'Adaptation' - The key to Roberto De Zerbi's success at Brighton as Tottenham and Serie A giants take note

Brighton have outgrown the label of Graham Potter’s success story and are finally finding recognition as a club with world-class infrastructure, vision and genuine potential.

It has been a momentous point of change, arguably one of note in the club’s entire history. De Zerbi’s initial months in charge have seen good results and, importantly, an improvement of individual performances. A change in manager usually brings a change in tactics and often a period of settling and transition. However, still early in his tenure, De Zerbi has managed to inspire incredible individual form in the face of such transition. Players such as Leandro Trossard in earlier months and Kaoru Mitoma, following Trossard’s transfer, have found consistent attacking quality and goal scoring rhythm. Undoubtedly, one of the most underappreciated facets of De Zerbi’s success so far at the Amex has been his development of individuals all across the pitch in this new system. But with a change of style and formation, players have had to adapt and find their place in De Zerbi’s Brighton. Little wonder Tottenham and Serie A giants Roma, AC Milan and Juventus are all keeping a close eye. So which players have impressed the most whilst adapting to a significantly unfamiliar role in the team?

Certainly in recent weeks, De Zerbi’s most influential players have been his wingers: Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma. As inverted wingers, both often cutting in from the flank to find their favoured foot, their attacking threat has been one of the most consistent and potent in the league. However, in the years before De Zerbi, Solly March’s position in the team was far from consistent. Having been deployed anywhere from left back to right midfield, to many people around the club he was seen as a good utility squad player. Under De Zerbi, he has been given a markedly different role in the squad, and has played well as an important and consistent member of the starting XI. He has added a goal threat to his game, an end product that has evaded him for much of his long Brighton career.

From featuring inconsistently as a utility squad player to now having become one of the most exciting attacking outlets in the starting team, he has undergone an eye-catching transformation. It is one that has certainly come to the delight of Albion fans, who are keen to see any of their players find form, not least “one of their own” who has served the club throughout the divisions so consistently. A Premier League Player of the Month nomination and whispers of a national team call-up are testament to how successfully March has adapted to his new role as an important member of the starting XI since De Zerbi’s takeover.

The most drastic adaptation in the team has come from Pascal Groß. Having played in an advanced midfield position under Potter, he has since found himself alongside Moises Caicedo in a double pivot, in the traditional No.10 role and even on the right of a traditional back-four. The player with the second highest number of Premier League appearances (behind Lewis Dunk) and the most Premier League goal contributions of any Brighton player ever, he has been, and continues to be, a fantastic servant to the club, despite only costing around £3 million in 2017.

Further to his credit, these drastic position changes have clearly been effective. Most notably, in the club’s 4-1 home victory over Potter’s Chelsea, Groß confidently dampened any threat that England international Raheem Sterling had to offer, silencing any doubts over his defensive quality in a deeper role. In recent weeks, Groß has returned to more of a midfield role, either in the No.10 role or in the deeper double pivot and has shown his ability to orchestrate and develop possession. He continues to perform and show his experience and class as a vital player within this progressing Brighton team, endlessly committed to the club regardless of his role in the squad. He is an invaluable asset to De Zerbi and the Seagulls in their push towards European football.

Another of Brighton’s most impressive performers of late, Pervis Estupiñán has had to adjust to a more traditional left-back role since De Zerbi’s appointment. The shift from a back-five to a back-four has been a challenge set for the entirety of the Brighton back line. Estupiñán’s crucial role in the team has changed markedly. Dropping from an advanced wing-back role into a traditional full-back role brings far more defensive responsibility and demands an even greater work rate, as his attacking duties have remained largely unchanged. He is still expected to overlap as Mitoma cuts inside, and has done with remarkable success in recent matches, providing assists and having a goal controversially disallowed against Crystal Palace. The often-talked-about physicality that the Premier League demands, especially of it’s defenders, could have been a concern for Estupiñán in his defensive efforts, but his quality and decision making has seen that side of his game become just as strong as his creative side. He has been a consistently outstanding defensive performer for the Seagulls and, despite his more cautious role, is proving to be an ever-improving attacking partner for an in-form Mitoma on the left side of the pitch.

Rather than taking time to transition and adapt to a new system, the majority of De Zerbi’s players have accelerated the improvement of their own individual games. As each player continues to acclimatise and grow, De Zerbi will hope that good team performances can more regularly become convincing results. It will be these individual sparks and flashes of brilliance that have and can continue to clinch the Seagulls vital points more regularly in their voyage up the Premier League table. Albion fans will hope that in-form players can continue to improve and further adjust, setting the standard higher each week, dragging their teammates with them, as all players familiarise themselves with the roles and quality that their manager needs to challenge for European football.