There was a time when Brighton was more expensive than London but I've lived in Scotland for nearly 20 years now. I've been back to Brighton but I've lost track of the prices.
Early in the season, we controlled the midfield by dint of the fact that teams had no idea what to do with us and the fact that our FBs basically played there and we attacked relentlessly. But this has understandably changed. Teams have worked out how to play against us. They've worked out how to disrupt our patterns on the flanks and keep Porro and Udogie pushed back for large portions of the game. This has exposed the fact that we never had 'true' control of the midfield. We haven't had it for years. I'm willing to give Bentancur and Sarr a run of games together in the role as they've barely played together, but we should still brace ourselves that they won't be up to it. Sarr is a bit too lightweight to truly be a midfield enforcer (albeit as a box-to-box he has a huge ceiling), whilst Bentancur is probably best described as a deep lying playmaker. But his anticipation and positioning is often not good enough to give us control. He also isn't the quickest player, with more of a languid Berbatov-esque style of movement. The big question facing Ange now is how to regain midfield control against the teams who won't allow us to have it (on the horizon, Wolves, Villa, Fulham and even Luton won't be so easygoing in this regard). Do we switch to a 433, playing Maddison and Son either side of Richarlison and add Bissouma or Skipp/Hojbjerg to the midfield? Do we go 3ATB and push Porro and Udogie into false winger positions? Or do we continue throwing caution to the BBQ and hope we'll outscore the opposition?
MF is definitely an issue, although I thought we looked more competitive there once Bissouma came on. Sarr is learning fast and he's a tremendous athlete, which we need in there. My worry is Bentancur who apart from a couple of flashes, looked to be a shadow of his pre-injury self. I also thought that Madders didn't help matters, particularly when he was dropping deep onto the edge of our box and trying to dribble it out. First half he was playing almost alongside Richy at times. But it's 3 points and my expert analysis of Johnson's capabilities really paid off!
I think part of the issue is the varying energy levels of the players not just in midfield but also ahead of them Maddison and especially Bentancur coming back from injuries means their energy noticeable starts to flag after the 60th minute Kulusevski's peaks and troughs can in large part be put to how much he played in Maddison's position, where's spoilers will be sicced on him Sonny's got an Asian Cup in his legs so needs to be wrapped in cotton wool for a bit Werner's mainly had cameos at Monster Energy Dusseldorf this season so isn't up to speed As a result players won't be on quite the same wavelength at times because either they're not fit enough or too knackered to get that extra couple of inches when making a run that somebody else potentially would, which makes both the midfield and the transition into the final third somewhat disjointed There is also an issue with Udogie not releasing the ball as quickly as Porro does, as he often seems to take a couple of touches too many or overruns the ball, which has left Werner high and dry a few times already
Glad of the 3 points but we are riding our luck and have been for some time, this could be a combination of rusty players and the opposition working us out, Bentancur looks way off it, I hope his knee injury has not Sandro`d him. We are giving up way too many chances against all opposition, it is highly likely we will achieve nothing if we can`t keep a clean sheet, trying to outscore our opponents has serious Ossie vibes and we know how that ended. Hopefully things improve with more and more time on the training pitch and playing the same way against everybody will bring success given time, it`s still early Ange days and too soon to be doubting what they are trying to build.
It's strange because Bentancur was excellent at Very Old Trafford which was literally days after his return from injury. I was hoping he'd kick on from there but he seems to have regressed and I hope the explanation is not that he was rushed back (his return at that time was extremely surprising).
Man Utd do not have an oppressive MF (so no surprise) . I have already said there will be opposition where X + Bentancur + Maddison will suffice, similarly those where Bissouma + Sarr + Maddison is required. Similarly I have said Ange should be looking for a squad "reset" done by March. Get the Wolves game done, and then there is a two week break from competitive play to get all the fitness work in. Once all are fully starting XI match fit, then the manager will have the discretion to decide which combos to go with for each upcoming opponent.
I think you have to take into account the quality of the opposition, it's a cliché but true, there are no easy games in the PL. City took until the 70th minute to unlock Everton and that was by a series of lucky deflections. We still had more possession than Brighton but they are a very good side and you cannot expect to dominate throughout the game. You also have to take into account that we do not have a settled team. Injuries and absences have meant we are now in an almost new situation as a team. I don't think Ange ball is about midfield domination. it's about fluidity throughout the team and high pressing. Crucial to it is accurate and quick passing and yesterday that was not there for a lot of the game. I think you are right about other teams learning how to 'deal' with us. Since Villa teams have aggressively tried to disrupt our play with some success but if you look at our last goal the speed of passing and accuracy was in evidence and that's our strength. I think Burkinshaw in the crowd would have recognised that method from his own time at Spurs. Now that nearly every one is back we can hopefully become stronger in the next games.
The first half was very poor, but we started the second very well. Bentancur and Maddison look miles away from being 100%. We need to drop one of them to the bench for a bit, I think. The triple sub worked out in the end, but felt a little unnecessary. We'd just scored and were going through our best period in the game. Porro almost immediately got crocked and he played through it. It was like playing with 10 men and a couple of others struggled, too. Great result, but the overall performance was a little lacking. Brighton can be very good on their day and this was one of them. They've made us look very ordinary in two first halves this season. Something for Postecoglou to look at.
Don't think you can afford to drop both our most creative players. Better IMO to let them play their way to peak performance.
I wouldn't drop both. Probably just Bentancur. The system needs additional physicality and defensive cover against some opponents. I also think that having Bissouma, Hojbjerg and Skipp on the bench is overkill.
Yes I think there is a strong case for Bissouma starting. He has shown the kind of physicality that you rightly say we need.
We probably needed fresh legs and the psychology of bringing Sonny on was obvious, but it was strange he took off Kulusevski just as he had started to exploit the space on that flank and had set up the equaliser.
