De Zerbi: I am looking forward to meeting Amex crowd

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Head coach looking forward to his first Amex encounter.

Bruce Talbot

2022-10-07T10:25:00Z

Roberto De Zerbi began his Albion career as head coach with a 3-3 draw at Liverpool last weekend.

Roberto De Zerbi wants his team to ‘make the game’ when he takes charge of his first match at the Amex on Saturday.

Albion take on Tottenham in a fourth-v-third clash at the Amex which sees De Zerbi face fellow Italian Antonio Conte.

And just like they did in last Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Liverpool, Roberto wants his team to be on the front foot again.

“I’m excited for my first game in Brighton,” he said. “I hope we play a good game and I know the importance of our fans. In my head the fans are the 12th player, not only in Brighton but in every place.

“My teams always play with courage and bravery and I want them to ‘make the game’ tomorrow with strong personality and the right mentality.”

De Zerbi knows better than most what to expect from Conte’s teams. When he was Sassuolo coach he met Conte’s Inter Milan team four times but never beat them as Inter won Serie A in 2020. He believes Spurs’ squad is strong enough to contend for the title.

Antonio Conte took over at Tottenham in November 2021.

“When Antonio worked for Inter they were a great team and won the Serie A. He’s a great manager and he always puts together fantastic teams and squads.

“They are in the right condition to win the Premier League. That’s not easy with teams like [Manchester] City, Liverpool and Chelsea but in the transfer market they brought very good players and after one year working with Antonio [Conte] they can win the Premier League. They not only have a good team but a good squad of 20-22 players.

“I don’t think we play the same style, but maybe we have the same vision of football and the same passion. For us football is first place in our lives.”