Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 Newcastle United (02/09/23)

[Optimistic Nut]

Just now, nufcjb said:

I do not want to see Schar and Burn at the centre of defence again. These two were the main pairing in the season we survived but in that survival run, we got beat 5-1 at Spurs and yesterday was just a repeat of how they played that day too.

 

So fine against 2/3s of the league but not the top 1/3rd basically...

[gbandit]

Don’t even think the defence was the biggest issue yesterday, it was the fact our midfield offered absolutely zero protection and they played through us at will. Yes Trippier and Burn had poor games but so did everyone 

[nufcjb]

Aye. Big Joe for one looks like he is missing something or someone. Perhaps lil Joe. His tackling hasn't seem to be as effective as previously when he bossed like a beast. 

 

Less said about Bruno the better. I'm giving Tonali  a few more games for him to really be on the same wavelength as the other players.

[Displayname]

Watched the game again. I dont think we can blame any single player, because all of them were shit(except Wilson). Must be something going on with the athmosphere at the club atm.

[KingArthur]

11 hours ago, TRon said:

 

Nunez still found himself with a run on the last man regardless of the luck of the bounce, then it happened again a few minutes later. Like I said, same happened last season as well, but this time we were 1-0 up against ten men and had no need to leave that sort of space available to a player like Nunez.

Yes, that was played poorly, but our tactic seemed to be to press them and keep them low. Hopeless long balls should be treated when there is 2v1 at the back. Second goal was a horrible mistake and a moment Liverpool were just waiting

[KingArthur]

8 hours ago, ponsaelius said:

I've got to say when we signed Tonali I thought he was coming to play primarily as the #6 (allowing for flexibility/rotation he would give us). At Ibrox I was quite puzzled to see Tonali in Longstaff's position and Longstaff as the #6. It didn't matter in that game because Rangers weren't very good, and I put it down to pre-season experimentation. But it had persisted and although Tonali has looked decent in terms of his individual quality - the midfield isn't working.

 

I still don't necessarily think you need an exclusive holding midfielder, and I certainly don't think you should go out and buy an average one just for the sake of it. But you need to get the balance in there right - and it isn't right at the minute. So we're seeing a defense looking more fragile under pressure, and a more disjointed attack.

 

 

 

I think it was clear from the start he would be Longstaff replacement/upgrade.

Problem is that when Bruno has the ball and opponent is in middle block, there is a huge gap between our midfielders and the lone striker. RCM and LCM seems to be close to the winger to provide support there, but it means we are forced to play to the wings and lose the ball quickly. We need our players to be brave and try to exploit the half spaces. That is why someone like Maddison would have been a good player for us.

[madras]

1 minute ago, KingArthur said:

I think it was clear from the start he would be Longstaff replacement/upgrade.

Problem is that when Bruno has the ball and opponent is in middle block, there is a huge gap between our midfielders and the lone striker. RCM and LCM seems to be close to the winger to provide support there, but it means we are forced to play to the wings and lose the ball quickly. We need our players to be brave and try to exploit the half spaces. That is why someone like Maddison would have been a good player for us.

I think he's there to get integrated into the team and get up to speed. I don't think he'd have started so much had Longstaff been fit.

[KaKa]

3 hours ago, Oregon_Geordie said:

 

Starting to think Joelinton is better on the left tbh, but. much of that was how he linked with Willock and covers Burn. And we have about 4 potential left-wingers right now in Isak, Barnes, Gordon, Anderson, and Big Joe.

 

To the point raised, maybe a double pivot with Tonali and Bruno and then Gordon or Isak in the 10 role behind Wilson?. Barnes/Joelinton left. I trust Eddie will sort it out, 

Anyone wanting him out needs a word.

 

 

 

 

 

Joelinton had a storming end to the season on the left and I think ended with 15 games total there and 7 goal contributions.

 

I thought because of it he might have been given that role as his primary one and then we'd bring in a proper DM and pushed Bruno up, but it didn't play out that way.

 

If going forward Gordon gets some opportunities on the right side and shines there then we'll have a chance to possibly make the adjustment, and have Joelinton and Barnes rotate on the left and Gordon and Almiron do so on the right.

 

That will then allow room for a more disciplined, athletic DM that is press resistant, and that can initiate play from the back, but without taking so many risks back there.

 

Unbelievably Youssouf Fofana did not move this summer. He'd be a great fit in that position IMO.

[Hudson]

20 minutes ago, Displayname said:

Watched the game again. I dont think we can blame any single player, because all of them were shit(except Wilson). Must be something going on with the atmosphere at the club atm.

How in the hell did you come to that conclusion about atmosphere being off.

 

It’s clear as day that our midfield is not functioning, where missing Willock and Bruno and Joe being off the pace massively all combined is killing us.

 

 

[Ronson333]

Things have gone downhill ever since Stuart Pearce predicted we’d win the league

[Displayname]

Just now, Hudson said:

How in the hell did you come to that conclusion about atmosphere being off.

 

It’s clear as day that our midfield is not functioning, where missing Willock and Bruno and Joe being off the pace massively all combined is killing us.

 

 

Bacause all of our players were shit individually.

[KingArthur]

8 minutes ago, madras said:

I think he's there to get integrated into the team and get up to speed. I don't think he'd have started so much had Longstaff been fit.

Yes, he has been thrown in the deep end. Did well againt Pool and Villa, I have every faith in his ability. Integrating takes time and Howe will sort this out. No worries.

