Will try to bring my clear ideas to Brighton without making many big changes, claims Roberto De Zerbi

After a flying start to the season saw Brighton and Hove Albion soar into fourth place, many wondered whether it was time for Graham Potter to make the step up. However, that answer came sooner rather than later as Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel and made the move to sign the Englishman from Brighton. The decision to do so shocked more than a few fans and left Brighton without a manager but the club moved quickly to appoint Roberto De Zerbi.

The former Saussolo and Shakhtar Donetsk manager comes highly rated and follows a similar style that Potter used at Brighton. However, despite admitting that they do share similarities, De Zerbi confessed that he is “not Potter” and is looking to bring his ideas to the club “without making many big changes”. Not only that, the 43-year-old added that he believes the team can improve on their possession-based style and that he wants more control over the game.

“Honestly, I don’t know how Graham used to work, but at first sight in my opinion I like much more to control the game. I don’t know if he has the same idea or not, but one of the things for this team can be to control the rhythm of the game much more. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do a good job here,” De Zerbi said, reported the Athletic.

“Potter did a great job, everyone knows what made Potter here, but I’m not Potter. We have a lot of things in common, but I’m not talking about the way we play, I’m talking about the principles and the mentality. So, if we can keep this mentality and those principles, I will try to bring here my clear idea without making many big changes.”