Brighton 3 Tottenham 2 I think we all could have predicted there would be goals in this fixture, but whether it would go in Albion’s favor was another question. Spurs went into the game in terrific form with 5 consecutive wins but the challenge of the Amex was too tough of a test to overthrow brilliant Brighton.
Tottenham started brightly playing free flowing football with some excellent passages of play, the visitors deservedly took the lead through Johnstone with a cool finish into the bottom right-hand corner. He continued his immense form, 6 goals in 6 for him and Tottenham looked in control whilst dominating the first half. Despite Brighton having two good chances from Welbeck and Hinshelwood there was another good move from Tottenham’s rampant attack where Werner laid it back to James Maddison who tucked it away, leaving questions over whether Verbruggen should have kept it out, nevertheless Spurs looked and felt as if they were cruising, expecting them come out in the second half and finish the game off. But we all know this was far from reality.
Fight and spirit of leaders
Welbeck mentioned at half time that the senior heads in the dressing room-Milner and Steele as well as the growing leader Van Hecke told the Brighton players to shift their attention, to intensify their fight and desire to outwork Spurs. Win your duals, win the second balls and the tactics will come with that, they don’t need to overthink and focus too heavily on the tactics as fight is what they felt was needed when the performance was under par in the first 45. This is so refreshing to hear as fans and to see the game plan work allowing Seagull’s supporters to celebrate an emphatic turnaround means everyone is thrilled. It reinforces the need for these experienced players as they’re been there and done it, they know what’s required to win a football match. You need the leaders to step up and state what is needed, this is superbly beneficial for the players to hear this and then to implement it within their play is very impressive. With this new found intensity players seemed to bring the best out of each other and all strategic elements came together.
Welbeck’s growth within the club
When Danny Welbeck arrived I don’t think many people had much expectation, more a hope that he would help us score in a struggling relegation threatened Brighton side in lockdown, where Albion were extremely desperate for goals. In reality some fans had already written him off after his unconvincing year at Watford. He’s then gone from strength to strength, his injury record has improved, his goal return in key moments is impressive and he’s a huge part of the dressing room. In the first few seasons he still did suffer with injuries, you’d usually expect to have him available for about half a season. He really started to step up in the 21/22, after recovering from yet another injury, around the turn of the new year he came back flying-came off the bench and scored the late equaliser with an emphatic header against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, then going onto consistently leading the line that season. De Zerbi then came in and he really flourished, Welbeck and Ferguson both taking accountability and understanding in their roles, they managed to both thrive. He always did well off the bench, notably scoring against Liverpool in the 3-0 victory. He flicked it over Joe Gomez with a composed finish on the volley, wrapping up the win, another example of him portraying his quality once again.
This season he’s hit the next level, new heights, 5 goal contributions from 7 games is immense and certainly not the figures Brighton fans even imagined at the start of his career at the Albion. It’s also interesting that Welbeck has made 116 appearances for the Seagulls compared to 96 for Manchester Utd when he’s usually more well associated with the Red Devils. You can really see he’s established himself here, which is full credit to Brighton and Tony Bloom for creating such a great system and environment for players to pick up form, enhance their game and express their quality. Danny Welbeck deserves all the credit he is getting and more, also for him to get the vital winner in this game, highlights the key role he has at the club.
Georginio and Mitoma quality
These two are just a cut above, their touch and composed nature on the ball makes them stand out, on the shoulders of their players throughout portraying their desire but also their immense ability on the ball highlights their outstanding ability to be incredible all round forwards. Something I have noticed about the wingers within a Hurzeler system is they are encouraged to drift inside and go into midfield more which is definitely not totally beneficially and can’t be sustainable within the whole game. However, the fluidity can give more opportunities for Mitoma to beat players with his immense dribbling. For Albion’s first goal you saw Mitoma stay wide and play a first time cross, fizzing it across the face of goal and the ball fell to Minteh who tucked it into Vicarios’s near post. But, you saw this come into play for the second goal, he drifts almost gilding into the middle of the pitch and slips the ball into Georginio’s path. This freedom I hope will enhance his game and with his superb ability to take on player’s I have no doubt he will progress and grow into this role as the season progresses. Georginio is still very much a new player but with 2 goals in 2 his confidence growing and his bubbly character being shown to fans, it allows them to really start to take to him. He took his goal so well, the touch and to open up his body, followed by drilling it into the corner is exactly what you want from your striker. Welbeck mentioned he nicknamed him ‘velcro’ as he has such a high quality touch and can control the ball with such ease. His overall play stood out, as well as his hunger to keep the ball in play, the mixture of his tackle and cross set up the winner, highlighting not only his quality as a footballer but his advanced mentality and his desperation to fulfil his role as best he can.
Estupinan making the Albion click
We saw the best of Pervis once again, fans were clinging onto the incredible 22/23 link up between Mitoma and Estupinan, overlapping and having a real depth of understanding of each other’s strengths therefore allowing them to bring out the highest levels in each other’s games-we really saw this come into play on Sunday. We’ve seen Pervis struggle with injuries and often has been rushed back too early but seems as if we are taking care of him and he’s being eased back which is so reassuring to see as we all know the levels he can hit. His defensive work was really impressive but, in previous games he looked a bit off the pace and almost on catch up. However, he really looked back to his best- solid defensively and a real threat going forward with a great passing and crossing ability as well as the atheism and desire to get up and down the pitch consistently. He has travelled to Ecuador to play for the national team over the next week, so if he can get more minutes in the tank and his fitness continues to build, I think we can see our left hand side progress this season allowing our European target to look even more realistic.
