Roberto De Zerbi brings beauty to Brighton but where can elite football go next?

Black shirt, white socks, white shoes, black hair. This week marked the one-year anniversary of the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton & Hove Albion, tactical tyro, disruptor of the Premier League overclass, fever pitch influencer, and all-round south-coast ace face.

This last bit comes from the clothing retailer Jacamo, which posted an urgent press release in midweek detailing a dramatic rise in sales “inspired by De Zerbi’s suave sideline style”. Black crew-neck jumpers are up 116%, white trainers 55%, black slim-fit stretch jeans 15%! De Zerbi wears a black jumper, white shoes and tight black trousers. He’s like the Strokes, if the Strokes were football managers. Either that or it’s now autumn.

De Zerbi looks good with it too: the insolent charisma, the tender but piercing eyes, good hair, good beard, a look that feels part Renaissance frieze depiction of Beelzebub, part artisan cupcake entrepreneur at an elite urban food quarter.

But this is of course about substance, and right now De Zerbi is probably the most interesting person in elite-level English football. Pep Guardiola is a fan. The AEK Athens manager, Matías Almeyda, described Brighton’s football as the most beautiful in the world. The way they play feels significant, disorientating, off the beat. So what exactly are they doing? And why does it seem to matter?

Trying to explain this often involves the use of complex abstract language. Phrases like “matador football” have been used. The internet has a great many videos decorated with blobs and squiggles with a droning robot voice saying things like “in this slide the third central pivot pins the retreating block into a wedged atonal transition”.

In simpler terms the basic movement involves drawing your opponent back towards your own goal. De Zerbi knows that most teams will respond with an attacking press. This is seen in turn as an opening, a code to be hacked, a place to wait while your opponent blinks first and leaves a gap. To make this work Brighton have players at the back who are supremely comfortable on the ball, two deep midfield pivots and the best dribbler in the league to drive those swift breaks. So deep possession play becomes not a shield but a sword, your own retreat across the Russian steppes, weakening the enemy’s lines of supply, tugging apart the stitching behind.