Roberto De Zerbi makes Fabinho admission and sends Moises Caicedo message after beating Liverpool
Fabinho #Fabinho
Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi has played down Fabinho’s challenge on Evan Ferguson, branding the tackle an “accident”.
Fabinho was only on the pitch for a matter of moments when he was cautioned by referee David Coote late on for a poor tackle on the teenage striker as Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon.
De Zerbi was in no mood to criticise the Reds midfielder after the game, however, saying he did not wish to dwell any further on a tackle that could easily have resulted in a sending off, despite Ferguson being taken off with an injury as a result.
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“I don’t like to speak about this,” De Zerbi said. “About this foul I don’t want to talk about it more.
“Fabinho I am sure is an honest player and a correct player. But on the pitch it can happen, this foul, this accident. Is Ferguson OK? No. We will see.
“We are a good team. I think we are not like Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, we are not at the same level but we want to improve, we want to fight.
“At the moment we are playing well. On the table, we stayed in sixth place but we can improve the table. We showed a good level to have a dream. Because I can say what I want. But on the pitch, it shows.”
Harvey Elliott’s goal had given the visitors a first-half lead before Lewis Dunk inadvertently turned in a Tariq Lamptey shot to even the score up before the break.
With the tie heading for an Anfield replay, Kaoru Mitoma struck the winner to knock out the holders at the fourth-round stage.
De Zerbi was also asked about wantaway midfielder Moises Caicedo after the game as transfer links to Chelsea and Arsenal go on before the close of the window on Tuesday evening.
De Zerbi added: “It’s already difficult for me to be a coach. To be a coach and a chairman is very difficult. Caicedo is a very, very good guy. I can understand him because when you are 21 and you receive a request from a big big team playing in European competition.
“I would like him to finish the season with us. But we are ready to go without him. I think we need some players in some positions. I spoke a lot with (chairman) Tony Bloom.
“He knows my opinion very well. We are a good team but we can improve in the transfer window. We lost Leandro Trosaard. If we also lose Caicedo, it will be a problem for us. If we want to fight for Europa League or the maximum [position] in the table. If you want to stay like this, you can stay.”
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