Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most talked about managers in the world right now. His Brighton side are overachieving and fighting for Europa League football for the second straight season, and he’s constantly being linked to big jobs at clubs like Liverpool, Barcelona, and Chelsea. De Zerbi’s tactics have been praised by Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, and other top managers across Europe.
We wanted to look at what makes him so special. Keep reading to learn about De Zerbi’s tactics, playing style, and the profiles of the players who thrive in his unique and innovative system.
Roberto De Zerbi’s tactics
Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton typically play a 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders acting as a double pivot, an attacking midfielder who often joins the striker up top, and two inverted wingers. His sides have also played in 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 formations. Numbers can only tell you so much though, let’s dive into the specific elements of De Zerbi’s tactics.
Baiting the press: De Zerbi’s tactical innovation
Since breaking through at Benevento in 2017, and later with Sassuolo, Roberto De Zerbi has been praised for his innovative approach to football. Pep Guardiola described De Zerbi as “one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years.” Nothing symbolizes his influential style more than the way his teams bait the press.
If you’ve watched any of De Zerbi’s Brighton, you’ve seen defenders like Lewis Dunk, Levi Colwill, and Jean Paul van Hecke standing on the ball and waiting for an opposing player to press them.
Once the press does come, the Seagulls launch their attack with a quick pass to one of the two holding midfielders in De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1, usually Pascal Gross or Billy Gilmour. Those midfielders then progress the ball out wide so that it can be sent back into the box by a winger or fullback. If a pass to midfielder isn’t available, Brighton center backs can bypass the midfield altogether with a driven ball to a fullback or winger further up the field.
This element of De Zerbi’s tactics has been written and talked about at length. Premier League teams have started to figure it out too. You’ll see Brighton defenders standing on the ball less than they did last season, but they still do it and the principles behind why they do it remain the same.
De Zerbi’s tactics are all about building slowly, transitioning to attack quickly, and creating easy chances inside the opposition penalty area. The numbers bear this out.
No team takes more touches in their own defensive third than Brighton. Only Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham have more touches in the opposition box than Brighton. Those same four teams are the only teams who’ve taken more shots than the Seagulls this season as well.
Simply put, De Zerbi’s strategy is to use the opposition’s counter-press against them. When teams press, they open themselves up and leave passing lanes open for Brighton to quickly move up the pitch. When it works, opponents are left completely disoriented, and the Seagulls score easy goals. It doesn’t always work though.
Weaknesses of De Zerbi’s tactics
Teams like West Ham, Luton Town, and even Sheffield United have had success sitting back and asking Brighton to break them down instead of pressing and opening themselves up to be exploited by De Zerbi’s system.
Another downside of De Zerbi’s tactics is that it leads to a lot of goals for opposing teams. Brighton didn’t get a clean sheet in the Premier League until Game Week 20 in a 0-0 draw against West Ham. Why are De Zerbi’s sides so leaky? It comes down to two things.
One, playing out of the back is inherently riskier than booting the ball upfield. Brighton often play dangerous passes in their own third while trying to break down an opposition’s press. One heavy touch or a misplaced pass can lead to a dangerous scoring opportunity for the other team.
Second, De Zerbi’s tactics leave his center backs extremely isolated in transition. In possession, Brighton throw everyone forward, leaving just Dunk and Van Hecke back. Good counter-attacking teams punish Brighton for this.
In-game adjustments
The last key element of De Zerbi’s tactics are in-game changes. As much as his teams rely on strict patterns of play and controlling the tempo of a match, De Zerbi is actually a very reactive manager. Very few coaches make more changes during matches than De Zerbi.
Whether it’s telling the center backs to position themselves wider to address the opponent’s press or instructing Jason Steele to play the ball long and bypass the press altogether, De Zerbi is always instructing his team on what they should be doing differently.
De Zerbi’s changes usually have a positive impact. Brighton have outscored opponents 8-3 in the opening 15 minutes after halftime. Only Man City and Tottenham have a better scoring record in that same time slot.
Roberto De Zerbi’s favorite players
De Zerbi’s tactics require every player to be committed and on the same page. This is something every manager says, but for De Zerbi it’s really true. Every player on the pitch has a role to play, and if they don’t do it well, everything falls apart.
Defenders
Everything in De Zerbi’s system starts at the back. Robert Sanchez was replaced by Jason Steele because the latter was better with his feet and more composed than Sanchez. Brighton brought in Bart Verbruggen over the summer, who also plays with the ball at his feet well, which is why De Zerbi has rotated them so far this season.
A ball-playing goalkeeper is important for De Zerbi’s system, but the center backs are even more important. Central defenders in De Zerbi’s teams need to be extremely comfortable on the ball and in the face of pressure. The ability to play the right short pass is a must. Being able to play through balls or direct passes over the top is a major plus.
Lewis Dunk does all these things close to a world-class level. His positioning and uncanny ability to get his body between the ball and his own goal make him almost a perfect defender for Roberto De Zerbi. Jan Paul van Hecke has developed into a facsimile of Dunk, but he still has a long way to go.
Midfielders
Speaking of near perfection, that’s pretty much how De Zerbi describes Pascal Gross. The Italian manager called Gross “one of the best players I’ve had in my career.” Why does he like Gross so much? His versatility for one. Pascal Gross can play virtually every position on the pitch and does them all well.
More importantly, though, Gross is an extremely cool player who works very hard. In attack, Gross plays one-touch passes and uses his body to feint and deceive defenders, both things that are important for any De Zerbi player. When defending, Gross is one of Brighton’s hardest-working players and frequently leads the Seagulls’ press.
Alexis Mac Allister, who typically played further forward, learned to play deeper in De Zerbi’s system and did many of the things that Gross continues to do now, which has served him well playing as a defensive midfielder in Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
The No. 10 in De Zerbi’s system has very different roles depending on the opponent. In the 2022/23 season, he favored a traditional No. 10 like Adam Lallana or Pascal Gross to link everything together. De Zerbi now prefers to use strikers such as Evan Ferguson or Danny Welbeck in this role.
Julio Enciso has emerged as a great mixture of these two options. Facundo Buonanotte has the potential to thrive in this role as well, but he’s typically been deployed more as a wide right midfielder recently.
Attackers
De Zerbi has said his defenders and midfielders are the most important parts of his system, but you can make a strong argument that his wingers are the actual stars.
When De Zerbi first joined Brighton, he identified Solly March as one of the club’s key players. If you’re not a Seagulls fan, it’s hard to understand just how absurd this was. March was a local lad who played left wing back under Graham Potter. He was one of the worst finishers in the league, and many fans wanted him gone. De Zerbi, though, saw a tricky winger in the making with a solid left foot who just needed a bit of confidence.
Sure enough, with De Zerbi’s help, March learned to score and became one of Brighton’s most important players. Kaoru Mitoma experienced a similar glow-up under De Zerbi and emerged as Brighton’s starting left winger over Leandro Trossard.
Both Mitoma and March excel in De Zerbi’s system because of their ability to create space for themselves. They’re both skilled dribblers who frequently cut inside to deliver crosses to Seagulls crashing the box or to create chances for themselves.
Brighton’s forwards – Evan Ferguson, Danny Welbeck, and João Pedro – are all good at holding up the ball. Their most important role though is to be in the box and finish the chances that come to them.
