Roberto De Zerbi

This was a great goal, gorgeous football. They’re so calm and patient on the ball. If you follow Bruno around in that whole sequence you can tell he was utterly demoralised chasing shadows like that.



Brighton are good, no doubt but it's a pathetic display from us, we don't know what to do, how to stop this, always 2 steps behind and the players even individually don't seem up to the one on ones, the way Lampety just shakes off McTurdminator with a simple fake is just disgusting.
 
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Brighton by passed our press by exploiting the free fullback due to our narrow midfield setup, and we did not adjust to it. Our plan was to not allow them access to build through the middle of the pitch which worked well at first.
They adjusted to build wide, our defending out wide was not good enough

Yes but looking at Rashford, Bruno, Hojlund etc the ball moved through their zones a couple of times but it's like they lightly start jogging towards their man once their man has the ball and at that point its too late, the ball has already moved on. Bruno tbf was at least trying but it didn't look anyone else on the team was trying throughout the entire sequence.
 
Brighton are good, no doubt but it's a pathetic display from us, we don't know what to do, how to stop this, always 2 steps behind and the players even individually don't seem up to the one on ones, the way Lampety just shakes off McTurdminator with a simple shake is just disgusting.

I was trying to make this point, that it was awful defending with very little effort at all, but obviously less colourful wording.
 
I was trying to make this point, that it was awful defending with very little effort at all, but obviously less colourful wording.

I was also not trying to shit on what you posted and Brighton are excellent, I love watching them play right now, I wish we could play like that but if we are involved in the game I can't really enjoy Brighton because all I see is how shite Manchester United is right now, and it's boiling my piss.
 
This was a great goal, gorgeous football. They’re so calm and patient on the ball. If you follow Bruno around in that whole sequence you can tell he was utterly demoralised chasing shadows like that.



That's one way to look at it, but I can't help but see a lot of half hearted pressing and tackling from most of those Utd players. Then there's the way Groß is just allowed to ghost in, no one tracking his run. Awful stuff.
 
That's one way to look at it, but I can't help but see a lot of half hearted pressing and tackling from most of those Utd players. Then there's the way Groß is just allowed to ghost in, no one tracking his run. Awful stuff.
Why is that then? Are the players not doing what the manager tells them?
 
That's one way to look at it, but I can't help but see a lot of half hearted pressing and tackling from most of those Utd players. Then there's the way Groß is just allowed to ghost in, no one tracking his run. Awful stuff.
Look at how easily McT was beaten on our right wing, and the complete lack of effort to recover. Inexcusable
 
I get what you mean by pressing traps. Full pitch pressing isn't always needed, and it's unsustainable, teams who typically go all guns blazing in the press usually tire out very quickly.

I'm seeing nothing in that clip though. Brighton moved up and around the pitch very easily and scored. You set up very high for the goal kick but once they broke the initial press, which was very halfhearted to begin with, I didn't much else to try and win the ball back.
They ‘broke’ the initial press on the flank and then came back when recognising we had superiority defensively in numbers - this happened repeatedly in that clip. De Zerbi is all about creating artificial transitions by drawing the other team into the press - at no point during that 30 second clip was an artificial transition created because we never committed enough players to the press. The goal is a result of not tracking the runner and genuinely dog shit box defending - they should not be scoring from that defensive structure - we were perfectly well set.
 
Yes but looking at Rashford, Bruno, Hojlund etc the ball moved through their zones a couple of times but it's like they lightly start jogging towards their man once their man has the ball and at that point its too late, the ball has already moved on. Bruno tbf was at least trying but it didn't look anyone else on the team was trying throughout the entire sequence.

What is too late? You only press when there is a pressing trigger, pressing does not equate to madly running around closing down players in an uncoordinated manner.
You also have to balance that with the fact Brighton are trying to draw United into pressing and losing defensive structure. Fans are moaning about the pressing mainly because they do not actually understand the pressing structure of the team.

The poor defending and lack of tracking runners which led to the goal had nothing to do with lack of pressing.
 
