Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi has admitted that his side are struggling without Moises Caicedo following the midfielder’s move to Chelsea in the summer.
Brighton were hammered by Aston Villa yesterday, losing 6-1, and Roberto De Zerbi told SussexWorld and other outlets that the Seagulls are missing Moises Caicedo.
Despite that thrashing at the hands of the Villans and De Zerbi’s comments, Brighton are still doing quite well in the Premier League.
They are currently in the top six and are only one point behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
Caicedo’s new team, Chelsea, in contrast, are having a torrid season so far. Mauricio Pochettino’s side find themselves all the way down in 15th.
De Zerbi has blamed the goals Brighton have been conceding on Caicedo’s departure.
The Italian said: “We are conceding lots but listen, we have to speak honestly. We lost Caicedo, we lost very important characteristics.
“We are playing in a different way because only [Carlos] Baleba can play with the same characteristics as Caicedo. Baleba is not ready yet.”
Caicedo is such an influential player on the pitch, so of course his exit was going to hurt Brighton in some capacity.
Last season, the 21-year-old made 2.7 tackles per game, which was the highest average in De Zerbi’s squad (WhoScored).
In the eyes of his Chelsea team-mate Levi Colwill, Caicedo is an “amazing” player, and the above is just a bit of evidence that proves that.
Again, though, Brighton are not exactly doing terribly without Caicedo. The Seagulls are doing better than Chelsea, which is quite ironic, though there is a long way to go in this season. Things may change as the Premier League campaign goes on.