The excellent Alyson Rudd might have been overstating it slightly when she described her assignment of watching the two surprise continental contenders as ‘sexy’ in this morning’s Times, but there certainly has been a sense of anticipation about Fulham’s trip to the south coast this week. Part of that emerged from the way the Whites ended Nottingham Forest’s fine start to 2023 at Craven Cottage last weekend, but the clash of Marco Silva’s style and the way Roberto de Zerbi has immediately built on the fine foundations left for him at the AMEX by Graham Potter feels mouthwatering.
Albion were impressive in what turned out to be Potter’s final full season at the helm, but they are well placed to easily better than their club record ninth place finish this term. De Zerbi’s side are unbeaten in this calendar year, having won three of their five league fixtures and progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup, and – although they are level on points with the Cottagers – the Seagulls have two games in hand on a number of the top eight. The Italian has made a massive impact on the south coast already as another astute appointment from Tony Bloom and Paul Barber, having steered Sassuolo to two eighth place finishes in Serie A and won the Ukrainian Premier League at the Shakhtar Donetsk, where he nurtured the talent of a certain Manor Solomon.
The Brescia-born former attacking midfielder, most famously for coming through the famed AC Milan youth set-up and becoming a bit of a cult hero at Foggia, has turned Albion in an even more dominant outfit than the one Potter led. Albion have enjoyed more than seventy per cent of the ball in six of the nine games since the turn of the year, an astonishing statistic that betters the four managed by Manchester City. De Zerbi can count Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp as amongst the group of elite coaches he has impressed, but he isn’t inflexible having adapted his system to sometimes include the back three that Brighton utilised so successfully in Potter’s time.
Albion are ferocious both in their pressing and how to punish mistakes, as they demonstrated against Liverpool recently, with the excellent Evan Ferguson – a bargain buy from Bohemians – hassling Joel Matip into a costly mistake. De Zerbi once outlined his passing philosophy to UEFA:
“The possession always depends on the opponents’ pressure. The tougher the pressure, the more vertical further development. The less opposing pressure, the greater our control of the match and possession of the ball will be.”
Roberto de Zerbi to a UEFA coaching course
The crucial second goal against Liverpool is instructive here – where Brighton followed a series of patient passes with quicker, more direct forward balls. The complexity of De Zerbi’s approach will make life doubly difficult for Marco Silva, who was effusive in his praise for one of the game’s best thinkers earlier this week. Fulham have done fine against opponents who hold onto the ball this season, but Albion are formidable at home. They have scored 39 goals already in Falmer this term – only Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham have managed more – and been particularly miserly at the back.
Silva’s side will relish such a stern test of their top half credentials. This fixture should give us a truer indication of where the Whites stand, with Brighton in brilliant form and looking to match their record of top flight home wins as a victory over Fulham this afternoon would equal a previous three-match winning run in 2019. Fulham will need to watch for the creativity of World Cup winner Alexis MacAllister and Solly March, a thorn in the Whites’ side in previous years, whilst maintaining the ruthless that they showed against Forest.
The Portuguese head coach may be tempted to select the same side that started against Forest, with only Tom Cairney and Neeskens Kebano sidelined for certain. Late fitness checks will take place as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Willian and Antonee Robinson had each missed training in the week leading up to this fixture. Given the trio’s terrific form, Fulham will want them all available from the off this afternoon.
MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Ream; Palhinha, Reed; Decordova-Reid, Willian, Pereira; Mitrovic. Subs: Leno, Cedric, Duffy, Adarabioyo, Lukic, Wilson, James, Solomon, Vinicius
