Brighton manager, Roberto De Zerbi has slammed his players for their “bad” performance in 5-1 defeat against Everton.
Alexis Mac Allister’s 79th minute consolatory goal couldn’t prevent De Zerbi’s Seagulls suffering a heavy defeat at home to Sean Dyche’s Toffees, in which Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dwight McNeil scored twice each for the visitors either side of Jason Steele’s own goal.
The result ensured that Brighton stay seventh but now need to win their final five matches to stand any chance of securing a top-four finish, alongside results elsewhere swinging in their favour.
Post-match, De Zerbi described the defeat as “strange” having conceded just 35 seconds into the game and was confused by what unfolded, as he admitted: “This wasn’t the Brighton team. It’s a bad day, we have to restart on Sunday against Arsenal.”
On what exactly was behind their defensive implosion, the Italian added: “The problem was not about our tactical approach – I think we didn’t prepare in terms of motivation and mentality maybe.”
De Zerbi though bemused Brighton’s hectic run-in with 10 games in 35 days across two competitons from 23 April through to the final day of the season on 28 May, which sees them visit Aston Villa in their final Premier League fixture of the campaign.
Explaining why his players need to adapt to the hectic schedule more, De Zerbi said: We’re playing a lot of games in a small period which we’re not used to. We have to work on this and I can understand.”
De Zerbi nevertheless refused to blame his players for the defeat, as he concluded: “I am still proud of my players, the first person who is responsible for this result is the coach.”
The ex Shakhtar Donetsk manager also stated that this match has to serve as a reset for his players, in terms of improving their mentality, as he commented: “We have to be ready to play one game every three or four days if we want to fight for our big target.”
De Zerbi also noted that his team are “playing fantastic football, with fantastic results” which they must “be proud of” and use as motivation to quickly return to winning ways and cut out “too many mistakes,” which proved costly against Everton.
Addressing fears amongst supporters of a late season collapse, De Zerbi concluded: “We weren’t the Brighton team but I am sure we will improve.”