'Something has to be done about high line'published at 09:52 3 October
09:52 3 October
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Former striker and co-host of BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast Warren Aspinall believes "something has to be done" about the high line that Brighton are deploying this season.
The Seagulls were left exposed on Saturday as Chelsea's Cole Palmer helped himself to four goals in a 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
While the frailties may have been highlighted more so in this fixture, Aspinall believes it has been a common theme this season.
"It's not just about the Chelsea game I don't think, I think it is previous games also," he said.
"If we start with Arsenal, we played the high line there and I remember Havertz getting in one against one and it was a great save from Verbruggen to keep the game at 1-1.
"Then we had the game at Ipswich, they got in over the top and hit the post. Nottingham Forest got in over the top and scored and then every time Chelsea went forward on Saturday, they got in and could have scored more than four.
"OK, it has been highlighted for the Chelsea game but it has happened in the previous three games.
"It is a worry and something has to be done about it."
'He came in and stamped his name all over the football club'published at 11:03 2 October
11:03 2 October
Former Brighton & Hove Albion manager Barry Lloyd died at the age of 75 last week.
Lloyd, who managed the Seagulls between 1987-1993, would later return to the club as Chief Scout in 2007, a position he went on to hold for nearly 15 years.
Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast, former Brighton defender Guy Butters paid tribute to Lloyd.
"He was there for years, he was a great servant to the club and it's very sad news," he said.
"He was born in Hillingdon, as was I, and my dad played cricket with and against him when they were younger. Football was always his favourite sport and he excelled at that and he played for some great clubs.
"I always remember seeing clips of him against West Ham United when he was playing for Fulham in a cup final.
"I managed to work for the club in a little stage of my career and came across Barry when I was there. He was always approachable, always talkative and he will be a sad loss.
"I've spoken about him before with ex-players and everyone has really kind words to say about him, he gave a lot of them their chances when they were younger. It was at a time when they were really battling to stay in the Football League at one stage and he came in and stamped his name all over the football club."
Brighton 'caught with their pants down' - Nevinpublished at 08:06 2 October
08:06 2 October
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
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Sometimes you just have to scream that the Emperor’s new clothes are indeed just nakedness, or in this case brazen stupidity.
The goalkeeping and defensive blunder count at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was incredible. There was a point when Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez was in line for the man-of-the-match award…for Brighton! He certainly provided an unmissable assist for Carlos Baleba’s goal that made it 3-2, as well as being at fault for their first.
He was not the only one defending terribly. The ultra-high defensive line by Brighton, away from home against lightning-quick attackers and clever players not being closed down in midfield, looked frankly embarrassing.
In times gone by, this would have been decried as monumental naivety, but the current Premier League groupthink has certain immutable tenets. One is that playing out from the keeper must be done even when he demonstrably cannot actually play outfield football at that level.
In my career - and that was not yesterday – as a midfield creative, I dreamed of playing against such a predictable and frankly quite sluggish high defensive line. It is incredibly easy to beat their offside trap with an average run from deep and a relatively simple well-timed pass or indeed just an unfocused hook over the top.
Forget the Emperor’s new clothes, Brighton were caught with their pants down time and again and they never thought to pull them back up again. Weird.
The Premier League can be great, but it can also be technically a bit rubbish sometimes too. Are you allowed to say that?
Webster 'has become the fall guy'published at 12:40 1 October
12:40 1 October
Scott McCarthy Fan writer
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Tin hat on... I like Adam Webster. An opinion which very much goes against the grain of most Brighton supporters after he was culpable for gifting Chelsea the first of their four goals at Stamford Bridge.
Since signing for the Albion in 2019, Webster has played a big part in helping establish the club in the Premier League. During the 2021-22 season, when Brighton finished top 10 for the first time in their history, his form was good enough to be in the conversation for an England call up. Unfortunately, injury ruined that.
However, time waits for no one.
Two-and-a-half years later and Brighton have moved on. Tony Bloom wants the Seagulls to become regular challengers for Europe - and it is fair to say Webster is no longer good enough to be playing for a club desiring a top-eight finish.
This is not his fault, which is the point a lot of his critics in the wake of what happened at Chelsea appear to be missing. After all, Brighton signed nearly £200m worth of new players in the summer.
It seems mad a club can be the biggest net spenders in world football, and yet not sign a new centre-back to leave themselves in a position where one injury or suspension means throwing Webster into the starting XI.
