Adam Webster gives his thoughts on Roberto De Zerbi as Brighton prepare to face Liverpool this weekend
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De Zerbi was appointed as Albion manager on September 18, replacing Graham Potter who left the club to join Chelsea, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.
The Italian gained a lot of admirers for the possession-based, attacking football he implemented while managing in his home country with Benevento and Sassuolo and Webster believes the 47-year-old’s ideas can push Albion to bigger and better things.
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Hide AdWebster said: “You always want to play in teams that are in possession, that control the game and I feel like we’re going to go to a new level with that.
"It suits us – Dunky, Joel and me are all comfortable in possession, we love to have the ball and it’s music to our ears. Hopefully it will help us all improve.
“I am sure over time he will implement what he wants to, but it’s been weird as not everyone has been here because of the international break and we won’t have too many sessions all together before the game against Liverpool.”
Brighton have been one of the stand-out teams so far this season, sitting in fourth place having lost just one of their first six league wins, picking up impressive wins at home to Leicester and away at Manchester United and West Ham.
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Hide AdHowever, due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the September rail strikes and international break, the club have not played a league game in 27 days.
Within that time frame, Brighton have lost Potter and appointed De Zerbi, who will face four (Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea) of the Premier League ‘big six’ in his first month as a manager in England.
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Despite these setbacks, Webster – who has started every game so far this season for The Seagulls – believes the club will still be in a strong position by the end of October.
The centre-back said: “We’ve got some of the big teams in October, but they’re the games you look forward to at the start of the season. We always seem to do quite well against the big teams and we want that to continue.
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Hide Ad“Come the end of October and the break for the World Cup, hopefully we’re in a good place and can really kick on.
“We’ve been working as hard as we can to keep ourselves ticking over and ready for October, because it’s a busy month. It wasn’t ideal to have such a big break, but the lads are raring to go.”