He is coaching players that fit the club's philosophy, though. Read the post above from the Brighton fan and you can see that they already have replacements for nearly everyone that they lose, which means they signed those players based on their attributes and how they fit the club, not under pressure in a 'replacing a sale' situation.

This is the polar opposite of how Utd works. We almost exclusively sign players based on the whims of the current manager, usually having to settle for a second or third choice, off the back of an injury or a player leaving/falling out with the manager.
It’s worth adding that when De Zerbi first joined us he bought with him a recruitment specialist called Salvatore Monaco.

6 months later Monaco was released from the club as De Zerbi accepted that we didn’t need him as our recruitment and scouting set up made him surpass to requirements.

As others have said here much of it comes from Tony Bloom’s company, Starlizard and they won’t sell their data to any other clubs.

Couple of quotes from Barber our CEO that sum it up quite nicely.

Salvatore's role was always one that was going to be different in our club versus the clubs that he's been at before. In the end we agreed, and Roberto made the final decision, that Salvatore would leave.


We’ve got a different process to a lot of clubs. What we don't do in the way that other clubs do is charge around the world, constantly watching matches looking at players, which is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

What we try and do is focus on the areas for improvement, focus on the players that we feel can fill that gap and then send our eyes, our scouts to look specifically at those players.
We don't tend to do what some scouts do around the world, which is constantly circle the world looking.
I think that was more Salvatore's sort of previous style of operating.

De Zerbi said this about how he’d learnt a lot from Brighton about recruitment.

In the transfer market, we work the same way. In style of play we are very, very different.

Data are totally different. I'm getting used to working with algorithms in another way in the transfer market, and I'm getting used to appreciating this way.

I didn't know it before. I spent a lot of time studying new players on video but now I understand there is another way to find players.

At Sassuolo and Shakhtar it was totally different.

I had one of my team who gave me a player's name and I studied the players, but without numbers, without data, only on video.
 
Brighton are not the skinflint underdogs some would have them portrayed to be.

They spent close to £100m this window, yes that's offset by selling players, but they still regularly spend a hefty amount.

They have outspent Crystal Palace for example for a number of seasons, yet Palace have found themselves comfortable in the league and had a few good cup runs, yet no one really notes that.
 
Brighton are not the skinflint underdogs some would have them portrayed to be.

They spent close to £100m this window, yes that's offset by selling players, but they still regularly spend a hefty amount.

They have outspent Crystal Palace for example for a number of seasons, yet Palace have found themselves comfortable in the league and had a few good cup runs, yet no one really notes that.
That’s because, as any Brighton fan can tell you, Palace are cnuts and generally sh1t!
 
Brighton are not the skinflint underdogs some would have them portrayed to be.

They spent close to £100m this window, yes that's offset by selling players, but they still regularly spend a hefty amount.

They have outspent Crystal Palace for example for a number of seasons, yet Palace have found themselves comfortable in the league and had a few good cup runs, yet no one really notes that.

They played us off the park at the weekend with a starting 11 that cost them 16m.
 
Brighton are not the skinflint underdogs some would have them portrayed to be.

They spent close to £100m this window, yes that's offset by selling players, but they still regularly spend a hefty amount.

They have outspent Crystal Palace for example for a number of seasons, yet Palace have found themselves comfortable in the league and had a few good cup runs, yet no one really notes that.

Their starting 11 against us cost them 16.2M quid.
 
What is too late? You only press when there is a pressing trigger, pressing does not equate to madly running around closing down players in an uncoordinated manner.
You also have to balance that with the fact Brighton are trying to draw United into pressing and losing defensive structure. Fans are moaning about the pressing mainly because they do not actually understand the pressing structure of the team.

The poor defending and lack of tracking runners which led to the goal had nothing to do with lack of pressing.

No-one is saying the bolded.

Where was the pressing triggers in that clip then? I'm not trying to labour the point, because the overall point was just that it was awful defending with halfhearted effort, but you've fixated on the pressing point, so let's discuss it.
 
Brighton are not the skinflint underdogs some would have them portrayed to be.

They spent close to £100m this window, yes that's offset by selling players, but they still regularly spend a hefty amount.

