Overview
On Saturday, Brighton fans experienced their high line getting severely exploited. There were previous warning signs notability: Nottingham Forest’s goal, where Sosa broke the highline with ease, as well as Ipswich’s Delap hitting the inside of the post the previous week.
Majority of the concern came from the lack of adaptability during the game, the lack of ruthlessness to make an early change whether that be a substitution or simply a change of system. These frustrations were purely based on the repetitive nature of the fragility of the high line especially when there was a lack of pressure on the ball from the forwards. Fans felt helpless having to witness the pacy wingers constantly hunting chances, when Brighton had possession there was an intense press and out of possession trying to break the high line and be through on goal. Hurzeler’s style of play is so new to Brighton, there’s lots of less familiar and distinguishable elements. However, it’s easy to recognise the high line as a core element of his tactics which has been consistently getting hurt. So fans and pundits can quickly latch him being an extremely young manager and start to question whether he is naive to the prestigious Premier League. Where some other successful elements have been dismissed.
The chaotic first 45
Albion started brightly and deservedly took the lead within a defensive miscommunication for Chelsea. Among the mass of bodies and a scrambling Robert Sanchez, Georginio rose highest to score his first goal for Brighton, with a header in the 7th minute to give Albion the lead. It felt like The Seagulls had a grasp of the game with convincing and consistent waves to attacks until around the 15th minute mark.
The game then flipped drastically, first with warning signs of Palmer hitting the post and his disallowed goal. Which was quickly followed by Adam Webster’s under hit pass where Jackson squared it to the clinical Cole Palmer sweeping it into the net to put the Blues level. Attack after attack after attack then came for Chelsea, pinging through balls over the back line and with the lack of pace for recovery runs, Albion really suffered within this period. Then Baleba made slight contact on Jaden Sancho and a penalty decision goes in Chelsea’s favor. Palmer makes no mistake from the spot and all of sudden Brighton are behind with Chelsea having the momentum and upper hand with a large amount of the half to go.
Pervis Estupinan commits a cynical foul tugging Palmer’s shirt, Chelsea have a free kick arguably just within range of a shooting position. Following the trend of the game Palmer brilliance gave Chelsea a two goal cushion. 3-1 the score line, credit where credits due a superb free kick from a player who you can see in not so distant future as being known as one of the very best in the Premier League and a prodigious name for England. Chelsea now seemed to have control, until Robert Sanchez had a lapse of concentration and played a sloppy pass which Baleba eagerly rushes onto and capitalises on the situation with a cool finish into the bottom right hand corner. Much to Brighton’s delight, they had pulled one back due to an error from Sanchez, which caused fans to jeer ironically about their former player “there’s only one Robert Sanchez”. It then felt the momentum would swing back into Albion’s favor, and Brighton would go on and try to get themselves level before half time.
Quickly after there’s once again a lack of assurance on the ball, and a loose pass is played from Bart Verbruggen into an area where Chelsea’s players could take advantage, Sancho pounced on the chance with a sleek through ball to Palmer which was followed by a classy finish. The game was utter chaos which benefited the home side as their defense seemed somewhat more collectively comfortable than Brighton’s. However, it was a game with a lack of stability at the back. The mix of the high line, no recovery pace, strength & speed of Chelsea’s attackers as well as individual errors left The Seagulls with no leg to stand on. There felt like a lack of assurance on the ball from Brighton’s players, it felt as if they wanted to desperately get the ball into the attacking third, as Chelsea could once again dispossess Albion defenders. They may have been overly conscious of giving away another cheap chance, almost being too cautious to prevent more mistakes and nerves grew.
A more settled half
In the second half The Seagulls tried to settle this and we did seem more comfortable despite them still breaking through on some occasions, but our attacking threat that we possessed within the first half was lost. It never felt like we were going to get back into the game. Whilst Chelsea were quite content with breaking up play, having their periods of attack and seeing out the win. It was disappointing that they conceded little to no chances as their defense was definitely not a strength within Chelsea’s performance.
With all that said and done there’s a lot to learn from and progress on, as Fabian keeps emphasising this was a lesson within the process.
The Improvements needed
Hurzeler thought that offensive players weren’t completing their press and therefore the high line was then vulnerable rather than this style of play imposing constant exposure. He also mentioned that the game needs to be thoroughly analysed and if needed, there will be adaptations, which did ease some fan concern. This alludes to continuing to apply this identity but hopefully prepare for a variety of cases and if the original plan isn’t working during the game something is able to change. Fixtures that will be more suitable for this structure of the high line can be embodied but fans hope that he realises this style can’t be sustainable week in week out against every team. It’s extremely difficult to execute this against the top teams, certainly away from home. Brighton can’t become a one trick pony, as it will be far too easy to work The Seagulls out. Cole Palmer said “The manager set up a good game plan, we knew how to attack them, literally just first time passes in behind because the line was so high” (interview from match of the day). With The Seagulls being described as this easy to work out of how to play against, things do need to change.
Individual brilliance
On a positive note, Georginio is really growing into his role and his all round play looks excellent with loads of classy touches and an intensely exciting ability to create chances. Carlos Baleba seems to have it all: strength, pace, dribbling, shooting, passing range and you can tell he has a lot of improvements to make so he can really grow into an unbelievable player in due course. Whilst presently fulfilling his role with elegance and with the added presence of Joao Pedro to come back from injury, quality players like Minteh and Mitoma to really hit form, The Seagull’s will constantly be threatening teams this season.
