Brighton v Man Utd: How Roberto De Zerbi has upgraded Graham Potter's Seagulls

Sam McGuire

• 21 Apr 2023 01:35 CDT
• 5 min read

Roberto De Zerbi has transformed Brighton.

The Italian tactician was appointed in September, replacing Graham Potter who had departed the club to join Chelsea. It was a bold decision by the Seagulls. De Zerbi had impressed while in charge of Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk but had no experience of English football. While Brighton had started the season well under Potter, there was every chance his De Zerbi’s adaption could undo all of the good work.

However, Paul Barber, Brighton’s CEO, was adamant the club had made the right appointment.

“We’ve been particularly impressed by what Roberto did with Sassuolo, where he achieved successive top-half finishes with a relatively small club. It’s no secret our chairman is constantly monitoring potential coaches across the world as part of our succession planning, but Roberto was our number-one choice and the only candidate we spoke to. We feel Roberto is the ideal cultural and technical fit for Brighton & Hove Albion, and the right person to continue the club’s progress and work with this outstanding group of players.”

It wasn’t until the 43-year-old’s sixth game in charge that he recorded his first victory. The Seagulls drew with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and lost to Manchester City, Spurs and Brentford.

They then welcomed Chelsea to the Amex and dished out Potter’s first loss following his switch. That really kickstarted the De Zerbi era and Brighton have been one of the most in-form sides ever since.

Brighton find themselves seven points off of fourth spot in the Premier League but they do have a game in hand. Their next win in the English top-flight would seat a new club points record in the Premier League. They also face off against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

Since the turn of the year, Brighton have played 13 Premier League matches and lost just twice. One of the defeats was a controversial one to Spurs in which they were denied a stonewall penalty and had two goals disallowed. This run in 2023 has seen them pick up 25 points from a possible 39.

What makes all of this even more impressive is the fact De Zerbi has completely changed the way his side play without a pre-season. Usually, new managers look to shore things up and then really put their stamp on things once they’ve had a pre-season to implement their long-term ideas.

Though De Zerbi initially kept Potter’s back three shape, he soon moved to his favoured 4-2-3-1 system once he had familiarised himself with the squad.

Brighton now dominate the ball, with their average possession under the Italian coming in at close to 60% compared to the 49% they averaged under Potter. They’re attempting more passes in general and are much more of a goal threat. All of this is tied to the tactical tweak.

Whereas under Potter, Brighton essentially played with six defensive players - a back five and a sitting midfielder - they now attack with more players.

Without the ball, the attacking midfielder pushes up alongside the striker to form a front four (shown above) with two box-to-box midfielders supporting the four. The change in shape and style has coincided with the emergence of Karou Mitoma and the form of Solly March. Both are now final-phase players involved in goals and assists.

As opposed to anchoring one player as a holding midfielder, De Zerbi has tasked both Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo with helping both the attack and the defence. As a result, Brighton are fairly fluid and this makes them an even greater threat when going forward.

De Zerbi has been likened to Pep Guardiola but he’s made drastic changes to a team without a blank chequebook. Look at what he did against Chelsea last weekend.

The Seagulls started the game with Pascal Gross alongside Caicedo in midfield while Mac Allister played as the attacking midfielder behind Evan Ferguson.

However, injuries to Ferguson and Joel Veltman in the first half forced De Zerbi into making changes. Danny Welbeck and Julio Enisco replaced the injured pair.

Welbeck lead the line while Enisco’s introduction meant Gross dropped in at right-back while Mac Allister moved into the double pivot with Caicedo. De Zerbi opted to impact three positions when replacing Veltman. He could’ve kept the Argentine playmaker in an attacking role and brought on Billy Gilmour to play alongside the one-time Arsenal transfer target, Caicedo, for example.

But De Zerbi made the decision to alter three roles and it paid off.

In the build-up to the opener, it is Mac Allister, in his deeper role, picking up possession. You can also see Gross, highlighted, making a run down the right.

The ball is eventually played to the Brighton No.13 and he cuts inside to send a cross in for Welbeck to nod home. Enisco then went on to score the winner as Brighton dominated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

De Zerbi has already been linked with moves to bigger clubs and you can understand why. This is a manager who believes in his philosophy and backs himself to develop players as opposed to turning to the transfer market to fund improvements. He’s the perfect manager to maximise talent and those marginal gains can prove vital in a competitive league.