They have outspent Crystal Palace for example for a number of seasons, yet Palace have found themselves comfortable in the league and had a few good cup runs, yet no one really notes that.

Yeah but Brighton are set up to spend because they have a system that allows them to create huge sellable assets.

So yes, they spend, but they recoup unlike any other side in the league. The same cannot be said for Palace who aside from the daft AWB 50m deal, have had barely any assets that they're willing to sell and then reinvest because they have nowhere near the efficiency and excellence of the Brighton setup.
 
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Yeah but Brighton are set up to spend because they have a system that allows them to create huge sellable assets.

So yes, they spend, but they recoup unlike any other side in the league. The same cannot be said for Palace who aside from the daft AWB 50m deal, have had barely any sellable assets.

Zaha, Eze, Olishe, Anderson, Guehi, Mitchell

They don't sell, does not mean they don't have sellable assets.
 
Zaha, Eze, Olishe, Anderson, Guehi, Mitchell

They don't sell, does not mean they don't have sellable assets.

Yes I meant to add that onto the post because it was the same with Zaha, they just let his contract run down.
 
No-one is saying the bolded.

Where was the pressing triggers in that clip then? I'm not trying to labour the point, because the overall point was just that it was awful defending with halfhearted effort, but you've fixated on the pressing point, so let's discuss it.

I'm wondering why you mentioned players like Rashford, Bruno and Hojlund jogging, when their defensive duties there were 1 of pressing or cutting passing lanes. That is why I mentioned pressing.
Brighton having a period of possession isn't an issue, we were set up in a defensive structure which forced them back to recycle the play multiple times. When the ball is switched to the right, McTominay goes to engage Mitoma which is fine as McTominay is the wide midfielder in the diamond.

In the middle of the pitch when that happens Eriksen and I'm not sure who else, possibly Casemiro who should be tracking Gross does not, he is in the middle of the pitch doing nothing, and Gross is free to just waltz into the box unchallenged, that is where the goal comes from.

Our setup is supposed to cope with periods of opposition having possession by having a solid defensive structure, and especially against a team like Brighton not to over commit and break the defensive structure (which is what Brighton try to get teams to do)

Every goal we conceded yesterday was mainly due to runners not being tracked.

Our press against Brighton was mainly initiated when they attempted to play the ball through the middle or if the full back took a heavy touch when he got the outball from the GK.
 
I'm wondering why you mentioned players like Rashford, Bruno and Hojlund jogging, when their defensive duties there were 1 of pressing or cutting passing lanes. That is why I mentioned pressing.
Brighton having a period of possession isn't an issue, we were set up in a defensive structure which forced them back to recycle the play multiple times. When the ball is switched to the right, McTominay goes to engage Mitoma which is fine as McTominay is the wide midfielder in the diamond.

In the middle of the pitch when that happens Eriksen and I'm not sure who else, possibly Casemiro who should be tracking Gross does not, he is in the middle of the pitch doing nothing, and Gross is free to just waltz into the box unchallenged, that is where the goal comes from.

Our setup is supposed to cope with periods of opposition having possession by having a solid defensive structure, and especially against a team like Brighton not to over commit and break the defensive structure (which is what Brighton try to get teams to do)

Every goal we conceded yesterday was mainly due to runners not being tracked.

Our press against Brighton was mainly initiated when they attempted to play the ball through the middle or if the full back took a heavy touch when he got the outball from the GK.
Good post, but I also think that the defending was far too static. It's fine letting them pass around at the back, but how it can happen that runners aren't tracked and that there is no pressure on the players ready to send the runners towards the goal, that is just what I can't understand and what I think noone else who is noticing a lack of pressing can't.

Being in a shape worked, but it just looks like the players did not really know when or want to switch to applying pressure instead of passively defending.
 
There's no excuse for not beating Brighton at home. Absolutely none. Good as they are, they went out on Saturday with a number of players who would -not-make it into our side. They were missing some key players too so it's not like the injuries we have are relevant. It's a combination of absolutely zero confidence, selfishness (desperation?) on the part of our players and a total inability to play as a team.

