bloody Brighton!!! Always struggled against them!! some decent stuff played in the first half, utter **** in the second half. Nothing on the bench to change the game. A few more players and a bit more gelling and a team we will be!!! McNugget MOM onwards and upwards
Brighton played well, had a good gameplan and frustrated us well. The difference tonight was a team who have had 18 months together and a team that has had a month together, they seemed so much more organised and at ease than us...we'll turn it around quickly. I think some of these faults in our side were hidden by the ineptness of Bristol City on Sunday... I trust Malky will sort it out! Bring on Burnley
McNugget!?!?!?! he was responsible for the first goal and was guilty of several other lazy short passes the didn't take into account Brighton's doggedness. His poorest showing for a while IMO. Their new buy from Peterborough was MOM.
They were a better team than us. They also have better players than us - that won't change unless we make at least three staggering signings (two speedy wingers and a commanding midfielder).
don't be dissin (oooh i've gone all street) the nugget!!! He ran his arse off. Hudson had a frikkin nightmare
Cowie was non existent this evening , Hudson Caught out again (just when i thought he was getting his act together) Gerrad looked out of sorts, every time Miller or Earnie had the ball Brighton doubled up on them and blunted their attacking potency ( not one of Earnie's best games so far and i thought City where trying to many high balls for such a small striking unit and at time was reminiscent of Keogh last season . Thought Marshall did ok, Whittingham played decent considering the Midfield in my opinion went awol too many times,Brighton's second goal came from a pointless ball from a City player played inside to crowded populated midfield with not City shirt in sight ? when the ball should have been put into touch ( hope Kiss and Gunnerson are back soon )Mason did well again and played some neat football causing the Brighton players to at times lunge aimlessly at his feet credit to him he played some nice touches and ran all game. Taylor had his work cut by a neat passing and pacey Brighton Forward division, Conway struggled and Brighton seemed to have did their homework on him managed he to get a few crosses in but far too many were over hit which the Brighton defence lapped up!. MacNaughton looked the most likeliest to open up Brighton's defence and was my M o M with his all action style that we see week in and week out. All in all i thought City were poor and were crying out for someone like Bellamy to unsettle the Brighton midfield and defence and draw off Brighton's strong man marking tactics ,fact is City need a few quality signings otherwise mid table is the best we can hope for.
I am a super Kev fan as much as the next man (although if he is going to take my wife he has to keep her!), I did think that he had a poor game by his standards last night. He gave the ball away needlessly for the first goal and a good few times after that. He did seem to be the one left the space in our attacks but I wonder was that by Brighton's design as his final ball was poor all night. On the whole as said above Brighton looked a much better team than us, due in no small part to being together longer. Though CM Smith looked like he had always been a part of their team. We are missing a few things in our team. We now have a very hard working team but are missing the flair of last season. I'm sure we will get there under Malky.
We all knew we needed at least 2 to 3 more 1st team players. MM stated in his pre match interview that he felt we had to strengthen in every position. This result will remind our owners of this
I agree with statto. Most games are won in mid field ours went awol other that a 20min period before they scored, 2nd half we were never in it.
No spark, no flair in the team to turn the game against a very organised Brighton set up. Midfield was reminiscent of last season's offerings, in other words anonymous. The much talked about "work ethic" is something we lacked last season and Malky is addressing it, but you need something special to turn a game like that. Earnie and Miller buzz around but create little themselves and were poorly fed from midfield anyway - the long ball game is not for them. Admittedley the guys need time to develop instinctive interplay between each other, and that will eventually pay dividends, but that won't be enough on its' own. There was nothing outstanding about Brighton other than they've been well organised by Poyet, whereas Malky hasn't had the time yet. You need something special to break down a team like that - they've played and won 3 games now and will win a lot more in this division. If the club is serious about its' stated aspirations this season, "work ethic" alone wont achieve it - some game-turning flair needs to be brought in. Whitts is pure quality in my opinion and can do it, but he won't do it on his own. I will say I think Mason was a superb buy for the future.
I thought tactically we were well off last night. I wonder if Brighton were underestimated a little (or maybe a lot). To expect a midfield of Cowie, Whitts, Mason, and Conway to deal with an attack that is as comfortable on the ball and as potent as Brighton's was a mistake imo. It was obvious Brighton are a side that are used to winning football matches, they're a very organised unit that moved the ball as well as any team I've seen at the CCS for as long as I can remember. With our current playing staff a performance closer to West Ham away would have given us a better chnace last night of taking the points. The defence had a shocker but the midfield really did hang them out to dry. The only positive i could see was Millers first touch was a lot sharper than it has been in previous couple of games so hopefully he's getting a bit match sharper.
