Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s victory (3-1) destroyed Manchester United’s mentality at the Old Trafford stadium in the 5th week of the Premier League. MU’s 31 match unbeaten record at Old Trafford was ended by Brighton’s neat and organized play.
Once again, Brighton showed the mentality and strength as a “dark horse” team in the Premier League this season. The team’s reputation as a “dark horse” cannot be separated from Brighton’s performance against established teams in the Premier League in the last three seasons. In the last three seasons, Brighton has often troubled established teams such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. These teams don’t easily win or concede like what happened to MU this week.
Unmitigated, since being handled by Roberto De Zerbi as coach replacing Graham Potter in September 2022, Brighton has often made things difficult for the teams in the top six. Of the 15 matches they met with teams in the top six, Brighton managed to win 8 times. The victory against MU is an example of the strength that has built up at Brighton. In that match, Brighton did not hesitate to hold the ball, control the game and carry out open attacks on the MU goal.
Brighton’s second goal was the result of the players working together. The reason is, the ball starts rolling from the back line, then is slowly played between players until a goal is scored. The MU players were not only tricked, but seemed to be watching Brighton-style foot-to-foot play. Brighton not only appeared attractive and believed in holding the ball from the back area to MU’s front line. However, the team dressed in blue and white was also able to score many goals.
Of the four wins from five matches in the Premier League achieved this season, Brighton was able to record an average of 3 goals against opponents, including against MU. This means that Brighton doesn’t just play to dominate the match. However, there is an effort to score as many goals as possible. Brighton’s strength is team play. Even though at the start of the season Brighton lost several important players who were bought by established Premier League clubs, Brighton did not seem to lose their minds.
Yes, at least three important Brighton players left at the start of this season because they were attracted by rich clubs, namely Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez to Chelsea and Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool. Financially, Brighton benefits financially from the sale of these players. However, this will also affect Brighton if they do not prepare in anticipation to cover players who leave.
Brighton’s advantage is that there are anticipatory steps when a game is lost. As reported in The New York Times news, April 14, 2023, Brighton has a work system that is quite systematic and organized. This working system is visible when the club has prepared alternatives for both the coach and the players. When a player or coach leaves, Brighton already has a name that can be recruited to fill that position.
For example, when Graham Potter was contracted by Chelsea as a coach. Coach Robert De Zerbi has been targeted as an alternative replacement. Inevitably, Brighton accepted Chelsea’s offer because the club already had a replacement. Luckily for Brighton, De Zerbi had to end his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. So, Brighton doesn’t need time to negotiate with the Italian coach.
The choice of De Zerbi was also not without reason. This is taken into consideration with the coaching and playing style applied by De Zerbi in line with the work system of the club and the previous coach, Graham Potter. With this, De Zerbi did not completely change the team’s game, but only provided additional polish, such as encouraging players to appear free and dare to control the game from the back line.
Likewise, Brighton lost important players since last season. Brighton is not panicking because the club already has the names of substitute players who have long been targeted. Generally, the players are relatively young. No doubt, Brighton will delay the player transfer transaction process if the player who replaces the player who leaves does not go smoothly. However, there are substitute players, the transaction process is also not complicated.
In short, Brighton has built a club with clear and standard standards and work systems. Every existing player currently has a replacement. Therefore, even though the coach and players leave, the team’s playing system does not change at all because there are players who have been targeted as replacements. The coach and players are also seen as being in line with Brighton’s style of playing philosophy.
Brighton could once again become a disruptive team in the top six of the Premier League this season. Thanks to four wins from five matches so far in the Premier League, Brighton sits in sixth place in the standings. This position is better than MU and Chelsea, which poured a lot of money into buying players this season.
ASL