[Myleftboot]

1 minute ago, KingArthur said:

Yes, he has been thrown in the deep end. Did well againt Pool and Villa, I have every faith in his ability. Integrating takes time and Howe will sort this out. No worries.

      Tonali              Bruno

           
                Longstaff

 

would this work?

[duo]

I don't get why we have lost our press. It was so successful last season but we just don't seem to be doing it this season. 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Myleftboot said:

      Tonali              Bruno

           
                Longstaff

 

would this work?

 No, Longstaff isn’t a 6 at all. He’s also not great positionally and your basically wasting his best abilities by playing him there. 

[loki679]

7 minutes ago, Hudson said:

How in the hell did you come to that conclusion about atmosphere being off.

 

It’s clear as day that our midfield is not functioning, where missing Willock and Bruno and Joe being off the pace massively all combined is killing us.

 

 

 

One thing that stood out for me was when Isak broke clear and tried to cut the ball back we had nobody busting a gut to get in the box from midfield. 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, loki679 said:

 

One thing that stood out for me was when Isak broke clear and tried to cut the ball back we had nobody busting a gut to get in the box from midfield. 

Absolutely this, which is alarming when we have 3 8’s on the pitch. We are such an average team when we abandon the press with the high line. 

[Kid Icarus]

Waking up to this was a thrill compared to the Liverpool match. No complaints from me, Brighton were excellent.

 

Hopefully the international break will do us good and will give Botman and Willock some time to recuperate without any more matches for them to miss. Willock being out is a big miss with his ball carrying and I'd try and encourage Gordon to dovetail with Joelinton like Willock did.

 

Howe often makes good use of breaks and we come back looking a different team, so I fully expect him to be as obsessive and smart as he usually is and make the needed tweaks to our lineup and system.

[jackyboy]

Eddie said after the match that it is impossible to play the high press against Brighton for 90 mins 

[Mikky]

46 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Don’t even think the defence was the biggest issue yesterday, it was the fact our midfield offered absolutely zero protection and they played through us at will. Yes Trippier and Burn had poor games but so did everyone 

When we defend with a straight midfield 5 it takes just one ball to cut through us 

 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

Waking up to this was a thrill compared to the Liverpool match. No complaints from me, Brighton were excellent.

 

Hopefully the international break will do us good and will give Botman and Willock some time to recuperate without any more matches for them to miss. Willock being out is a big miss with his ball carrying and I'd try and encourage Gordon to dovetail with Joelinton like Willock did.

 

Howe often makes good use of breaks and we come back looking a different team, so I fully expect him to be as obsessive and smart as he usually is and make the needed tweaks to our lineup and system.

Hope says Wilock has done has Achilles and is out for 6 weeks. 
 

Also, I think a few of our players will be going to join the national teams so I don’t think this break is a magic bullet for us. 

[Abacus]

Re the club atmosphere point. I think this a problem for Howe, but not a problem with Howe.

 

Was just reading the match report on Forest Vs Chelsea, a huge underdog performance by Forest built on team unity by Cooper, with a number of bargain recruits and unfancied players all.playing out of their skins.

 

Go back to when Howe took over - a team with a mismatched squad desperately short in key areas and looking like relegation certainties. But he built an incredible unity, with a few key additions, and we defied the odds to sail to safety.

 

Then last season - we all hoped for a top 7 finish at the start of the season, and yet player after player outperformed, not as individuals but as a team, totally against the odds. Remember those intense team huddles before the match, the way every player dived in to help their team-mates, every victory greeted with sheer joy.

 

Roll forward to this year - we're expected to compete at the top end of the table. Everyone sees us as a threat, things like the Amazon puff piece set out our ambitions to compete at the top and expectations have hugely changed, with big new kit sponsors etc.

 

Think about the hype of us being a real danger in the champions league group of death as another example.

 

I read a headline this morning saying "Forest and Brighton humble big spenders Chelsea and Newcastle" - to call us big spenders in the same breath as Chelsea is of course ridiculous, but it again shows how general expectations have changed.

 

More than that I also got caught up in the transfer hype. We just upgrade player X or position Y and hey presto, we'll perform better, when it doesn't always work like that.

 

But my point is, we're not underdogs any more, fighting against the world. It's something Alex Ferguson was always great at, even in their prime they were always fighting against some conspiracy and creating a siege mentality.

 

Thinking back to that post match interview, I wonder if this was what was in Howe's mind about supporting his players. Perhaps he's closing ranks and these games have become a reminder that every point needs to be fought for tooth and nail.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Mikky said:

When we defend with a straight midfield 5 it takes just one ball to cut through us 

 

Gordon longstaff and Anderson all asleep in this image too. Look at the overload they have on the left. 

[duo]

50 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Don’t even think the defence was the biggest issue yesterday, it was the fact our midfield offered absolutely zero protection and they played through us at will. Yes Trippier and Burn had poor games but so did everyone 

We've lost our intensity which was our biggest strength. And it's a mystery why.

[KaKa]

14 minutes ago, Mikky said:

When we defend with a straight midfield 5 it takes just one ball to cut through us 

 

 

Anyone dropping into half spaces is killing us at the minute.

 

Against these type of teams that excel at passing and exploiting the half spaces, we really need to consider looking to keep a more disciplined shape and look to counter them.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by KaKa