De Zerbi wants home advantage to help Brighton tame Wolves
In amongst the talk of tiredness and squad depth which has grown in volume over a run of two wins in six matches, it seems to have gone almost unnoticed that five of those games prior to Brighton hosting Wolves have been played away from the Amex.
For this, we can blame Graham Potter. Probably. Home advantage used to be a big thing in football. Five consecutive games on the road would set alarm bells ringing.
Three home games in a row – which the Albion now enjoy over the next nine days – enough to moderately warm the enthusiasm of even the most glass-half-empty supporter.
Brighton under Potter however delivered their best results and performances outside Sussex. When Glow Up was setting a club record of 14 games without a home win or the Amex crowd went three months without seeing the Albion score a goal, Brighton were undoubtedly better off playing away.
Sod Wolves, Manchester United and Everton at home. Give me trips to Arsenal, Spurs and United. Better football, more goals, bigger chance of points.
Roberto De Zerbi has taken charge of 13 matches at the Amex in all competitions. His record reads seven wins, two draws, four defeats.
Hardly glorious, but those loses to Spurs and Aston Villa and the stalemate with Nottingham Forest can be excused as coming early in his reign with the players still adapting to DeZerbiBall.
Premier League leaders Arsenal were fortunate to face Brighton without Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister when winning 4-2 at the Amex.
And losing to Fulham… well, the Albion’s Premier League record against the Cottagers suggests pagan witchcraft and the sacrificing of a lamb under a full moon is needed if Brighton are to ever beat Fulham again.
Let us get to the point before we veer too far onto a Macbeth tangent. Brighton have three winnable games coming up where they will benefit from playing in front of 30,000 Albion fans in the familiar surroundings of the Amex.
Take seven points and suddenly, those wheels that have supposedly come off the campaign are very much back in place.
De Zerbi talked in his Friday press conference about the difference home support can make. “We are looking forward to play in our stadium to receive the fans’ support.”
“The players need the passion of our fans and I would like to play with 12 players tomorrow, 11 on the pitch and one in the stand.”
Those who travelled to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night witnessed first hand the role the crowd can play. Tricky Tress fans created the most intimidating atmosphere Brighton have faced since that raucous FA Cup quarter final at Millwall in 2019.
There can be little doubt that the noise of the City Ground played a part in sapping energy and concentration from the Albion players far quicker than would have occurred naturally.
The Amex rarely acts as a 12th man but when it does, it can be incredible. Just look at what happened when Potter and his merry band of money grabbing deserters returned with Chelsea in October.
It was raucous, febrile and Potter and Chelsea wilted under the pressure. If it were possible to replicate that passion and noise every home game, Brighton would never lose at the Amex again.
Wolves at home is never going to elicit the same response from the terraces as there being a host of snakes in the visiting dugout. But if there were ever time when Brighton needed the Amex behind them, this is it.
The Albion will still be hurting from that heart breaking penalty shootout at Wembley. Mentally, the players will be struggling. Physically, too. Entering the final month of a gruelling season with eight games still to play means some individuals may be at only 60 or 70 percent.
If Brighton fans getting behind their team can lift those numbers to 70 or 80 percent, that can be the difference between nil points and three.
Repeat that against United (and there is no greater incentive than revenge for Wembley) and Everton and the European dream is very much alive.
But first, Wolves. It is one of those weird quirks of football that Brighton have always been a bogey side for the Old Gold, despite only ever finishing higher in the English football pyramid than Wolves in 15 seasons out of 122.
This unexplainable yet impressive record has led to such memorable moments as THAT Michel Kuipers double save at Molineux.
Later in the same season, Steve Coppell’s Albion were on their way to relegation yet still hammered a Wolves side heading for promotion to the top flight 4-1 at Withdean.
In more recent years, Anthony Knockaert’s magic turned Good Friday 2017 into Bloody Fantastic Friday 2017, leaving Brighton just one win away from the Premier League.
Our last two visits to the Black Country have been rather enjoyable as well, returning 3-0 and 3-2 wins in April and November last year respectively.
Wolves were deep in relegation trouble when Brighton left Molineux with those three points back in autumn. They had only scored thrice at home beforehand, although the Albion being in town naturally meant they went from three goals in 640 minutes to scoring twice in the space of 33.
The morning of that game, Wolves appointed former Real Madrid and Spain manager Julen Lopetegui as their new boss in place of the sacked Bruno Lage.
Securing the services of Lopetegui looked like quite the coup and he has subsequently sparked an impressive turnaround.
Lopetegui has helped the Old Gold find the back of the net despite their limited options up front (even more limited than the Albion’s) whilst tightening them up defensively at the same time.
Arsenal, Manchester City and bizarrely 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United are the only sides to have put more than two goals past Wolves since Lopetegui officially took charge.
As a result of this improvement, Wolves arrive in Brighton surely save from the drop having climbed to 13th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
And with the right backing, they now have a manager whose profile and record suggests he can push them back towards the top 10 position they frequented under Nuno several seasons ago.
All of which means Wolves will not be easy opponents for Brighton. The Seagulls will need to find a way past a stubborn defence which has made the Old Gold difficult to beat since the Premier League returned from its winter break.
But if the Albion are to rewrite the record books by the end of the campaign and bring European football to Sussex for the first time, it is the sort of game De Zerbi and his players need to win.
Wolves at home is the start of 270 minutes of football at the Amex which will in all likelihood define this season. Home has to be where the heart is for Brighton, for both players and fans.