Making the situation stranger is that Brighton knew in the summer they were appointing a head coach who deploys a high line. They also knew their defensive options are somewhat lacking in pace. They needed a different profile of centre-back to suit the tactics of Fabian Hurzeler.
Webster has become the fall guy when he should never have been put in the position of playing against Chelsea in a system unsuited to him.
It all means defensive reinforcements must be a priority for Brighton over the next couple of transfer windows.
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton - the fans' verdictpublished at 12:35 30 September
12:35 30 September
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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Chelsea and Brighton.
Here are some of your comments:
Chelsea fans
Stevie: Literally a game of two halves. Looked fantastic going forwards but same defensive issues affecting us, Enzo Fernandez doesn't look able to play in a two-man midfield and wants too much time on the ball. Jadon Sancho looked lively again and I think Palmer might be pushed out on the right to get Nkunku playing in the 10.
Mathew: Really good from us. Cole Palmer is unbelievable and his free-kick was just as good. A shame with the two goals we conceded as Robert Sanchez has to do better. Sancho, Nicolas Jackson, Fernandez and Levi Colwill played well. It’s also great to see Romeo Lavia playing again. Renato Veiga looks like a really good signing. Great performance. On to Thursday.
Lawro: Visually, the scoreline is pleasing. However, to concede two goals in the manner that we did is unforgiveable. Sanchez was at fault with both goals, but he made two crucial saves to redeem himself. He needs to work on his judgement, which at best is poor!
Richard: The game against Brighton was helter-skelter, exciting but riddled with errors. Both defences hardly inspire confidence. Cole Palmer strode through it all and might have notched six or seven goals. Sancho's form is encouraging and in only a handful of games, he already has a number of assists. Chelsea score freely and the fans will not be complaining.
Brighton fans
Stuart: Albion have had this coming. The lack of defensive signings this summer has meant that this was always a possibility with our high risk of playing, I love our gallant approach to the game but now without Pascal Gross and Billy Gilmour ahead of them, I am unsure our defense is fit for purpose. This will happen again and again.
Matt: Brighton’s defence was embarrassing at times. The high line is too risky against good teams as Lewis Dunk and Adam Webster do not have the speed needed to get back. It’s Brighton’s first loss but there has been warning signs of this defensive display coming. Back to the training ground on Monday. This must improve against Tottenham next week. Finally, rest in peace Barry Lloyd [former Brighton manager, who died on Saturday].
Malcolm: We need to sort out how we defend, Webster was appalling and Pervis Estupinan not much better. Dunk is showing signs of being past his sell-by date. I worry about the tactics against better sides where we need to be more solid. On the bright side Carlos Baleba just gets better and Adam Welbeck is not yet injured!
Luke: Palmer will get all the headlines and he is a wonderful player but all four goals were down to our poor play. The high line is exposed by our lack of pace at the back. Tough run of games coming up. We will be regretting not getting more in the last two home games as we drop down the table.
Brighton's extreme approach under the microscopepublished at 18:59 28 September
18:59 28 September
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
There is no shame in losing the modern Chelsea but the nature of some of the four goals conceded was calamitous.
Manager Fabian Hurzeler only conceded four goals ahead of kick off, yet the blueprint had already been set - punish the Seagulls for their high line and chances will come.
Amad Diallo, Kai Havertz, Chris Wood and Ramon Sosa had all profited from mistakes due to the high line or from simply running in behind the defenders, usually camped around the 50 yard mark, whether in or out of possession.
On Saturday at Stamford Bridge, it was the Cole Palmer show but each of the four goals involved that very same weakness.
Of course, it is difficult to legislate when Adam Webster's poor pass back to goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was under-hit but it seems a risky strategy to be quite so extreme with this approach, given neither Webster nor Lewis Dunk are particularly quick.
Of course, playing so high up the pitch helped Brighton to two goals, exploiting Chelsea's errors in the build up as Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba both scored.
But ultimately, Brighton gave too much away, surviving two other goal scoring opportunities for tight offside calls, seeing Nicolas Jackson miss a host of chances, and Pervis Estupinian narrowly avoided a red card for a tactical foul on Noni Madueke when attempting to clean up in behind.
Ultimately, this high-risk, almost roulette-like approach seems risky, especially against teams of Chelsea's calibre despite potentially having its place against lesser opponents.
