They’re calling it ‘De Zerbi ball’ and it’s been a De Light, securing Brighton wins over Chelsea and Wolves before the World Cup and an easy victory over Southampton at the restart.
Next up are Arsenal, who I have a sneaking suspicion will trip up on this New Year’s Eve visit to the Amex Stadium. Certainly it will be one of the toughest tests of their Premier League title charge.
Roberto De Zerbi earned a reputation as an expansive coach in other countries. De Zerbi’s Sassuolo managed the most possession of any team in Italy’s Serie A in 2020-21. His Shakhtar Donetsk side were also topping the table for possession in Ukraine’s Premier League in 2021-22 when the season was terminated.
De Zerbi is now starting to make his presence felt in the Premier League. I remember speaking to a friend who works in football coaching back when Graham Potter was in charge of Brighton. He told me that their homework showed Potter likes the ball to be lumped long and his club were readying themselves for that.
Yet De Zerbi isn’t about that. He prefers short passing and playing out from the back. He wants to dominate the ball and thereby control games. Potter is a terrific tactician. It wasn’t easy for De Zerbi, taking over a Brighton side who were already successful. But he’s instilling his ideas, slowly but surely.
Brighton’s passes per game have gone from 427 under Potter to 563 under De Zerbi. Their long passes per game have reduced from 63 to 49. Their possession has risen from just under 50 per cent to 60 per cent, with Brighton even having more of the ball than Manchester City when they visited the Etihad Stadium in October.
This philosophy is rope-a-dope, cat and mouse, risk and reward — they suck in the opposition and then once they’ve beaten the press, the idea is to fly forward into the space that’s now there. It doesn’t always work — De Zerbi’s Brighton lose the ball in their defensive third more than Potter’s did — but it’s his preferred philosophy.
When Brighton had a goal-kick at Southampton on Boxing Day, for example, the central defenders Lewis Dunk and Levi Colwill were standing either side of the six-yard box. The full backs Joel Veltman and Pervis Estupinan were wide, by the touchlines.
The midfield two, Pascal Gross and Moises Caicedo, were deep, right by the 18-yard box as options to receive the ball. Southampton couldn’t get close. All this makes today’s match a tricky prospect for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
They’ve lost their chief presser in Gabriel Jesus, who is a relentless hunter of the ball. Eddie Nketiah will instead need to be the one hounding Brighton’s players when they try to pass their way out from the back. That will be a key battle at the Amex.
Brighton’s mini-run has coincided with De Zerbi turning to the 4-2-3-1 formation that he has used at previous clubs.
He introduced it for that emphatic 4-1 win over Potter’s Chelsea in October and has stuck with it since.
Arteta’s Arsenal know what will be coming from Brighton on Saturday but stopping it will be another matter. A real test of their title credentials awaits.
