In the dynamic world of modern football, rarely coaches have applied as profound an influence as Roberto De Zerbi, who took in charge of Brighton after Graham Potter left for Chelsea. Leading Brighton to high flights in the Premier League and to their first-ever appearances in European competition, the Europa League, De Zerbi’s strategic brilliance has not merely reshaped the club’s historical momentum but has also reproduced an enduring imprint on the global football arena. The “Seagulls” under De Zerbi managed to reach the FA Cup semifinals in the 2022-2023 season where they were beaten by Man United 4:7 in the penalty shootout.
After making some “noise” with the Serie A team of Sassuolo, he moved to Shakhtar Donetsk where he put his signature presenting a beautiful attacking football that was heavily based on possession and positional elements.
His name is very often on the table for becoming manager in historic clubs such as FC Barcelona (Xavi Hernandez is leaving at the end of the season), Manchester United, and even Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season. Bridgton’s tactical analysis is very often presented in big sports shows on Sky Sport, Sky Sports News, or other Sky Sports Channels by ex-footballers and managers who want to present the brilliance of his tactical knowledge.
De Zerbi has shown a remarkable ability in building mentality in his teams and develop players to reach their highest potential. Two shining examples are Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister who after a couple of seasons with Brighton they succeeded in multi-million transfers with Chelsea (under Mauricio Pochettino) and Liverpool respectively. Fabrizio Romano, who is well known for his insight information on transfer news, posted in his social media account De Zerbi’s recent words on Ansu Fati: “He needs to believe in himself ore”, He is a sensitive guy, a good guy and part of my work is to help players believe in themselves to show all of their qualities and not one part”, “He has to push 100%, every day”.
Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann and Roberto De Zerbi, are considered the best young managers in European Football at the moment. these are managers that every big football club would like to have. He could even be a resident of Old Trafford in case Sir Jim Ratcliffe would sack Erik Ten Hag.
This article gets into the tactical details that characterize Brighton Hove Albion under De Zerbi’s football coaching and leadership, emphasizing their areas of prowess, tactical brilliance, and the enthralling metamorphosis of their playing philosophy.
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Table of Contents
Learn and apply Roberto De Zerbi’s exact training methods, so your team can reproduce his unique build up play patterns and attacking style of play to dominate your opponents
- Replicate Roberto De Zerbi’s playing style
Train your players with a possession-based attacking style of play - Implement fundamental training elements to improve your team with De Zerbi’s unique build-up play patterns
- Break the lines with positional build-up play and attacking positional patterns of play practices
- Coach your team to control the ball and dominate opponents by keeping possession
Build Up
Low Build-up
Roberto De Zerbi and Brighton’s biggest tactical strength is arguably the build-up. In the low build-up, Brighton lined up in a 1-4-2-2-2 formation.
Pep Guardiola, the head coach of Manchester City, described Roberto De Zerbi as “one of the coaches I admire most in world football”. This season Brighton has the 2nd highest percentage in possession with 59.7%, only behind the unstoppable Man City.
They build with seven players located in dee positions: The goalkeeper, a back four, and the two holding midfielders in a 1-4-2 shape. The wingers are high and wide, and the two number 10’s position themselves between the opposition backline and midfield line. Many teams defend in a 1-4-4-2 formation, and if they do, the position of the number 10’s forces the opposition team to make a decision: push one or two center backs between the lines but this will have as a result the space behind them to open up, giving the winger a 1v1 against the fullback.
If they do not push up, the number 10’s with the help of the double pivot, create a numerical superiority in the midfield, and Brighton should be able to play through the press.
Some teams try to solve this by dropping one of the strikers into the midfield to create a 1-4-5-1 formation, thus creating a numerical advantage against the two number 10’s:
But, even though this gives a solution against the numerical superiority of Brigton in the midfield, this gives to De Zerbi team the time and space to take advantage of the biggest strength which is to build up from the back. Dropping even more players will stop Brighton from creating goalscoring opportunities from the low build-up, however, they will easily beat the press and progress to the high build-up.
High Build up
In the high build-up, Roberto De Zerbi changes the formation using two different formations based on the tactical situation. One option is a 1-2-3-5 and the other one is a 3 – 1 – 5 – 1.
De Zerbi likes having only two wide players in the high build-up. This is because the priority is to play through the middle. Brighton needs only two players high and wide to stretch opponent’s the backline. The rest of the players create numerical superiorities in the central areas. Another purpose for keeping the majority of the players centrally is that it shortens the length of the passes. This naturally shortens the time between passes and the opposition players will have less time to push up and press.
Principles and Tools
Roberto De Zerbi has throughout his managerial career always looked to play an attractive attacking and possession-based football, regardless of the opposition. One of his key principles in doing this is to create free spaces and take advantage of them. Brighton looks to play fast behind high-pressing teams, but often “step-on-the-break” with the ball, attracting pressure and waiting for the right opportunities to progress forward. This is mostly used against low-block compact teams.
Another essential principle of Brighton’s system is creating numerical superiorities. Brighton constantly looks to create 3v2 and 2v1 situations during the buildup in deep positions and inside the middle area. Through these, they progress the ball through the opposition lines. The goalkeeper utilization during the attacking phase is an important aspect of De Zerbi’s philosophy. The third-man concept is also a vital tool in following this principle.
Another important tool for progressing the ball is following the pressure. The midfielders usually follow the pressure to take advantage of the spaces that the opponents are leaving while they start to press the back-line defenders.
A third important principle in De Zerbi’s game plan is to control the tempo of the game. Brighton are masters at changing the tempo with a few quick passes to break the lines after having the ball for a long time. One tool that helps control the game is for the center-backs to stand still with the ball. This is known as “La Pausa”.
Brighton’s players try to attract pressure because:
- It enables the center-back to play the ball to either side
- It lures the press while still having control of the ball
Roberto De Zerbi in Defense
Pressing
Brighton places a lot of value in being aggressive without the ball and having control during the defending phase. This shows in high-pressing situations. Brighton uses the man-to-man orientation and strongly presses the opposition.
They do this because of their principle of being the team controlling the tempo, therefore always wanting to have possession.
Conclusion on Roberto De Zerbi
In conclusion, Roberto De Zerbi’s impact on Brighton has been nothing less than transformative, leading the club to a historic European run while instilling a distinctive and captivating playing style that vibrates football fans worldwide. Examining Brighton’s tactics under De Zerbi’s guidance reveals a team proficient in both low and high build-up phases, with strengths including the ability to create numerical advantages and control tempo, all indicative of De Zerbi’s commitment to an attacking and offensive football philosophy.
As De Zerbi continues to establish himself as one of the most influential coaches in modern football, his tactical expertise, dedication to principles, and adaptability position him as a figure destined to coach some of the biggest teams in the future. Brighton’s journey under his leadership not only mirrors the club’s evolution but also serves as a captivating case study in high-level football tactics.
