After overseeing the end of Brighton's highest women's Premier League, you can forgive Dario Vidosic for his celebration. But this is not his style. "I'm not very interested in being the best of the rest, I want to be the best," he said at the end of his first season in England. "It's going to be our mindset, and that's what we're going to work on to achieve."

Brighton finished fifth, and everyone was overshadowed except for the so-called "Big Four". In recent years, doing so has proven to be a curse. In 2021, Everton dropped to 10th in the following season, while in 2022, a year later, Tottenham ranked ninth. After finishing fourth in 2024, Liverpool split up to overturn with their manager Matt Beard in February and fell to seventh.

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Vidosic desires not only to make sure that such a drop is repeated around him, but to move on and challenge the silverware. “We wanted to build, we didn’t want to be a good season and then we fell down. We have set up the platform now.

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“We haven’t achieved anything yet. We have to be proud of our achievements. To me, ‘D loves to do more.

At the beginning, I said we wanted to win the trophy and compete in all the competitions. We are trying to win, we are trying to do it. We went out and played football hard, trying to score three points. Mathematically impossible. Until we are eliminated for a certain game, until we are always defeated (victory), we always train.

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"We want to create real history for the club and bring trophys. We can't do that this year, but it will be the ambition next season."

Brighton’s family form is key to their improvement. Only Liverpool and Manchester City can win there. Chelsea and Manchester United were defeated, while now European champions Arsenal defeated 4-2 at Broadfield Stadium last month.

Under Vidosic, Brighton developed a modern style of play: they ranked fourth in the WSL and fifth in the opponent's free throw area. Only Arsenal has a higher shooting rate.

“As a player, I always like to have the ball,” Vidosic said. “When I don’t do that, I try to run to win, so it’s a little bit compared to the days of the game. I always want to put the ball under my feet. This is a football that I think is a great pleasure for the player.

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"It's the way we play has to be pleasant. Here's what I want people to like: 'We want to watch your team play football, we want to sacrifice our weekends, we want to go crazy hours all over the country, and look at you, we know we're going to watch a good football game.' It's really important."

Vidosic deployed the same style in his first management job and directed the city of Melbourne to the 2024 A League Women’s Championship. The success caught Brighton's eye, and their approach surprised the former Australian and Adelaide United, who were born last summer. “It all happened over three to four nights, very quickly and then was told that they wanted to provide me with work and then give me the visa process, which took some time.

"In this age, it's more real - you never know who's watching. Here's what I've always said to my players - sometimes your life changes with a game. If you do the right thing, you work hard, and it doesn't matter where you are in the world, then this opportunity comes."

It was a big decision for the 38-year-old and his young family, but he was obviously glad he accepted it. “I’m excited about the program and want to test myself in the best leagues in the world. I feel like I’m ready. I’m so grateful for their risk-taking and giving me a chance to my young coach.

"It's an ambitious support club, especially the women's games. We want to challenge institutions, we want to challenge there. We feel we can compete."