento in Serie A in 2018, and Sassuolo for the following three campaigns where he achieved two consecutive eighth placed finishes.
And De Zerbi has some big fans elsewhere in the Premier League; Pep Guardiola said: “His impact in England will be massive in the future,” while Jurgen Klopp described the Italian coach as ‘very influential.’
Brighton owner Tony Bloom moved quickly to appoint De Zerbi as his head coach, just days after Potter left for Stamford Bridge and he has subsequently backed him in the transfer market. You could argue it was easy for Bloom to support his man after the club picked up chunky fees from the sales of defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to Chelsea and World Cup winner Alexis MacAllister to Liverpool. While MacAllister has settled well at Anfield it’s difficult to argue that the two Chelsea players will be entirely happy, as the Blues currently sit 13th in the table.
De Zerbi replaced Caicedo with Carlos Baleba from Lille for a cool £27m and the highly rated Bart Verbruggen arrived from Anderlecht to take the spot between the posts. Centre forward Joao Pedro arrived form Watford, but the marquee signing was the loan capture of Barcelona’s Ansu Fati while former Liverpool star James Milner has arrived to add much needed Premier League experience and flexibility.
So far it’s working well and De Zerbi is aiming higher.
Possession with purpose
Guardiola has been the pioneer of possession based football in the Premier League and his protégé, Vincent Kompany is trying the same at Burnley but with little success so far. De Zerbi sits somewhere in the middle, in terms of resource and experience, but he has already succeeded in Serie A and the Premier League. Under Potter Brighton was a slick passing team but De Zerbi has upped the ante, and total domination of the ball was evident as soon as the Italian arrived.
His policy is for his players to be comfortable on the ball in defensive positions and to provoke a high press. It’s a risky tactic as Kompany is discovering at Burnley but Brighton’s players have that bit more poise, and when opponents press too high the Seagulls can play through them. They carried that tactic out with great success recently, beating Ajax of Amsterdam 2-0 to get off the mark in the Europa League, with Pedro and Ansu both on target.
Brighton’s trip away to Everton looked, on paper, like an away win, but on grass a Sean Dyche team is never easy to beat. Brighton showed they can also scrap it out, grabbing a late point thanks to an Ashley Young own goal. The Seagulls had an astonishing 80 per cent possession but were frustrated by a well organised Toffees defence.
While new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou is making the Premier League 2023 news with his swash-buckling style of football, De Zerbi has been impressing for over 12 months now and he remains one of the most talked about young managers in world football. How far he can take the Seagulls time will tell, but following a top six finish he has his eyes on silverware this time around… and that is dreamland for Brighton fans.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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