There was a carnival atmosphere at the Amex Stadium in late May. Manchester City supporters, fresh from seeing their side lift a third successive Premier League title a few days earlier, were busy dreaming about the historic Treble that would soon follow.
Brighton, meanwhile, had just secured European football for the first time in their 122-year history and three of their players were chatting in the tunnel after the game, still digesting the magnitude of what they had achieved, when Pep Guardiola sidled over.
“That’s the next Man City manager,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach told his small audience as he leaned in and nodded in the direction of Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi, out of earshot further down the tunnel.
The Catalan, arguably the greatest coach of his generation, had not been shy about voicing his opinions about De Zerbi over the course of the campaign and, on the eve of this meeting with the south coast club, had even gone as far as to suggest the Italian was one of the most influential managers of the past 20 years.
Now, those Brighton players who had learned so much in such a short space of time under De Zerbi had discovered Guardiola’s remarks were most definitely not for show.
A deserved 1-1 draw against Guardiola’s serial champions was a just way to finish a remarkable season in which they had overcome the departure of manager Graham Potter to Chelsea to hit new heights under an animated Italian coach from Brescia in Lombardy.
Whether the day comes when De Zerbi does in fact succeed Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium remains to be seen but, as he prepares to bring his Brighton team to the home of the champions on Saturday, it is hard to believe he will not be high on the list of candidates, assuming one of Europe’s other big hitters has not enticed him before then.
Guardiola is contracted to City until the end of next season and perhaps the club will yet succeed in persuading the 52-year-old to sign a fourth extension. But De Zerbi is greatly admired and certainly seems to have the endorsement of Guardiola, who has likened the Italian’s impact on football to that which the revered Catalan chef Ferran Adria had in the culinary world.
It should not be forgotten that Guardiola’s former No 2 at City, Mikel Arteta, has made a name for himself at Arsenal and, unlike De Zerbi, has the experience of managing a big club with big expectations, an important factor that should not be downplayed.
Guardiola has lauded De Zerbi’s tactics
There will doubtless be others who come into contention, but Brighton’s evolution in 13 months under De Zerbi has been startling and it has caught the attention of every leading club out there, City included.
To put that impact into some context, Brighton have had the most shots (662) and most shots on target (254) of any Premier League team since De Zerbi took charge and have scored the third most goals (82) in that period. Only three teams have had more touches in the opposition box than Brighton’s 1,289 in that time and their average possession count of 61.9 per cent is second only to City. And all that having spent a relative pittance, certainly by Premier League standards, on the squad.
Guardiola, for one, will hope Brighton prove less successful on Saturday than they did on their previous visit to Manchester last month as City bid to avoid a third-successive league defeat for the first time under the Catalan. City will at least have their midfield lynchpin, Rodri, back but the losses to Wolves and Arteta’s Arsenal create an added pressure against Brighton, who already present headache enough.
De Zerbi’s ability to react in-game enjoyed the perfect showcase at Old Trafford when, after initially struggling against Manchester United’s midfield diamond, the Brighton manager instructed his two central defenders, Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke, to play wider, with goalkeeper Jason Steele almost becoming a third centre-back.
The tactical switch changed the game and Brighton ran out 3-1 winners, their fourth-successive league win against United. This despite their team costing just £17 million and containing only one De Zerbi signing that day, midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, who happened to be one of five free transfers in the side.
Brighton’s season has not been blemish free. A 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Aston Villa three weeks ago showed they do have vulnerabilities, even if De Zerbi will have been pleased by the subsequent reaction in the 2-2 draws away to Marseille and at home to Liverpool, and they also lost 3-1 against West Ham at the Amex earlier in the campaign.
Guardiola particularly admires the way Brighton build from the back, something he claims they are the best in the world at.
But he has also lauded De Zerbi’s use of the “free man” and specifically the time they create for themselves to make the right decisions at the right tempo, not least their ability to draw opponents in before unpicking them.
Managers the world over have described watching Guardiola’s teams play as a footballing education but the man himself does not mind admitting he has learned a lot from seeing De Zerbi’s side in action.
Guardiola’s heir apparent at City? Time will tell, but Guardiola will be hoping De Zerbi does not advance that case this weekend.