Roberto De Zerbi v Graham Potter: Why both still feel the pressure as Brighton welcome Chelsea

It will be a reunion surrounded by uncertainty and tension as Graham Potter and his team return to the Amex. The success of his time at Brighton will likely be both a blessing and a curse: fans will have to acknowledge his huge influence, whilst still feeling that lurking pain that came from having their coaching staff wrenched from the team as they were realising their potential.

Meanwhile, after some difficult fixtures and frustrating performances, Saturday will offer Roberto De Zerbi the chance to win his first three points for the Seagulls and, perhaps more importantly, every heart striped white and blue, if he can overcome Potter, Reid, Hamburg, Roberts and Saltor this weekend.

Potter will face several pressures on Saturday. As the manager of Chelsea, you are inherently under pressure. Although seemingly the first manager of a new era at the club, Potter will remember the ruthlessly high (and often slightly random) standards of the club when it comes to managers.

That is the nature of the club, and one that differs greatly to the confidence and security that chairman Tony Bloom afforded Potter, and now De Zerbi. Equally, with an unbeaten nine-game run, including European wins against AC Milan, Potter faces pressure to continue this form, which has been welcomed by Chelsea fans, despite questions surrounding his initial appointment from several points in the fanbase.

Perhaps the biggest pressure for Potter will come from the home fans. After lifting them to the dizziest of heights, Potter and his backroom staff were drawn away by Todd Boehly’s Chelsea. It was nightmarish news for Brighton fans, drawing anger, upset, frustration, confusion, and all other emotions that are born from an unexpected break-up. How the fans have processed these feelings over time remains to be seen, but will become apparent as Potter takes his first steps back onto the Amex turf.

Despite these pressures, Potter is well-equipped to deal with the occasion. A manager who relies heavily on process and foundations laid long before matchday, he and his team will no doubt be prepared in the face of Amex pressure. Additionally, Potter’s rational, pragmatic perspective will serve him well in the face of whatever reaction comes from the home crowd. Arguably the biggest pressure on Potter comes from the need to maintain his unblemished record and further please his new, unrelenting fanbase.

Pressure is something that will surely be needling at De Zerbi. Despite difficult fixtures, De Zerbi would have hoped for more points from his first weeks in charge. The games have had a somewhat common theme: lots of possession without the clinical edge to take three points. It was certainly the case against Nottingham Forest, as Albion took 71 per cent of the possession, registering seven shots on target against Forest’s 0. 0-0 was a fairly accurate summary of De Zerbi’s start at Brighton.

Further pressure for De Zerbi comes from the magnitude of the opportunity that Saturday’s game brings: to win over his new fanbase and perhaps spark some momentum. For Brighton fans, the chance to beat a top six club is an exciting prospect, but to do it against Potter and his staff will surely be something that will ignite huge excitement around the new De Zerbi era.

But of all De Zerbi’s games so far, does this one present the biggest opportunity for three points? Anfield and the Etihad are incredibly difficult places to win, as statistics and football can prove. Aside from those two fixtures, Forest, Brentford and Spurs have all been content to sit back, allowing Brighton the ball, as opposed to coming forwards and pressing, something that De Zerbi welcomes. Potter’s Chelsea, looking to play positive, proactive football, may provide De Zerbi’s team the chance to do what he will have drilled into them most: play through a high press.

Could this be where we see a new Brighton step towards an established ‘De Zerbismo’? After the loss to Manchester City last week, Pep Guardiola assured that ‘[De Zerbi’s] impact in England will be massive in the future’’. This suggests that the pressure the Italian faces is largely time pressure, as the squad develops under his philosophy, and that soon, they will produce convincing, attractive results.

Whether through fans, boards, fixtures or results, pressure is very much coursing through this fixture. The reaction of fans to Potter and De Zerbi will be fascinating, and the result will surely have an impact on both teams for weeks and months to come. But even in the face of emphatic pressure, both managers are absolutely equipped to cause each other problems, and take three points.