As much as I want to give credit to de Zerbi, can't help feeling like it's a bit like Wolves/Leicester's situations the past few years - they are super high on confidence, zero fear, no egos, and don't face anywhere near the same pressures you do at a club like Manchester United. Dunk, Lamptey, Mitoma, Welbeck etc have been passed over by plenty of other teams. I love Lamptey, I rate Dunk etc but at our club they'd fail like all the rest, Dunk would be a new Maguire for us and another dump for the frustrations of a fan base watching their club slipping into an abyss.

And would de Zerbi change OUR fortunes? Not a chance in hell. I expect after the season properly gets underway for them to fall off as the toll of Thursday-Sundays starts coming into play. But the way they're playing right now they could beat anyone.
 
That's one way to look at it, but I can't help but see a lot of half hearted pressing and tackling from most of those Utd players. Then there's the way Groß is just allowed to ghost in, no one tracking his run. Awful stuff.
Waltz in. Ghost in implies some degree of stealth and there was nothing stealthy about that, he was very much there for everyone to see.
 
Good post, but I also think that the defending was far too static. It's fine letting them pass around at the back, but how it can happen that runners aren't tracked and that there is no pressure on the players ready to send the runners towards the goal, that is just what I can't understand and what I think noone else who is noticing a lack of pressing can't.

Being in a shape worked, but it just looks like the players did not really know when or want to switch to applying pressure instead of passively defending.

I don;'t think its an issue them having the ball and passing it around the back, just like it was not an issue for Arsenal to allow us to do that last week.
Both Brighton and United in both cases are trying to draw the opposition into pressing, we were disciplined in that sense.

Where we needed to be more aggressive is when the ball came into midfield or down the flank. Generally, this was poor play by our midfield, particularly the 2 wide midfield players in the diamond, Eriksen and McTominay (whose job was to engage the fullbacks) and also Casemiro in the middle but to a lesser extent.
I thought the fullbacks did a good job, but the midfield was not coping well. Our box defending also was not the best.

When you consider this was the first time we played with a diamond and more than likely McTominay and Eriksen would likely be replaced with Mount and Amrabat if everyone was fully fit then it gives a bit of hope that the structure can work with the right personnel and a bit of refinement/learning the system
 
I don;'t think its an issue them having the ball and passing it around the back, just like it was not an issue for Arsenal to allow us to do that last week.
Both Brighton and United in both cases are trying to draw the opposition into pressing, we were disciplined in that sense.

Where we needed to be more aggressive is when the ball came into midfield or down the flank. Generally, this was poor play by our midfield, particularly the 2 wide midfield players in the diamond, Eriksen and McTominay (whose job was to engage the fullbacks) and also Casemiro in the middle but to a lesser extent.
I thought the fullbacks did a good job, but the midfield was not coping well. Our box defending also was not the best.

When you consider this was the first time we played with a diamond and more than likely McTominay and Eriksen would likely be replaced with Mount and Amrabat if everyone was fully fit then it gives a bit of hope that the structure can work with the right personnel.
I don't disagree on this take, but I wonder, if this structure apparently can't work with the players selected, why bother to try it?
 
I don't disagree on this take, but I wonder, if this structure apparently can't work with the players selected, why bother to try it?

I didn't say it can't work. It could have but I do sympathise since its the first time we played it.

Also, there is no real excuse for McTominay and Eriksen not being aggressive when tackling/closing fullbacks, I am just saying that other players will be better at it.
There is also no excuse for Casemiro not tracking runners into midfield.

All in all though I expect we will get better if we stick to this, not sure if we will.
 
They played us off the park at the weekend with a starting 11 that cost them 16m.
That's shocking. Haven't lost a beat selling £200m worth of players in the last few seasons either.
 
De Zerbi:

Data are totally different. I'm getting used to working with algorithms in another way in the transfer market, and I'm getting used to appreciating this way.

I didn't know it before. I spent a lot of time studying new players on video but now I understand there is another way to find players.
A football manager talking about algos :cool:

I met Uruguay's U20 World Cup winning coach last week. The guy has been in management since 2020 and already has an U20 continental club trophy and an international trophy under his belt.

