Crystal Palace head coach Patrick Vieira believes Roberto De Zerbi’s success at Brighton should not be a surprise to anyone who has tracked his career.
Brighton head into this weekend’s game at Selhurst Park having picked up ten points from their last five games in the Premier League.
The Seagulls have added 21 points since De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter in September. Vieira feels that Brighton’s rise up to sixth in the table is as much to do with the club’s DNA as it does the head coach at the helm.
He said: “I think a new manager when he’s coming to a football club is always going to bring new ideas and try to change a couple of things, but the philosophy I think is still the same.
“This is a team who loves to have possession, tries to find those players between the lines and to create overloads to expose the opposition team.
“I followed him when he was in Italy and Sassuolo, and they always played some really good football. I think they choose the manager regarding the way they want to play the game.
“I think the manager fits into the football club with the philosophy they want to play the game, and when you’re looking at players they can bring in, how well they can fit in the team, it means they have a clear idea of how they want to run the football cub.”
Whatever one chooses to call Saturday’s meeting – Vieira dubbed it a ‘derby’, but some supporters on both sides would argue it is simply a heated rivalry – the Eagles boss acknowledged a clash with Brighton always feels a little bit different, though admitted he did not fully appreciate the history between the two sides until he was appointed.
“No, I didn’t know a lot about the game,” he said.
“It is the passion from both fans, it’s the rivalry between those two football clubs since years, years.
“And of course, we all know, the staff, the players, about how important this game is, but the main focus is concentrating on the way we want to play the game with conviction and the belief in ourselves.”
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