Speaking after Brighton’s 2-2 draw against Olympique de Marseille, Roberto De Zerbi said that he believes his side deserved more after coming from two goals down to secure their first point of the UEFA Europa League campaign.
In a post-match press conference, attended by Get French Football News, De Zerbi saluted his side’s mentality to get back into the game but acknowledged the need to improve.
How do you analyse that performance from your team?
I want to be honest. I don’t think we’re playing well. We aren’t playing like last year, or even like last month. We are in a difficult moment. It is a period in which we have to work. After that, in football, it’s important the quality of the play, and of the players, but it is also important to play with passion and with the right behaviour. I am really, really proud of the performance today. After the 6-1 defeat against Aston Villa, and the second Marseille goal, this reaction is incredible. I’m very happy. We didn’t deserve to lose the game. I think if we score at the end of the first half, I think we could win the game. I’m sorry about the result because I think we deserved more.
Did the atmosphere in the Vélodrome play a role in Brighton’s slow start?
We are not a big team yet. We are a small team, a small club. We reached European competition by playing very well, playing with the incredible qualities of the players, but it’s possible we suffered too much from the atmosphere in Brighton’s first match in Europe. I’m not a big coach; I’m not used to playing these big games either, I’ve only played once in Europe with Shakhtar (Donetsk). We have to adapt and get used to playing in this competition.
Does the comeback evidence the team’s strong mentality, and what does that mean going forward?
I think we can lose games, but we can’t lose our DNA, our spirit, our bravery, our passion. This season, it will be important to progress, to adapt to playing in a different competition, to playing three games a week. I think this result can help us in our season because we have enough quality to play in this competition. Perhaps we need to have more confidence in ourselves because we have the right level. Today we played at no more than 30% of our potential, but the result was good. We can play better, we need to play better and believe in ourselves.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