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: Hurzeler's high line exposedpublished at 17:42 28 September
17:42 28 September
Tom Rostance BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Brighton are winless in each of their last nine Premier League visits to London
After Georgino Rutter opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal, it was alarming how quickly Brighton fell apart at Stamford Bridge.
Not only did Cole Palmer score four times in 20 minutes, Chelsea had three goals disallowed and could comfortably have scored seven or eight times.
Brighton's high line was caught out time and again, and there is plenty for Fabian Hurzeler to ponder after his first defeat.
The manager said: "It is still a process and we need a good connection on the pitch and we did not have that connection today. It is my job as a head coach to improve these things.
"We need to find a good balance, we can't lose our structure as quickly as we did. We all need to learn something, including me."
With 30 efforts on goal in total the match was seriously entertaining - and Brighton host Tottenham next. That should be tight...
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: What Hurzeler saidpublished at 17:33 28 September
17:33 28 September
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Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, has been speaking to Match of the Day after today's defeat: "We had a good start and controlled the game, had dominance in possession. We scored but afterwards we had too many individual mistakes and with too many individual mistakes you cannot win at Stamford Bridge. We should quickly learn from this.
"In possession we were good but to win games you need to be good in both phases and we didn't defend well.
"We are still in a process and we have to learn from this quickly. Every time we made a mistake they punished it and punished it quickly.
"We have to analyse, we have to be honest with each other and be better next time."
On what went wrong today: "It is still a process and we need a good connection on the pitch and we did not have that connection today. It is my job as a head coach to improve these things.
"The first half you couldn't change anymore. We were disappointed about conceding that many goals but there were positive things. We tried to create some chances but I think Chelsea defended them quite good.
"In the end I think a bit of luck was not there for us. It was not our day and in the end I think we deserved to lose.
"We are all together - we win together and we lose together. We need to find a good balance, we can't lose our structure as quickly as we did. We all need to learn something, including me.
"There are not many players like Cole Palmer in the Premier League, he is special."
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton - send us your thoughtspublished at 16:59 28 September
Sutton's predictions: Chelsea v Brightonpublished at 11:14 28 September
11:14 28 September
Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
For week six, he takes on Maximo Park singer Paul Smith, whose latest album, Stream Of Life, is out on Friday.
Chelsea host Brighton at 15:00 on Saturday.
Sutton's prediction: 2-1
Chelsea deserved the criticism they got when their performances were all over the place, so people need to give them praise now they are playing well.
There is still some turbulence at the top level, in terms of the power struggle that seems to be going on in the boardroom, but you cannot fault what they are doing on the pitch.
I have struggled to predict their results in the past, and for good reason, but hopefully that will start to get easier now they are showing the consistency they had previously been missing.
Having said all that, this is still a very tricky game to call. Brighton have also made a decent start, and they will definitely carry a threat.
So, I had to think hard about this but I am going to for a narrow Chelsea win, with Cole Palmer to do the business for them, and Nicolas Jackson to carry on his good form too.
Smith's prediction: 2-2
In my head it is going to be a score-draw because both teams can score quite easily with the way they attack so fluidly.
Earlier, we asked you for the five players who have scored more than 20 Premier League goals for Brighton.
Pascal Gross, Neal Maupay, Glenn Murray, Leandro Trossard and Danny Welbeck have all passed the 20-goal mark in the top flight for the Seagulls.
Today's trivia challengepublished at 08:59 27 September
08:59 27 September
Can you name the five players who have scored more than 20 goals in the Premier League for Brighton?
Answer will be revealed at 17:00 BST
What's with the dark arts?published at 07:58 27 September
07:58 27 September
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There has been a lot of conversation this week about "dark arts" in football following the draw between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.
Realistically, everyone who has watched football for longer than one game has seen things they would perceive as "dark arts"; whether it is a player always going down winning free-kicks to take the sting out of the game, kicking the ball into row Z when there was no multi-ball system or time-wasting on goal-kicks.
These are things we see all the time but our perception of it is dependent on the context of a game. You always see some version of it somewhere, and you hope your team would be doing the same thing if in the same situation - because why should you do something that would benefit the opposition you are against?
It is the same as going down a bit more easily to win penalties - some people will say "this guy is a cheat", but then on the other side of their mouth, if it is something that could benefit them, they say "he has tried too hard to stay up, he needed to go down there".
You can have rulings, Ifab can get involved to change this and that, but there will always be a way to push the rules to their limits.
