Roberto De Zerbi has fundamentally altered the manner in which the city of Brighton views the sport of football, writes Anujith Vijayakumar.

He has performed really well considering the hand the Italian has been dealt.

Sitting in eighth, having accumulated eight wins, six draws and five losses with 38 goals scored and 33 goals conceded in 19 games, Albion’s year in the Premier League season was unprecedented in club history.

In addition, Albion’s first venture into Europe couldn’t have gone better if they had mapped it out before.

A rocky start culminated in the club advancing into the Round of 16 in the Europa League, sinking European giants such as Olympique Marseille, AEK Athens and most significantly, AFC Ajax.

While Albion’s fortunes in the Premier League have been rather dismaying as of late, it should be highlighted that the club had lost their midfield backbone in the summer in the form of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo.

Rather than make excuses, the Seagulls took their departure in stride and made it a point to improve on their previous season, which ultimately led to the club’s unparalleled start to the season, securing five wins in six.

Despite the hardships, Albion have been an exhilarating side to witness this season.

While the Seagulls have failed to maintain a consistent run of accumulating clean sheets, the plethora of injuries sustained by them, must not go under the radar, nor should the recurring nature of the injuries to their first-choice defenders be ignored.

The fact, however, remains that the team are in a challenging situation right now, and a large contributor to that have been the recurring injuries sustained by key first team players such as Tariq Lamptey, Pervis Estupinan, and most recently and notable, Kaoru Mitoma.

The commendable attribute amidst the returning injuries is the courage and valour displayed by De Zerbi.

Even in the face of such hectic difficulties, not once has the 47-year-old deviated from his style of play.

Rather, he has instead opted to provide emerging prospects, a valuable opportunity to prove themselves, which is precisely what the likes of Jack Hinshelwood, Carlos Baleba, Jan Paul Van Hecke have done.

They have emerged as the silver lining in this period of darkness and cemented themselves as first team regulars.

Albion’s 4-2 victory against Tottenham Hotspur to close off the year is a testament to the adaptability of his squad.

With the club still in the top half of the Premier League and having qualified to the round of 16 in the Europa League, all things considered, it would be an understatement to say that 2023 has been a historic season for the Seagulls.

With 2024 beckoning, the Albion faithful should be elated at the prospect of what the club can achieve under the tutelage of De Zerbi and Tony Bloom.