Brighton captain Lewis Dunk has opened up on Roberto De Zerbi’s ‘baffling’ sessions that has led to his recall to the England squad.
Dunk was recalled to the England squad by Gareth Southgate after five years of being left out. The centre back will be hoping to add to his one cap, which he got playing in a friendly against the United States in 2018.
Roberto De Zerbi has had a massive impact on Dunk’s development, but the 31-year-old still recalls his first sessions at Brighton manager.
“The first couple of weeks were horrendous,” he told the Daily Mirror. “I wouldn’t say horrendous, they were baffling. He knows that, we have spoken about it and he knew that at the time, coming in, not speaking English, speaking through a translator.
“The first meeting when he went in, I was so confused, who to look at, what to listen to, and you slowly pick up, basically don’t listen to the manager, wait for the translator to speak and you get there in the end.”
Lewis Dunk feels he is a ‘different player’
Dunk went on to credit De Zerbi massively for his improvement in the game over the last 12 months, and has said he’s changed as a player since his last Three Lions call up.
“I’m a completely different person and a different player now. I’m five years older, five years wiser and I’ve learned a lot football-wise and life-wise in those five years. I’ve also come here with a different confidence that I probably didn’t come with before.
“It comes with the way Brighton’s gone and the way I’ve dedicated myself to learning from this new manager and to improve.
“We practise that much that we know every scenario. One presses from this angle and one presses from that angle. We know where the ball should go to reach past the pressure. We know it inside out and do a lot of hours on it.
“I’m 31 but still learning every day and feel good in myself and want to play at the highest level and now I’m doing that – I’m playing in Europe and I’m in the England set-up. So it’s been a great journey, an enjoyable one and it’s not ending anytime soon.
“Football wise, since the new manager at Brighton has come in, I see football in a completely different way. I picture it in a different way and that is the biggest thing. Football is not what I thought it was.”