It struck me how different the talking points were to what I'm used to:
  • Greatest concern when joining the NT setup was having no GPS data (changed that)
  • Main focus with player management was accepting they will change and helping them grow their way rather than following some sort of blueprint
  • Hates SM as much as I do. He started playing with landlines, at his peak mobiles would get turned off before the game and back on long after, by the time he retired some had an issue with smartphones... Now the first thing all his players do is pick it up, check what people say about their performance, persistently call the photographers tasked by their agents with getting good pics for their Insta posts (it had never registered with me that would be a thing for Uruguayan league teenagers). All this must get settled before you can even hope to have their ears for a teamtalk.
It's crazy, that's not how its supposed to be... but it is what it is. Brave (shit) new world and all that and throughout the chat time and again I noticed this was no tactical and coaching mastermind but simply someone well aware of what he had to work with, adapting and expertly dealing with it to achieve results.

Fergie would struggle. There, I said it :o
 
Hi Brighton fan here. Thought I’d chip in with a little background.
It’s all about Tony Bloom (Owner) and Paul Barber (CEO). These 2 are the secret. The rest is all about the system they have put in place.
Tony Bloom hired Dan Ashworth who came in from England where he had developed the FA England squad DNA etc about 7 years ago. Quite a coup for us at the time but Tony Bloom saw him as someone who could build a structure. Every transfer window since has seen signings that were for “the U16’s / U17’s / U18’s etc and loans out to lower EFL teams and unheard of teams in Europe.

Then Newcastle offered DA the petrodollar, and TB put him on garden leave for 6 months whilst replaced with Paul Winstanley (his deputy)

We sold Ben White to Arsenal for £50m. He cost nothing, but we loaned out to Newport, Peterborough, and then Leeds, before playing for us in the Prem for one season. Webster/Burn stepped into the hole left.

Then we sold Bissouma to Tottenham £35m. Stand out player for us. Upgraded him for Caicedo who had been with us for 12months out on loan. A player who had been courted by you guys, but you decided the transfer arrangements from South America were too complex. Something we had learned through experience with a player called Billy Arce, so felt confident when dealing with Moises.

Then Chelsea took Paul Winstanley. Upgraded him with David Wier (made deputy when Ashworth left)

Then sold our POS Cucerella to Chelsea for £60m (who they then went and broke). Upgraded him to Estupinian.

Then sold Potter and all our backroom staff to Chelsea for £20m. Next off the rank was De Zerbi (thank you Chelsea).

Then lost Trossard to Arsenal for £30m after a De Zerbi refused to play him after a training ground bust up.

Upgraded him for Mittoma who we bought from Kawasaki in the J1 league a year earlier for £2.5m and had loaned out to Belgium side USG.

Lost Sanchez (who was developed on loan through Forest Green Rovers and Rochdale before he replaced Marty Ryan) to Chelsea after a hissy fit at being dropped by De Zerbie for Jason Steele. Feels like an upgrade. Got £20m from Chelsea for him. Jason was £1m. His replacement is Vertbruggen with Carl Rushford waiting in the wings.

Then we have recently lost Caicdo and McAllister (A player we signed and then loaned back to Argentinos and then Bocca for development, before bringing back to Brighton where he went on to win the World Cup and finish 6th in the PL). Ensisco (winner of goal of the season) is coming on fine.

Other Replacements are Dahood, Gilmour, and Balbea.

And then we have Evan Ferguson from Bohemians signed into the Academy at age 16 3 years ago who seems to being touted now for £120m at the momen.

All this is being knitted together by a certain Roberto De Zerbie, but Tony Bloom and Paul Barber control the levers.

Tony Bloom has all staff (including cleaners, stewards etc) at the club on a bonus scheme, the higher we finish the higher the bonus. All staff share in the success of the club. The irony is that he insures against this potential success. The higher we finish, the higher the bonus payout, and the more money he makes from the insurance payout!!

Playing in Europe on Thursday. Will be pinching myself as I take my seat on Thursday. Mad times as an Albion fan.

