Brighton manager, Roberto De Zerbi has admitted that he is “already starting to think” of causing a FA Cup semi-final cupset against Manchester United.
De Zerbi’s Seagulls came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to stay seventh in the Premier League, courtesy of Julio Enciso’s second-half winner after Danny Welbeck cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s early opening goal.
De Zerbi consequently was “delighted” by Brighton’s “quality” performance and win as he felt “honestly lucky to be the coach of these players.”
The Italian though had admitted that he is “already starting to think about the semi-final” against Man Utd in the FA Cup next weekend. as two of this season’s impressive teams collide at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 23 April at 4:30pm BST.
Explaining why his focus has already switched post-match towards Wembley, De Zerbi said: “Football is about tomorrow, if you are too happy too much for the past [result] you can’t work in football.”
De Zerbi though will be without Joel Veltman and Evan Ferguson next weekend after the pair suffered respective hamstring and ankle injuries at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian consequently has admitted that he is “losing too many players,” with Tariq Lamptey, Jeremy Sarmiento and Adam Lallana already ruled out.
Brighton therefore faces a tough task in terms of squad fitness but De Zerbi believes that his team “can change things” in terms of organisation, after Pascal Gross began the win at Chelsea in central midfield but finished playing as a full back.
On what his Seagulls must do to clinch victory next weekend, De Zerbi said: “We have to organise to achieve our target for the next game and the rest of the season.”
De Zerbi though had criticism of their game management at Chelsea, as he continued: “… but we could have done better after the [second] goal, we played too deep so we have to work and improve that. We suffered too much, so we have to work on our mentality.”
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