Lewis Dunk has recalled the “baffling” training sessions which helped end his five-year England exile.
Dunk believes he has taken his game to a whole new level under Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi even if the early days under his club manager left his head spinning.
The Brighton captain is determined to make up for lost time having won his only senior cap against the United States in a Wembley friendly in November 2018. His exclusion has been hard to understand at times but there is no doubt that he has excelled under De Zerbi’s management, particularly tactically.
Dunk has bought into De Zerbi’s methods and also his detailed plan for every player and every eventuality on the pitch, even if he recalls those early sessions as being hard to understand.
Dunk said: “The first couple of weeks were horrendous… I wouldn’t say horrendous, they were baffling. He knows that, we have spoken about it and he knew that at the time, coming in, not speaking English, speaking through a translator.
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“The first meeting when he went in, I was so confused, who to look at, what to listen to, and you slowly pick up, basically don’t listen to the manager, wait for the translator to speak and you get there in the end.”
De Zerbi has described Dunk as one of the top five centre halves in Europe and the Brighton stalwart has explained how the Italian coach has improved him.
Dunk said: “I’m a completely different person and a different player now. I’m five years older, five years wiser and I’ve learned a lot football-wise and life-wise in those five years. I’ve also come here with a different confidence that I probably didn’t come with before.
Lewis Dunk in action during England training“It comes with the way Brighton’s gone and the way I’ve dedicated myself to learning from this new manager and to improve.
“We practise that much that we know every scenario. One presses from this angle and one presses from that angle. We know where the ball should go to reach past the pressure. We know it inside out and do a lot of hours on it.
“I’m 31 but still learning every day and feel good in myself and want to play at the highest level and now I’m doing that - I’m playing in Europe and I’m in the England set-up. So it’s been a great journey, an enjoyable one and it’s not ending anytime soon.
“Football-wise, since the new manager at Brighton has come in, I see football in a completely different way. I picture it in a different way and that is the biggest thing. Football is not what I thought it was.”
De Zerbi led Brighton into Europe for the first time in the club’s history in his first season in charge but has also worked wonders for Dunk who admits he began to doubt whether he would get another chance at international level.
Dunk also believes perception is a big part of it because he is 6ft 4in, looks a no-nonsense old fashioned stopper but actually is a terrific ball-playing centre half who fits perfectly into Gareth Southgate’s England vision.
Dunk added: ”Managers are a massive part of that. With Chris Hughton I had a great time and loved him, but we were on a different part of the journey at Brighton, and we had to defend our box. I had to show those attributes and didn’t get the chance to play.
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“Different managers bring out different attributes in you. I’ve always had the ability to play with the ball at my feet and now, playing for the last two managers, they’ve let me show it week in and week out.
“Five years is a long time being out of the squad. And it comes to a time when you probably think: ‘Ah, I might not be back in here.’
“But you always try to give your best. That’s what I’ve done in these five years and thankfully I’ve earned my right to get back here.”
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