Somewhat bitter Palace fan here...let's call it right, probably the most decisive factor of all in your rise from the lower reaches of League One is having an owner willing to put ~£500m of his own money in to the football club with no real repayment terms other than 'you can pay me back at some point'... I can't think of too many (if any) examples where that's happened at a football club. There were a few years where your recruitment was more miss than hit...comparatively big money was spent on the likes of Jakahnbash, Izquierdo and Locadia who did nothing and no big fees were really coming in at that point; Bloom ultimately funded you through that period at a big loss. There's no doubt you've perfected it over the last couple of seasons and I don't begrudge Bloom the success because he put his money where his mouth is but it's not the fairytale that some would have you believe. Brighton are still up there with the most indebted football clubs in the world despite all the money they're bringing in and this shoe-string starting line-up I keep hearing about.

As for De Zerbi, brilliant manager and can't wait for him to leave :)
 
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This was a great goal, gorgeous football. They’re so calm and patient on the ball. If you follow Bruno around in that whole sequence you can tell he was utterly demoralised chasing shadows like that.




Our players couldn't be f*cked. I mean, look at Rashford and Bruno at the 30 sec. mark - they couldn't jog slower if they tried, they'd have moved quicker walking. That clip is what's wrong with this team, not the formations or tactics, it's the players. It has been the same for years.
 
Yeah but Brighton are set up to spend because they have a system that allows them to create huge sellable assets.

So yes, they spend, but they recoup unlike any other side in the league. The same cannot be said for Palace who aside from the daft AWB 50m deal, have had barely any assets that they're willing to sell and then reinvest because they have nowhere near the efficiency and excellence of the Brighton setup.
I may be wrong in this, but Brighton have only finished ahead of Palace the past two seasons only.
That's despite outspending Palace by a very healthy amount for a long time.

Palace don't get the plaudits that Brighton do but really should.
But as mentioned in this thread already, Palace are cnuts and no one really likes them! :lol:
 
They played us off the park at the weekend with a starting 11 that cost them 16m.
They spent close to £100m this window.
Hardly small change.

Palace haven't spent that much in the last FOUR transfer windows.
 
I may be wrong in this, but Brighton have only finished ahead of Palace the past two seasons only.
That's despite outspending Palace by a very healthy amount for a long time.

Palace don't get the plaudits that Brighton do but really should.
But as mentioned in this thread already, Palace are cnuts and no one really likes them! :lol:
Ultimately it doesn't matter. Brighton are currently used to whip United around because of their better structure. It doesn't improve anything if people here discover that there might be another club who does it even better.:lol::nervous:
 
I may be wrong in this, but Brighton have only finished ahead of Palace the past two seasons only.
That's despite outspending Palace by a very healthy amount for a long time.

Palace don't get the plaudits that Brighton do but really should.
But as mentioned in this thread already, Palace are cnuts and no one really likes them! :lol:

Here's my hot take as well...our recruitment's as good as Brighton's whenever our tight feck American owners release any cash.

Guehi - paid £18m, worth ~£60m+
Andersen - paid £14m, worth ~£40-50m
Doucoure - paid £18.7m, worth ~£60m+
Eze - paid £16m, worth ~ £60m+
Olise - paid £8m, worth £60-70m+

Where we differ is that Bloom invests in replacements, Cucurella to Estupinan is a case in point. We stuck Joel Ward back in the side after selling AWB for £50m where he still remains today, backed up by Nathaniel Clyne who we signed on a free transfer.

Bloom is the difference between the two clubs, 100%. We also have a chairman who supports the football club which is great, but unfortunately our one doesn't have a pot to piss in (comparatively!) and has to rely on American venture capitalists for money.
 
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I may be wrong in this, but Brighton have only finished ahead of Palace the past two seasons only.
That's despite outspending Palace by a very healthy amount for a long time.

Palace don't get the plaudits that Brighton do but really should.
But as mentioned in this thread already, Palace are cnuts and no one really likes them! :lol:

Indeed but Palace have been in the Prem for 4 seasons more than Brighton and have never finished higher than 10th during that 11 year tenure.

