Roberto De Zerbi responds to former Chelsea star's claims over Brighton's apparent weakness ahead of Brentford and Burnley games

Roberto De Zerbi has responded to Chelsea hero Joe Cole's claims that Brighton need to improve when facing counter-attacking sides.

Albion have suffered some noteworthy defeats under the Italian head coach since taking charge of the Sussex side in September 2022, including a 5-1 home loss to Everton last season and a 3-1 reverse against West Ham this term.

Both teams employed a low block, soaked up the Seagulls' pressure, and then hurt them on the transition. Every strategy has some form of weakness that can be exploited and now De Zerbi has explained why he adopts an approach where he likes to throw a lot of players forward to try and score a goal.

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Cole said on TNT Sports: "There is only one area the team could improve, I think of the result to Everton last year, West Ham (this season). When the turnovers happen."

To which the 44-year-old replied: "The way you can see the goal is clear. If you attack with three players you can't concede a goal on the counter-attack but if you attack with many players it is possible to concede a goal on the counter.

"The same is the defensive side of things. If you press the opponent man to man you can concede in open space. If you wait in your last 20 metres you will score on the counter and you have to decide before the game what you want to do and be and what you want to become.

"We played with four attackers last season. [Alexis] Mac Allister often played as a number 10 so we had more control of the game and the play and now we are playing with four attackers: Joao Pedro, Ansu Fati, Evan Ferguson, Danny Welbeck - they are not number 10s. When they receive the ball they want to go and score."

It will be interesting to see how Brentford and Burnley approach their upcoming games with Brighton over the next week.