What we saw with Arsenal in that game, where David Raya sat down to get some treatment while the teams gathered, we have seen those moments before. It is not just new to Arsenal - other teams do it.
It is always based on certain moments. You do get more frustrated if it happens against you, but when you need to do it, you encourage people to do it. That is one of the beauties of football - the way you see things is always going to be down to perception, context and just whether you think it is benefiting you or not.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright
🎧 Chelsea in fine form before Seagulls testpublished at 14:04 26 September
14:04 26 September
Former Brighton defender Gary Chivers believes Chelsea are showing fine form before facing the Seagulls on Saturday.
Chivers played over 200 games for Albion and made over 100 appearances for Chelsea. Ahead of this weekend's game he has been speaking to the Albion Unlimited podcast about Maresca's team and said: "He's changed the style of play - and now they're playing ever so well.
"The game against West Ham the other day - what a result, the way they played was unbelievable. He gets the full-backs tucking into the midfield, so when in position it's really hard to get the ball off them.
"He's settled in now, they know what he wants and they're showing it when they play, because they're playing awfully well at the moment - it's a tough game for Brighton to go there and get a result."
It will be a re-union for a number of former Brighton players, including Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, and Chivers praised the 22-year-old with how he's started the season.
He added: "Caicedo has been out of this world - his actual play has been unbelievable.
"He got a bit of stick, and rightly so because he was playing in a team that lacked a bit of confidence when he joined. Against West Ham he was awesome."
Another Chelsea player who has started the season in good form and scored two goals against West Ham recently is Nicolas Jackson.
"When he first came to the club, he got a little bit of stick - rightly so again." Chivers said.
"The way he's playing at the moment, he's confident, he took his goals really well and he looks the real deal at the moment - he's progressing brilliantly.
"Maresca likes him to come out wide and then he's going in the middle. He's playing all over the shop."
Chelsea won both Premier League meetings with Brighton last season, despite having a player sent off in each game.
It was only the second time a team has won consecutive meetings against the same opponent after going down to 10 men in both games.
Hurzeler on Forest red card, Pedro injury and Chelseapublished at 11:00 26 September
11:00 26 September
Phil Cartwright BBC Sport journalist
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Chelsea (kick-off 15:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Hurzeler said he will be on the touchline at Stamford Bridge, despite his red card in Sunday's draw against Nottingham Forest. On his FA charge: "I know what the fine will be and I also know I will be on the sideline against Chelsea. That's the most positive thing, that I can help my team. I have to learn from the situation, but the fine, we will accept."
He said his dismissal was because he stepped onto the pitch: "If you give a red card for this, I think you have to ban a lot of coaches during games because it happens. In an emotional phase of the game, it will happen that you make a step on the pitch. Of course we are role models and we have to act like that, but you also should bring out your emotions. In this case, it was just to protect my player because for me it was a hard tackle on him."
Hurzeler spoke with referees' chief Howard Webb in the aftermath: "He is very open, he listened to me and gave me a clear explanation of how the officials saw the scene. It's important to have a good discussion. Sometimes I don't agree with the referee for what they give a foul for or not, but also they don't agree with all of what I'm doing on the sideline. It's important to have a respectful relationship and the exchange with Howard was very respectful."
Striker Joao Pedro is unlikely to be involved against Chelsea. "Joao still has some problems. We have to go week to week with him, but I don't think he will be an option for the weekend. I am not sure how long he will be out. I'm convinced he will be back soon but you can't take any risks."
On Saturday's opponents: "On one side, you have to analyse them by what they do tactically and they have good solutions [with] a great goalkeeper who starts trying to build the game from the back with his feet. Besides the technical things, they have great individual players, so you have to focus on not creating a mismatch and try to bring in players into personal duels that you think will be a good match."
He added: "It's important to find a good solution with the ball. You can't go there to only defend - you have to have a lot of courage with the ball."
Carabao Cup fourth-round draw - who is your team facing?published at 22:32 25 September
22:32 25 September
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The draw has been made for the Carabao Cup fourth round, with 12 Premier League clubs having made it through and Newcastle set to play their postponed tie against Wimbledon on 1 October.
There are four confirmed all-Premier League fixtures, including Tottenham hosting Manchester City and holders Liverpool travelling to Brighton.
Ties are scheduled to take place the week commencing 28 October.
All the fixtures featuring top-flight sides are shown below:
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