Brighton continue their Carabao Cup campaign with the seemingly annual additional visit from Wolves. Brighton are chasing their first-ever attempt for silverware at the top level, but need to be grounded with the new foundations.
Last time out…
Albion dispatched ‘Sussex Rivals’ Crawley Town at home in a humbling 4-0 win at the Amex. Crawley offered a good fight, with some eye-catching styles of play and opportunities themselves, but Brighton’s talented strength in depth shone through.
Goals from Simon Adingra, Jeremy Sarmiento, Adam Webster, and a first-ever for Mark O’Mahony. Most crazily, only half of those goal-scorers are still at the club after a hectic end to the summer transfer window! Sarmiento and O’Mahony, are now on loan at Burnley and Portsmouth respectively.
Should Brighton ‘go for it’?
The evolution of the squad at the club has been notable heading into the new season, finalising the window as one of the top spenders in the country. With the lessened pressure of European football out of the question and the knowledge that Brighton have not won any modern major silverware, fans could want that to change.
With this, of course, comes an understanding balance. Do you want to consistently remember the past? Or start to think like a ‘big club’? I’d say there is a kind of in-between. Tony Bloom’s Seagulls are most likely to be in that imaginary bracket at the moment. Acting like a ‘serious’ club in the transfer market is a sign of a new intent to stay at the trajectory that the football club has been on for the past few years.
However, it has to always be remembered where they were; not so long ago! This is realistically only the third season that Brighton fans haven’t thought about the threat of relegation in the Premier League, and with this in mind, expectations are mostly grounded.
How it’s started, and how it’s going…
Albion have started the season in what would be deemed as a strong one. Wins against Everton and Manchester United; with two draws against Arsenal and newly-promoted Ipswich. Fabian Hürzeler’s football is beginning to be noticed as ‘different’ and ‘intense’. There are changes, and on the surface, it’s all looking very good.
Photo by Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
It has to be said, that it does very much feel like the start of something new. Some teething problems at the back and even in front of goal have been identified; but probably not too dissimilar to a Brighton of the past. Hürzeler’s age will always be mentioned in the same breath in any result; good and bad, but I don’t think that is the main point to hold onto.
Realistically we expect some naivety to creep in with a side with a largely inexperienced squad from top to bottom. Some will see the Ipswich result as a bad one; while others will count blessings in the quality of chances created, control of the game, and newfound fear factor that they emit on opposition.
Ipswich fans came to Brighton hoping for the very best, and a point was a bit of a dream. The idea that the Amex is now a place that is feared; like how all Brighton fans would feel at any given away day in 2017/18. This is something to be proud of in itself.
For me? I see a mixture of both. Whilst you can never be totally convinced by something new, it’s easy to spot patterns and trends in styles from it. Hürzeler has impressed with his willingness to change substitutions at better times, and a good showing for in-game management; even if that does factor in the teething problems.
The most important thing in my eyes is that the mentality to want to win more than you lose and push boundaries beyond what ‘should’ be realistically possible must always remain at the club.
What happens tonight?
Finally, another game against Wolves. It seems to be 6 times a year at this point!
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Albion’s record is mostly very positive against them, 5W 5D 3L in all competitions since both sides’ promotion to the Premier League. The most recent loss? In the cup last season at Molineux…
Heavy rotation is expected on both ends, and I spoke to Talking Wolves, a fellow TSR correspondent.
He said:
“There is no real expectation within the Wolves fanbase that we will advance into the next round of the cup. Gary O’Neil has already admitted there will be a wholesale changes which could include debuts for under 21 players.
Wolves’ ‘second string’ side still has some obvious quality but with a slow start to the season, fans aren’t expecting much.”
Quite a passively negative outlook, but hey, it’s the magic of the cup! It’s not too much change to us either, but a win in normal time would be much welcomed.
