Andrea Maldera is in his element in the “big show” of English football.

And he looked it as he happily took questions on the top table at Lancing yesterday.

Maldera, steeped in the history and traditions of Milan, is in charge for Albion’s game at Tottenham.

We knew that would be the case in terms of touchline duties after Roberto De Zerbi was banned for a game.

With De Zerbi undergoing invasive dental surgery, Maldera was then left in charge of the build-up, including the Friday morning press conference.

Enrico Venturelli was on hand to translate, as is always the case with De Zerbi.

But Maldera relished the occasion, as he will hope his team do in one of the tougher tests of the season.

Clearly Andrew Crofts also has a major part to play in the coaching set-up.

But, in terms of De Zerbi and Maldera, the latter is the calmer one, the smiling one, the less angry one.

He believes both are ideally suited to English football.

Asked what he most enjoyed about our game, Maldera said: “I like everything.

“I like how the fans live the match, how the teams have a big, big pride.

“Every club has a big history and in every match they put their history on the pitch.

“I think this passion is one of the secrets of this unbelievable football.

“Sometimes the tactical aspect is different.

“Maybe in Italy we think a lot more and sometimes have more tactical matches but here this is an advantage.

“There are a lot of goals every match.

“Sometimes in Italy it is different. It is another school.

“But I love it here. For our style, for our mentality, I think this style of football is perfect for us.

“Yes, it is normal that we can play against one team who like to defend.

“They are defending but still they are ready to score a goal.

“It’s a different style – not defend and stop.

“You have always chances.

“We concede a lot of goals this season but so do a lot of very important teams.

“The number is too high for every club.

“Every team wants to score goals and it is unbelievable.

“For me it is a dream to work here.”

De Zerbi and Maldera tend to enjoy a glass of wine together over dinner after a game.

They see football in the same way – but live it differently.

Maldera said: “This is my second season working with Roberto, but we have known each other for a lot of seasons, we are friends.

“My father was his coach when Roberto was in the academy of AC Milan and I worked for a lot of seasons at AC Milan and after that I worked with the national team of Ukraine.

“We spent a lot of time on the phone talking tactics because for me he’s one of the best coaches in this moment.

“When he was a coach at Foggia or Sassuolo, I was working at AC Milan and we spoke a lot about football and I studied his idea a lot.

“When he went to Shakhtar Donetsk, I worked with the Ukraine national team, we spoke about the Ukrainian players, we always had a big discussion about football.

“Two years ago he changed some people on his technical staff, he called me and I was very happy.

“For me it’s a dream. I am 53 years old, but I am young for a second time with him and working in the Premier League.

“My life is two parts, the first is with AC Milan when we won the league in 2010-11, we played in the Champions League.

“But now with Roberto he has a big energy, a big passion, he involves you a lot. I become younger with him.”

Maldera and De Zerbi have been in conversation over selection but it was yesterday unclear how much input the latter would have in and around the game – or whether he would even be there.

He was rather closer at hand when Albion beat West Ham 4-0 and Grimsby 5-0 when RDZ was banned last term.

Maldera was joking when he said: “Tomorrow we are alone on the pitch and I hope we don’t have a big disaster!”

Bu he knows what to expect when Spurs meet Seagulls.

He added: “Tottenham and us have a similar style, we want to control, we want the ball always.

“It could be a big show. I hope to win, but a big show for the fans.”

And that’s what he came to England for.