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\u201cA carnage two weeks,\u201d Dunk recalled. \u201cThey were baffling.\u201d Brighton had played passing football under Graham Potter, but De Zerbi\u2019s ethos was something radically different. At 31, Dunk is the old dog who was taught new tricks. He speaks with the evangelism of a convert and the Zen<\/em> calm of a man accustomed to passing under pressure in a part of the pitch where the mantra for defenders long used to be \u2018if in doubt, boot it out\u2019. A thoughtful, quietly-spoken figure described it as an eye-opener.<\/p>\n Dunk has adjusted his game to great effect since Roberto De Zerbi took over at Brighton<\/p>\n \u201cSince the new manager at Brighton has come in, I see football in a completely different way, I picture it in a different way,\u201d he explained. \u201cFootball is not what I thought it was. Just how we play now… The idea of what I did before, I thought it made sense, but when you learn something completely different, you believe in it and this makes sense. You think, \u2018Why didn\u2019t I know this?\u2019 and, \u2018Why didn\u2019t I do this before?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And if one answer is because most assumed it was too difficult to implement without it backfiring, Dunk confirmed it is not improvised. \u201cIt\u2019s rehearsed, don\u2019t worry about that,\u201d he said. \u201cI now know every position on the pitch and where they should be. The time they should move and what angles they should give. We practise it that much that we know every scenario. We know where the ball should go to reach past the pressure. We know it inside out. The details Roberto has put in now are incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n It has meant Dunk\u2019s role has been transformed. In his first season in the Premier League, under Chris Hughton, his pass completion rate was 77.8 per cent. Last season, it was 90.3. He played 377 short passes in 2017\/18 and 1066 last season. He had the second most touches of any outfield player in his own box last season; except that was not a product of rearguard actions, but of building attacks from the back. Remarkably, the player to complete the most passes in the Premier League in 2022\/23 was Dunk. The numbers are proof of a technical ability that was long camouflaged.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Chris, 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,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to show those attributes and didn’t get the chance to play [football].\u201d But as he has, a player Gareth Southgate picked in 2018 but then discarded has illustrated his suitability for England\u2019s style of play.<\/p>\n Brighton coach De Zerbi has unlocked a new side to Dunk\u2019s football<\/p>\n In March, De Zerbi described him as one of the five best centre halves in Europe. That could confer pressure. \u201cIt\u2019s more gratifying,\u201d Dunk said. \u201cIt makes you proud.\u201d For years, however, it seemed as though Southgate did not consider him one of the five best in England. Perhaps Dunk concurs. \u201cI have improved as a player, and I am coming here as a better player than I was before.\u201d<\/p>\n His experience of wearing an England shirt stretches beyond his one appearance against the United States in 2018, however. Dunk has a picture of himself and his friends on holiday in Portugal during Euro 2012, celebrating England\u2019s win over Sweden in full kit. Danny Welbeck scored that day and Welbeck is now a Brighton teammate. \u201cI have told him the story,\u201d Dunk admitted. <\/p>\n Southgate recalled him in the summer, but injury ruled him out. Now Dunk is hoping to leave the group of one-cap wonders; the second half of his debut came in front of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who very much remains in that club. Dunk lined up that day with Fabian Delph and Harry Winks, names from another era for England. Dunk\u2019s might have been another. He said: \u201cIt comes to a time when you probably think: \u2018Ah, I might not be back in here.\u2019\u201d But he has returned after being reinvented.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/06\/17\/SEI168945373.jpg\")
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