Brighton finished 9th under Potter and then 6th last season and look on track to finishing top 8 again.

I think Palace get plaudits for being a solid mid table side which they are. Brighton though look like they actually have ambition and the talent to be more than that which they are and have showcased within the past three seasons.

Here's my hot take as well...our recruitment's as good as Brighton's whenever our tight feck American owners release any cash.

Guehi - paid £18m, worth ~£60m+
Andersen - paid £14m, worth ~£40-50m
Doucoure - paid £18.7m, worth ~£60m+
Eze - paid £16m, worth ~ £60m+
Olise - paid £8m, worth £60-70m+

Where we differ is that Bloom invests in replacements, Cucurella to Estupinan is a case in point. We stuck Joel Ward back in the side after selling AWB for £50m where he still remains today, backed up by Nathaniel Clyne who we signed on a free transfer.

Bloom is the difference between the two clubs, 100%.

That's my point really though mate. Brighton are given plaudits because their system is the best in the league outside of City. They're set up to sell, reinvest and go again because they know it will work. Palace don't and as such either hold onto players too long like Zaha or do what you did with AWB and not reinvest it.

Brighton ultimately don't care who they lose because they know they'll replace them, they just want to get a fair fee for the talent when they do.

Palace seem to be a mix of both stingy and a bit scared of losing talent which is probably linked.

There is also the case that you replaced Hodgson with Vieria only to be replaced with...Hodgson. Brighton didn't want to lose Potter but got the fee they wanted and had identified De Zerbi already as the man for the job before he had even left. You just don't have the successive planning that Brighton do, but then again barely anyone in the league does.
 
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We would turn him to shit. This club poisons everything it touches.
 
His stats are impressive but also credit to Brighton as well. It is a really well run club.
 
That's my point really though mate. Brighton are given plaudits because their system is the best in the league outside of City. They're set up to sell, reinvest and go again because they know it will work. Palace don't and as such either hold onto players too long like Zaha or do what you did with AWB and not reinvest it.

Brighton ultimately don't care who they lose because they know they'll replace them, they just want to get a fair fee for the talent when they do.

Palace seem to be a mix of both stingy and a bit scared of losing talent which is probably linked.

City and Brighton are two clubs whose success is built on an undeniable leg-up from their ownership, nothing sustainable created their outcomes even though they're now cited as 'well run' based on the platform their investment gave them in the first place. I'm not saying that's the only factor - Moshiri has put a similar amount of money in at Everton and squandered the lot so it's easy to get wrong - but why is 'ambition' in football always linked to how much debt your owners are willing to underwrite? Do you think Luton are ambitious?
 
I'm wondering why you mentioned players like Rashford, Bruno and Hojlund jogging, when their defensive duties there were 1 of pressing or cutting passing lanes. That is why I mentioned pressing.
Brighton having a period of possession isn't an issue, we were set up in a defensive structure which forced them back to recycle the play multiple times. When the ball is switched to the right, McTominay goes to engage Mitoma which is fine as McTominay is the wide midfielder in the diamond.

In the middle of the pitch when that happens Eriksen and I'm not sure who else, possibly Casemiro who should be tracking Gross does not, he is in the middle of the pitch doing nothing, and Gross is free to just waltz into the box unchallenged, that is where the goal comes from.

Our setup is supposed to cope with periods of opposition having possession by having a solid defensive structure, and especially against a team like Brighton not to over commit and break the defensive structure (which is what Brighton try to get teams to do)

Every goal we conceded yesterday was mainly due to runners not being tracked.

Our press against Brighton was mainly initiated when they attempted to play the ball through the middle or if the full back took a heavy touch when he got the outball from the GK.

I mentioned them because they were doing none of the things you mentioned or the things I mentioned while Brighton passed their way through the length of the pitch. Not a single player pressing, tracking a runner, blocking a passing lane etc.

I hear what you're saying and you know your team better than me.

If the team is set up to sit back and allow possession then a staple of that kinda set up is cutting passing lanes and tracking runners. You can't park the bus essentially but still be extremely easy to pass around and through for simple goals. Defeats the entire purpose of setting up in that way.