Mackail-Smith was lively but offside all the time. I think Brightons midfielders were excellent though and surely one of them was MOM
Always sad to lose a game at home, and always frustrating when you don't see the play you want from the team. Brighton are a decent side that have got their act together, they continue the form they showed last season when they were, at one stage, romping away with the league. Against well organised sides we will suffer with our lack of gametime and lack of players. It will be all about how we handle defeats that will define us this season, because there will be more defeats along the road. Do we have the ability and mindset to bounce back immediately or do we spiral a bit (as in the past) before taking the reins up again. I think Malky will sort our shortcomings as we progress and give us a chance to attack the top spots at the business end of the season, (warning! cliche) you don't win the league in August. I believe our present position is quite good considering we are still building, 7th for a team thats only just got together is not bad.
Brighton set out to frustrate Cardiff and did a good job of it but at the end of the day they had only 3 attempts on target and scored with all of them. In CMS they had a player who certainly understands the meaning of defending from the front. In fairness Brighton did to us what we did to the Wurzels on ts Sunday and just didn't give us time to breath in any area of the pitch and that forced our players into making to many mistakes and for me thats where the game was won and lost. Whitts having to play as the holding midfield player in this diamond formation MM has set up is a big loss to the team, but without strength in depth in the squad that's where we are. We need better cover within the squad in that position and I'm sure MM will deal with it but until that time Joe Mason is no replacement for Whitts at the front of the midfield diamond. JM does look a terrific prospect but at this moment he doesn't have the experience or quality to open up opposition like Whitts does. We definately need more players who are able to open up the opposition like Whitts but thats where we are a team in the early stages of development and far from the finished article, is CB destined to be with us this season? I hope so but we need to be patient whilst MM gets these players into the club. Last night was not the end of the world and I think the margins between losing and winning that game last night were a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.
3 attempts on target, fair enough, but that does not disguise the fact they absolutely dominated possession and with it the pace an flow of the whole game. With the exception of that 20 minute period before we gifted them the ball for the first goal. Obviously the old cliche of 'Goals change football matches' was very apt last night, it may have been a very different result had we scored not conceded whilst on top. Having said that though but for a couple of narrow off sides we could have been a goal or even 2 down inside 10 minutes!
Office match stats has possession as 52%- 48% in Brighton favour but thats not exactly absolute domination, when you compare the stats against the Wurzels where possession was 61%-39% in our favour you get to the absolute domination. Last night was disappointing and no doubt the better team on the night won but I just think the margins between defeat and victory were a lot closer than the scoreline suggest.
Strange game, did McNuggets have an off game, yes by his standards, I don't think they were that much better than us, better organised and more familiar with one another definitely, but that will come with time, the majority of that Brighton side have been playing together for quite a while, and have the confidence and momentum that a good promotion season brings with it, they are a decent side, and still a bit of an unknown quantity, it's no coincidence that Brighton and Southampton are at the top of the league IMO, but early days yet. Better side no, better organised and more used to one another definitely................3 - 1 a fair result probably, although the killer goal came from an uncharacteristic mistake from you know who...........some funny old refereeing decisions, two dodgy penalties given and a stonewall penalty (on Miller) turned down. We lost to a well organised decent side, not nice especially at home, but lets not get carried away most of us have said that top ten at Christmas would be a reasonable showing considering the upheavals at the club. We did a smash and grab raid on WHU at Upton Park, and by all accounts turned over a poor Bristol City side at home (wasn't there), we are going to get better, but some new recruits wouldn't go amiss, nice to see heads didn't drop yesterday, we will bounce back, surely no one expected an unbeaten season? One defeat in four games, not a disaster, lets hope we can get things back on track at Burnley...............KTF
The difference between last night and the Bristol game was that last night, we never looked capable of winning it. Against Bristol, we were always in the driving seat even after Gunnar was replaced by Mason so early on. It's all down to midfield control, both for the sake of the frontmen and obviously from last night, the defence. The fact is that we are not ready (capable?) of taking on a side that is organised to the extent of Poyet's Brighton. Having said that, I don't think there are many "Brightons" in this division. We need to be able to open up such teams. If you can't do it by competing in midfield, you have to have individual flair - where is Bellers?
As noted above 3 shots on target and scored with all of them. 2 offsides? and 1 that hit the post. Could have been worse than last nights scoreline suggests? I havent seen the goals again but werent they both long(ish) range efforts? Could our keeper have done better?
