De Zerbi frustrated after Albion held

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Head coach reflects on 1-1 draw against Burnley.

Bruce Talbot

2023-12-09T18:12:00Z

Roberto De Zerbi in animated mood on the touchline.

Roberto De Zerbi said he had some thinking to do after Albion were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.

Albion had 29 shots at goal and 71% possession but only had Simon Adingra’s second-half header to show for their efforts at the Amex as they missed the chance to climb into the top five. Four of our last five home games in the Premier League have ended in draws.

“I’m frustrated and I go home to think what else we need [to do] to win the game,” he said.

“I consider my team to be very good and no one believes in my players more than me.

“But we are not a top team yet – a top team wins against Fulham, Sheffield United and today. In those three games we deserved to win [because] we were better than the opponent.

“Why didn’t we win? Maybe because the coach of Brighton is not a top coach yet. We shot 29 times on goal. Against Fulham we conceded one goal from 25 metres; today we conceded from 20 metres; If it is 11 v 11 against Sheffield United it’s a different game. We could have been third in the table.

“But we want to keep at this level and keep at our dream. Last season no one thought we could reach the Europa League but we did it. We can’t forget Brighton is not a top team like Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle yet.”

The Italian was asked what Albion need to do to make that jump. “It is difficult. Today, the attitude among the players was great," he added. "In the first half the speed of the ball and the energy wasn’t right. We could have been stronger when we’re attacking.

“It is difficult to find time to work on this during the week. We showed the players we could go fifth in the table but it’s not enough today.”