Roberto De Zerbi interviews in recent months have come with all the cheer and joy of an EastEnders Christmas Day special. Which is why his comments after Brighton were well beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at the Amex were so welcome.
There was no referring back to the January transfer window. No comparing his own ambition to that of Tony Bloom. No publicly announcing that contract talks with the club had ground to a halt.
Instead, De Zerbi sounded almost upbeat in the aftermath of the heaviest home defeat of the season so far. Rather than wallowing in what was or wasn’t done in terms of new signings, the Albion head coach instead looked to the future.
“We have to be focused on these last games and on the next season,” De Zerbi told The Argus. “I think in the next season we can find a different Carlos Baleba, a different Facundo Buonanotte, a different Julio Enciso, a different Simon Adingra because the young players can improve playing on the pitch.”
“Not playing on the training ground. They improve during the game. Losing the game. Playing against Declan Rice, Baleba. Against Zinchenko, Buonanotte. The challenge is to compete next season like last season, because last season in the first XI we were better.”
De Zerbi is right. The first XI was better last season. But there is more than enough potential in this young Albion squad to not only match what the class of 2022-23 did, but maybe even exceed it.
It could ultimately come to pass that in several years, the 2023-24 season is looked back upon as one of those campaigns in which the groundwork was laid for future success.
Like 1999-00, for example. Finishing 11th in the fourth tier of English football hardly screams important season in Brighton history, but going unbeaten through the final 14 games and discovering a young striker called Bobby Zamora paved the way for back-to-back Division Three and Division Two titles.
What about 2009-10? Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named rocked up at Withdean and wasted no time in introducing a new style of play, whilst hauling the Albion away from the League One relegation zone and into the comfort of mid table.
That set up Brighton to win League One at a canter in 2010-11, wrapping up the title with four games still to play ahead of the likes of Southampton, Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United in what was a ridiculously strong division.
2023-24 has been a strange mix of brilliant highs, almighty lows and getting thrashed 4-0 at Luton Town. Winning five of the opening six games made anything seem possible, from a first ever piece of major silverware to challenging for another top six finish or even a Champions League place.
Wins against AEK Athens, Marseille and Ajax to top a group of death, followed by facing Roma mean the Europa League campaign alone puts 2023-24 amongst the greatest seasons in Brighton history.
Yet there remains a nagging sense of what if. What if the Albion had not been blighted by so many injuries? What if the signings of Mahmoud Dahoud and Ansu Fati had worked out better, or Brighton bolstered their squad with a couple more summer additions?
There are still seven games to go but with the Seagulls out of Europe, out of the FA Cup and having won just three Premier League games since the turn of the year, it feels like the campaign is petering out into nothingness.
Yet as De Zerbi pointed out, this poor run of form and these seven games which appear to be increasing in unimportance with each weekend the Albion slip further from eighth place can in fact have a big impact on the Albion’s future.
De Zerbi has shown a greater willingness since the 4-0 defeat away in Roma to give game time to his younger squad members. Bart Verbruggen has started every subsequent fixture, bringing to an end the controversial goalkeeper rotation policy.
With age on his side and having been touted as one of the best young goalkeepers in Europe whilst at Anderlecht, Verbruggen was always signed to be the Albion’s long-term number one. He is now staking his claim in convincing fashion.
De Zerbi has been hot on the prospects of Baleba all season, hailing him “the future of Brighton”. Even with that high praise, De Zerbi has cautiously managed the teenager, giving him time to adapt to life in England free of the pressures of being a first team regular.
As a result, Baleba has had to wait patiently for a run of games since his £25 million summer move from Lille. He is still very raw but his potential has been there for all to see in recent matches against Liverpool, Brentford and Arsenal.
Buonanotte was also mentioned by De Zerbi in his comments to The Argus, along with Adingra. It has been some debut campaign for Adingra who, at 22-years-old, already has seven goals, three assists and a man-of-the-match for Ivory Coast in their AFCON Final victory on home turf to his name.
Jan Paul van Hecke has been so outstanding at the heart of the Albion defence this season that it is easy to forget he is only 23-years-old and like Adingra, playing in his first season as a Premier League regular.
The emergence of Jack Hinshelwood was as surprising as it was pleasing, even though we still await him scoring an own goal from 35 yards like his dad Adam did against Colchester United on Boxing Day 2008.
Do not forget Julio Enciso either, who will have grown and developed mental resilience during his six months out and subsequent return from a meniscus injury.
Valentin Barco is sure to play a bigger role next season, once he has gone through the same acclimatisation to England as Baleba.
Verbruggen. Van Hecke. Barco. Baleba. Hinshelwood. Enciso. Buonanotte. Throw in Evan Ferguson and that is one hell of a spine the Albion will have running through their team next season, let alone in three to four years’ time.
2023-24 may not have seen Brighton return to Wembley or a mass panic amongst supporters over hotel room availability and price in Dublin for the Europa League final.
What it has done though is seen a new generation of Albion players pick up invaluable first team experience, learning an awful lot along the way.
The setbacks each of those have endured as individuals – Verbruggen being in and out of the side, Enciso’s injury, Ferguson’s long goal drought – will have made them better players.
As for the struggles Brighton have suffered as a team, the Albion will come out the other side all the better for them.
It is often said you learn more in defeat than you do in victory. If that is true, then Brighton have gone through their fair share of brutal lessons in 2023-24, from the hammering at Kenilworth Road to being pummelled 6-1 at Aston Villa, 3-0 by Fulham and the chastening experience of One Night in Rome.
Whether De Zerbi is the manager who benefits from the experience, knowhow and improvement the current campaign will have given this next generation of Seagulls stars remains to be seen. His future at the Amex is far from certain.
But whoever is Brighton head coach in 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 or 2027-28 will be working with a group of players whose talent and abilities first began to be forged at Premier League and Europa League level in 2023-24.
That may yet become this season’s greatest legacy.
