Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi reveals why Wolves rout ranks as best win of his managerial career
- Planet Sport writer
- 29 April 2023
The Seagulls boss admitted his side are playing 'a very high level of football' as they continue to push for European qualification.
Roberto De Zerbi credited Brighton's Wembley agony as the stimulus for Saturday's history-making 6-0 Premier League demolition of Wolves.
De Zerbi hailed the finest performance of his managerial career after the ruthless Seagulls ripped apart Wanderers to emphatically reignite their European push.
Doubles from Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck at the Amex Stadium paved the way for Albion's greatest result in the top flight.
The thumping triumph moves the Sussex side on to 52 points - two behind Tottenham in fifth - to match the club-record tally, accrued in 1982.
De Zerbi felt his team's stunning display was a direct response to the pain of last Sunday's FA Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Manchester United, which was followed by a meek 3-1 midweek defeat at lowly Nottingham Forest.
"I think it's the best performance in my career as a coach," said the Italian former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk manager.
"We scored six goals but if we speak about the level of the play, the style of the play, the quality of the play, I think we are playing a very high level of football.
"This victory started in Wembley, not today, because today we showed pride, we played well.
"We suffered a lot after Wembley because we deserved to win, we suffered a lot in Nottingham because we played the Nottingham game with the heads still in Wembley and today you watched the reaction.
"The players are not like the players on the PlayStation or robots. They gave soul, heart and in those five days they suffered a lot."
De Zerbi opted to begin with influential trio Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Kaoru Mitoma on the bench due to fatigue fears amid a hectic fixture list.
But the surprising selection did not remain a talking point for long as the reshuffled Seagulls blitzed their shell-shocked visitors in the south-coast sunshine.
German forward Undav fired Brighton ahead in six minutes with his first Premier League goal before Gross' brace and a Welbeck header made it 4-0 at the break.
Woeful Wolves were frequently exposed defensively and, despite making three changes for the second period, former England forward Welbeck claimed his second just after the restart before Undav's delightful dinked finish compounded their misery
