Roberto De Zerbi has been a game changing coach for the Brighton. The Italian manager have changed the face of the 'Seagulls' with building a good strong side with no big names in the squad but they had the capibility of beating any Premier League giants on their best given day. With likes of Moisés Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma, Pervis Estupiñán, Joao Pedro and Billy Gilmour these names have build them into stars in the English and European circuit.
The 41-year-old started off with Palermo and Benevento but he did not succeed their then he was transfered at Sassuolo, where he transformed the squad that had previously struggled in the lower leagues into a Serie A title contender in the 2020/21 season. The very next season he joined the PL club Brighton where he succeded in the same season bringing in some young guns and their diamond shape style of play impressed the fans.
The Italian manager breakthrough year was 2022/23 season where the Seagulls finished 6th in the league table that earned them a spot in the Europa League, and they lost to AS Roma this season in the RO of 16 match. Though the brand of football the players are playing under De Zerbi's coaching has been impressive, though they are placed 9th in the PL table but they have the chance to qualify for the UEFA Conference League for the upcoming season.
De Zerbi: An impressive journey
Zerbi loves to play possestional football and control the game mostly in the opposition half. They rely on the movement of the players and short passing and building from the defense and the goalkeeper's role becomes important as he has to become a good ball player and the manager loves to have control on and off the ball. His preferred formation is 4-2-3-1, which is adopted in an effort to use the width of the game. One of the four-man defensive line's fullbacks would always assist with ball progression, while the advanced wide players would serve as inverted wingers.
The very reason of his tactical brilliance he has been under the radar of many big clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona as well. The way he unlocks the player's potential is what makes him more impressive and that brings the best out of the footballers. The above named big clubs only two have the similar kind of play Munich and Liverpool as both of their coaches will leave after the current season and the game style of his also suits the clubs. That is why Brighton have kept a 12 million dollars release clause for the coach.