Roberto De Zerbi certainly silenced his doubters as his Brighton side outplayed Liverpool in their 3-3 draw at Anfield yesterday.
Some suggested that the 43-year-old Italian coach would be unable to replicate Graham Potter’s success with the Seagulls following his move to the south coast of England, but De Zerbi did just that when facing Jurgen Klopp’s side in his Premier League debut.
Brighton looked like a team reborn under the former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk coach, immediately putting Liverpool on the back foot after two goals in less than 20 minutes from Leandro Trossard.
Although the Reds would score three of their own against Brighton, De Zerbi showed his skills as he remained calm on the sidelines, keeping his team in the match and guiding them to an equaliser in the 83rd minute.
It was an incredibly exiting start to life in the Premier League for De Zerbi. His Brighton stunned Klopp’s squad, something the German noted after the full-time whistle, when he said: “The Brighton set-up surprised us. We had no idea what they would do.”
Obviously the Italian coach will need time to get his team fully onboard with his ideas, but it was almost the perfect start in charge of the club for a man who was fleeing a war-torn Ukraine only months earlier.