Brighton 0-1 Spurs: Honest De Zerbi admits he got it wrong

Add humility, honesty and a willingness to admit to his mistakes for reasons to like Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian’s first game in charge at the Amex ended Brighton 0-1 Spurs and he said afterwards it was his fault for misjudging how Antonio Conte would line up.

“I made a mistake because I expected Antonio to play 3-4-2-1, then he changed to 3-5-2, but after the first 15 minutes it was only Brighton.”

That extra man Spurs had in midfield compared to the Albion allowed the visitors to dominate the opening exchanges.

Crucially, they scored in the immediate aftermath of that period in which they were on top through Harry Kane. Once Spurs had the lead, they sat in to defend it and Brighton could find no way through.

Spurs had extra reason to dig in for victory. Their fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone passed away earlier in the week at the age of 61 after a short battle with leukemia.

There was a minute’s applause held for him before Brighton 0-1 Spurs. Conte was visibly emotional during it, having known Ventrone for nearly 30 years.

The two first crossed paths when Conte was a Juventus player in the mid-90s and Ventrone was on the coaching staff.

At Tottenham, Ventrone is credited with turning Spurs into the fittest squad in the Premier League. They have covered more distance than any other team in the Premier League so far this season.

Winning three points in their first game since Ventrone’s passing was a small way for Spurs to pay tribute to a man who had become immensely popular after only 10 months in North London. Kane was fighting back tears when interviewed at full time.

For the rest of us, Ventrone and his battle with leukemia serves as a reminder that there are more important things in life to worry about than football – or the inconvenience of queuing for a couple of hours to get away from the Amex.

The stadium predictably struggled to cope in the face of the rail strike. There were reports of half-empty shuttle buses departing and vehicles stuck in car parks without any communication following the full time whistle.

Such is life when your home stadium relies so much on one form of public transport to get people in and out. The Albion will no doubt look at what worked and what did not and change plans accordingly for the next rail strike impacting a game at the Amex.

Do not expect the sort of honesty shown by De Zerbi in his post-match interview, however. From season ticket sharing to supporting Premier League PPV, the Albion never admit when they have got something wrong at boardroom level even in the face of overwhelming evidence. That is why De Zerbi’s post-game interview was so refreshing.

The absence of trains had left fears that De Zerbi’s first game would take place to a backdrop of empty seats. A repeat of only 15,000 turning out for the Wolves game before Christmas 2021 seemed possible if Albion fans decided that the potential travel nightmare was not worth the hassle.

The De Zerbi factor though was a massive pull. A chance to greet a new and exciting manager proved much more enticing than the situation causing a half-empty Amex last season, namely Covid-19 infection rates being high and no win or goal from open play at home for three months.

There was even a giant flag to welcome De Zerbi, crowdfunded via £1600 of donations from Seagulls supporters. In a classic Brighton moment, said flag was passed over the North Stand 10 minutes prior to the teams coming out so that neither De Zerbi nor the players actually saw it. Don’t worry, it is already on The Twitter List.

Spurs missed two good opportunities to take the lead inside of the first quarter-hour. Robert Sanchez saved a Son Heung-Min free kick and Matt Doherty fired over from a good position. The closest Brighton came was when Danny Welbeck dragged wide from a Leandro Trossard pass.

Kane being booked for deliberate handball drew cheers but the England captain had the last laugh a few minutes later. Son crossed from the right and Kane stopped at the front post to head the ball in.

Spurs celebrations were subdued as they gathered in front of the East Stand in a huddle, clearly thinking about Ventrone.

Stereotyping of Italian coaches it might be, but he apparently loved a 1-0 win. With the score at Brighton 0-1 Spurs, Tottenham had the chance to deliver one.

The Albion enjoyed their best spell after falling behind. Moises Caicedo drew a good save from Hugo Lloris with a drive from outside the area.

Lewis Dunk put a header onto the roof of the net from a Trossard corner, Solly March skidded an effort wide and Lloris was again called into action to save from Welbeck.

Half time came at a bad moment for Brighton as it broke the momentum being built. Spurs used the break to regroup and reorganise, resulting in a drab second half in comparison as the visitors sat ever deeper and tried to play on the counter.

Yves Bissouma was given a frosty reception when substituted, presumably because of a nasty and unnecessary first half tackle on Alexis Mac Allister.

If Bissouma can be booed for that, the greeting for Graham Potter in three weeks’ time when Chelsea visit the Amex should be interesting to say the least.

De Zerbi sought to break through the Spurs defence by introducing Kaoru Mitoma. A direct run at the Spurs defence from the Japanese international provided Brighton with their best chance of the second half, requiring Lloris to save bravely at Mitoma’s feet.

Welbeck dragged wide and Doherty put his body on the line to block when Trossard was about to pull the trigger. At that point, you felt the Albion could have played until Sunday morning and still Tottenham would have been doggedly defending their clean sheet with the aim of having it end Brighton 0-1 Spurs.

The result of such stubborn visitors was a first defeat of The De Zerbi Era but not one to be unduly concerned with. Brighton will not come up against many sides as resilient, organised and with added motivation to win as Spurs had at the Amex.

If anything, the Albion should consider it a compliment that a European Super League Elite Six club came to Sussex and felt the need to defend their way to three points for over an hour.

Brighton – and crucially De Zerbi – will be better for the experience.