Danny Welbeck is loving life under “special man” Roberto De Zerbi and hopes Brighton can keep hold of their highly-rated coach.
De Zerbi has the high-flying Seagulls challenging for European football amid widespread plaudits for his attractive, possession-based style of play.
Eighth-placed Albion underlined their credentials for continental qualification by thrashing Wolves 6-0 on Saturday to register a club-record Premier League win.
Welbeck, who scored twice against Wanderers, believes De Zerbi is doing an “unbelievable job” and is not surprised the Italian continues to be linked with a host of top clubs.
“We’re obviously very happy to have him here,” the forward, who played for Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger earlier in his career, said of his current manager.
“Playing for him and his team and his style, it’s unbelievable.
“I think every single job that comes up, with him doing so well, he’s going to be getting linked to that. But hopefully he’s still here.
“I don’t like to rank managers because I’ve got a lot of respect for each and every one, you learn so much from every single manager you have, but he’s definitely a special manager and the style of play is so enjoyable to play underneath.
“You learn so much every single day. He’s a special man.”
Former England international Welbeck struck either side of half-time against Wolves as Brighton ended a challenging week in emphatic fashion.
Deniz Undav and Pascal Gross also claimed doubles to help the Seagulls bounce back from last weekend’s painful FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United and a 3-1 midweek defeat at lowly Nottingham Forest.
Albion have already equalled the club-record top-flight points tally of 52 set in 1982, but Welbeck knows De Zerbi will not allow standards to drop going into the final seven matches of the campaign.
“Every single day at the training ground he’s always the same,” said the 32-year-old.
“He’s very direct and he knows how he wants his team to play and, credit to the boys, everybody has bought into his style.
“He keeps everybody motivated, everybody on their toes wanting to be better, wanting to improve, the young players are getting opportunities. He’s doing an unbelievable job.
“I’m loving it. It’s very enjoyable. It’s a great football club to be at.”
Welbeck departed the Wembley pitch before last weekend’s agonising 7-6 shoot-out loss to his former club United due to an injury.
He concedes bouncing back from that deflating defeat was tough.
“It wasn’t easy, but there’s not time really to feel sorry for yourself because that’s not going to get you anywhere,” he said.
“I think the result in midweek against Forest was a little bit of a hangover from the cup semi-final, so we had to pick ourselves up and go again.
“We did (against Wolves) and it sets us in good stead for the rest of the season.”
A top-seven finish and entry into the Europa Conference League is Brighton’s minimum objective.
Welbeck, who has plenty of Champions League and Europa League experience from his time at Old Trafford and Emirates Stadium, is not allowing himself to think too far ahead.
“It’s important to set high aims and, for us to get there, we’ve got to do our job on the pitch and we’re really looking forward to it, it’s exciting times,” he said.
“I don’t really want to talk too much about that until if it actually comes. It would be amazing though.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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