“What’s Gone Wrong?” — Stato Lays It Out
It’s been the question hanging over the Amex since the international break which marked a dramatic change in Albion’s fortunes.
The dream of FA Cup glory? Gone.
Hopes of dining at European club football’s top table – no chance now.
The question is why Brighton has gone from holding ambitions of hearing the Champions League anthem blasting out at the Amex, to trying to scrape into the UEFA Conference League?
Tired legs? Tactical confusion? Too many right-wingers and not enough right-backs?
On the forum, Stato has provided a detailed rundown on what has gone awry and what needs to happen to put things right again:
1) Injuries and fitness levels
Andy Naylor’s recent Athletic article for the New York Times explained that we’ve been unlucky with lots of different types of injury, but also that Fabian Hurzeler was trying to move our training on from Roberto De Zerbi’s hyper-focus on tactic, to an approach where fitness requirements were towards the top-end, and some damage along the way was anticipated.
2) Squad imbalance
Our summer spend was heavily influenced by PSR opportunities, and defenders didn’t seem to be high on the shopping list. However, with Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman both in their mid-thirties, and Adam Webster and Tariq Lamptey’s injury history, we were more in need of cover at the back.
The number of wingers and number 10s we bought seemed out of balance for squad-building, although it may seem sensible on Tony Bloom’s player trading valuation spreadsheet.
3) Transition (part 1)
We spent a lot of money bringing in new players, had a new coaching team and a change of footballing direction. Fabian Hurzeler has mentioned how important on-field relationships are for the way his sides play, and we have been in the process of developing those throughout the season.
Unfortunately, injures and squad imbalance, as detailed in 1 and 2 above, have hampered the transition.
4) Transition (part 2)
Transitions in play have become key weapons for many of our opponents this season, and we have simply not coped with them well.
Manchester City’s struggle to deal with this without Rodri has been widely commented on, as last year’s Champions have stuttered through this campaign.
Brighton and Tottenham have both been trying to attack like City without having a Rodri to mop things up. Fabian Hurzeler reiterates the need for his squad to train harder to avoid mistakes, but needs to learn that mistakes are always going to happen and that other teams are setting up to minimise the impact of those mistakes when they happen to them.
5) Inexperience
Whether throwing everyone forward in the last minutes when we were 2-0 up against Wolves, the manager thinking we could take on Nottingham Forest without a functioning midfield unit, or players sulking when things aren’t quite going their way, Albion have demonstrated a lack of maturity at times this season.
Pragmatism needn’t be a dirty word. When visiting St James Park, Hurzeler’s side showed they have it within them to play as the traditional away team role, but too often we’ve led with our jaw and made it too easy for our opponents to land knockout blows.
The good news is that none of this is impossible to fix.
Far from it.
We have a talented and determined group, but the Premier League has been extremely competitive this year, and more sides than ever have been well placed to deal with the challenges it presents.
Albion’s struggles have often come when we’ve been the favourites in an encounter. Hurzeler needs to readjust his approach to those games – stop overcommitting and play more on the counter.
It might prove beneficial to miss out on European qualification this season, because playing more games next year is likely to make it more difficult to resolve our issues.
Tony Bloom needs to invest in our defence, and new partnerships formed will need time and protection.
Many Albion fans would have predicted a mid-table finish this season but, for a while, we looked capable of significantly exceeding that. The hope that developed has made dealing with the recent poor results harder. We’ve flirted with the top six places, we were one Sels save away from another trip to Wembley, but it feels like the season is drawing to a close with the same damp squib as last year
The current feeling of gloom hanging over the Amex should not cloud what may ultimately be viewed as a transitional season, in which we’ve shown promise and coped with the challenges we’ve had to face.
If I could ask for one thing next season, it would to be harder. Harder in midfield, harder in defence, harder to beat, harder to score against and harder to stop.
Simply, we need to toughen up, and that comes with maturity.
This post has been adapted from the North Stand Chat thread What is most responsible for our current poor form? Got an opinion to share? Hop over and join in!
Images courtesy of Reuters.
