Roberto De Zerbi has explained their plan to target Trevor Chalobah and Marc Cucurella in one-on-one situations in Brighton's 4-1 victory over Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.
The Seagulls came out of the blocks flying and took the lead within the opening five minutes through Leandro Trossard. Brighton, who could've scored twice before the first goal, pinned Chelsea back and added a second on 14 minutes as Ruben Loftus-Cheek put the ball through his own-net to double the hosts' advantage.
It was a rampant first period from the Seagulls, and they scored a third on the stroke of half-time when Chalobah also netted an own-goal. Chelsea got back into the game when Kai Havertz pulled one back just after the break, but that's as good as it got for the west London side.
Brighton completed the win in added-time through Pascal Gross to wrap up a first win under De Zerbi. It also inflicted a first defeat for former Brighton boss Graham Potter, on his return to the club, and De Zerbi has outlined how they managed to secure the victory.
He told Brighton's website: "We prepared the game one-to-one with Mitoma with Chalobah and one-to-one Solly March against Cucurella. But Trossard was fantastic, Adam Lallana the same. All the players were fantastic."
Speaking about the victory more generally, he continued: "I am very happy for the players, the club and the people who work with the team. And, of course, the great fans because they were the best players on the pitch – they helped us so much. The first 20-25 minutes we were fantastic, in how we played with and without the ball. We played with an intensity I liked.
"I won’t be celebrating too much, because next Saturday is another game and I made a mistake because they made a tactical change and I didn’t adapt. But 4-1 against Chelsea is still an amazing result and I hope everyone enjoys it."
Meanwhile, Graham Potter explained why he decided to play Cucurella as a centre-back and Raheem Sterling as a wing-back, while Christian Pulisic also played as a wing-back. The former Brighton man struggled throughout the game, and was perhaps fortunate not be taken off at half-time, or even before that.
Explaining why he played that shape, Potter said: "The responsibility for those two wasn't to defend against their wing-backs, but I understand that whenever you do something, and it doesn't work, you look a bit of a fool. That is how it is. I have to accept that, deal with that, do better, and I'll learn. That's the process."
