How De Zerbi used his ‘lure and exploit’ ideology to punish Potter at the AMEX – tactical analysis

Gameweek 14 of the English Premier League brought us a very interesting clash between Brighton and Chelsea, the match which can also be called the Brighton derby as the former coach of the club came back to American Express Community stadium for the first time after he left the Seagulls in September.

Roberto de Zerbi succeded Graham Potter and kept the fire crackling with his modern ideas and attitude, and the game was perceived as one of the most awaited by the whole of the footballing world before the weekend.

The first half surely was the time when Brighton was the better team and created an impassable gap between the two teams. But even though the result on the scoreboard wrote 3-0 and it pictured that the Blues were dominated during the first 45 minutes, that wasn’t the whole truth about the game. They had their moments and could’ve got themselves a better situation if they managed to exploit their good situations with a greater quality of execution.

This tactical analysis will show you how the home team overpowered their opponents using the trademark Roberto de Zerbi tactics and got the best out of utilising numerical and spacial superiorities. Also, it will be an analysis of how the away team could’ve gotten more out of the game if they managed to solve some of the positive settings in their favour.

Lineups

After embracing the 3-at-the-back formation in his first bunch of games as a Brighton head coach, De Zerbi decided to switch to his more familiar back four for the game against Chelsea and it came out lucrative for them. The centre-back duo was made up of Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster who played as the first-line playmakers in front of Robert Sánchez. Pascal Gross was initially set on the right-full-back position, but his role varied throughout the match.

Pervis Estupinan and March were the men providing their team with width, whilst the inner and central corridors were in the control of Alexis Mac Alister, Adam Lallana and the former Manchester United target Moisés Caicedo.

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