Brighton post match whatevers

[Guy]

Had the long trek to this south coast game from the south west coast, couldn't make it there last season to the 90th minute 1-0 defeat. It was my first away game since December 2010 at Watford! I was reasonably impressed with our quick, slick passing game today, it was more like how we were playing during our purple patches of this season (well - January!). Matty James tucked his goal away nicely and the build up to our attacks was very promising and nice to watch. Marshall and Kingy did well in midfield in the absence of Knockaert. We were really playing Brighton at their own game -and on their turf.

Although I think we edged the game and gifted them the equaliser a bit through not closing down Lua Lua in time, all the same the outcome encapsulated the last two months in many regards, with the manner in which we raised our game to better opponents than we've faced in the last three-four games, yet held the slender advantage - only to nearly toss it away altogether! It was indeed identical to what happened at Cardiff last month really, as other posters have already remarked. If we're to be seriou contenders for the play offs then we've got to capitalise on our advantage, not get sloppy towards the climax of these games and continually keep dropping two points. It's the old syndrome of "happy to take a point before kick off but gutted we did after the finish" - again, to carbon copy the game at Cardiff!

I still think we could possibly sneak 6th place but it's a very long shot now and our tendency to not be able to hang on to these leads in games against the top sides will probably end up costing us a play off place by a point or two I reckon.....not to mention losing to mediocre teams like Millwall, Charlton and Barnsley since the Cardiff debacle! Really the only blessing is that all the sides within reach of us now are not pulling up trees either, with only Hull winning today in the top seven. In a way that makes our inablility to capitalise on that even more frustrating though! We have realistically got to get maximum points against Birmingham and Bolton, especially so Bolton to eliminate them from the equation a little.....while the other three ties remain against Palace, Watford and Florist no less whereby you wouldn't like to call any of those! Anyway, whoever goes up is going to be toast I reckon next season!

[BoneDog]

Loved James' celebration on the highlights. He flippin loved it!

[Stand UP...]

Well, well, well……..

We actually played some football for the first time in ages and managed to play fairly well in a formation other than 4-4-2.

OK, they were times when players seemed less than sure of what they were supposed to be doing but in general it went well in what was more or less a 4-2-3-1. Andy King played a pivotal role, played in front of Drinkwater and James he did very well defensively, closing down Bridcutt and denying Brighton control of midfield for much of the game. The downside remains the fact that King has no real creative skills, so we lacked sharpness around the box, Marshall came inside a fair amount to try and provide that edge and I thought did alright. We created some pretty decent chances but Schlupp and King managed to fluff the two best.

Our passing game was much more in evidence than of late, still too much hoof, particularly from Schmiechel, when we kept the ball on the floor we looked very decent, the formation working nicely. Downside was that the long ball out to either Nugent or Schlupp was largely a waste and giving the ball away to a good side like Brighton was always going to cause problems.

Although not really dominant, City were clearly the better side and for more than hour we were very comfortable, the introduction of Vicente seemed to re-energise Brighton and to combat him and Lua Lua down our right, NFP brought on De Laet for Marshall. In my view it did not really work, Lua Lua was still giving Moore a very hard time and the 'double fullback' setup did not do enough going forward and I thought we actually missed Marshall.

James's goal was pretty scrappy but his finish, from 7-8 yards was quite precise, excellent, but this goal was not the pivotal moment, the substitutions that followed a few seconds late were. Replacing Schlupp and Nugent, whatever the logic, ruined our shape up front, Kane looked lost on the left wing our threat on that side simply evaporating. It was much the same story down down the middle, without the threat of any pace, Brighton went tight on Wood and our attacking threat was gone.

Enjoying more and more possesion, Brighton came at us, paricularly down our right where Moore was being terrorised by Lua Lua. At this point we would have done better to send Moore to play upfront and let De Laet take on Lua Lua. De laet really needed to take charge of Lua Lua bu that never happened and the shear predictability of the equaliser was very dissapointing, we really could have done something about it but NFP tied to be clever and it cost.

Playing 4-2-3-1 looked pretty good for awhile, there were still issues but for a team that normally only plays well in 4-4-2, it wasn't too bad, for an hour or so anyway.

From our hotel room. Mrs M is in the bathroom getting ready to go out, so a match report of sorts......

Off for a couple of beers and, hopefully, a nice meal....

King was our best player and the only one i thought would get us that goal, you say he wasnt creative but he was hear there and every fking where. He plays deep from midfeild to high upfront, he was trying to be the best of both worlds and still shone through, hit the bar and had many other opportunities at the same time cleaning up drinkwaters sloppy play.

[Cafox1970]

It was a good result at a difficult ground, we played well enough to win and controlled most of the game. It was an improvement on recent form and if we kept ourselves in the playoff picture.

We still have our destiny in our own hands, win every game and we are in

[SmithyFox12]

Fair play to quite a few of the Brighton fans for the standing applause directed in our direction when the announcer read out how many fans we took yesterday.

[Ricey]

Some random thoughts from yesterday:

- De Laet should have replaced Moore, doubling up didn't work.

- King and James were excellent. Drinkwater slow and sloppy again.

- Marshall was ineffective, mainly due to his tendency to move inside rather than give an option out wide.

- Brighton were poor, there for the taking.

- Schlupp offered more than Wood has last few games.

- Nugent looked tired and disinterested.

- Kane was atrocious, regardless of being out of position it was basic stuff he was screwing up with.

- We dominated the game at times, just a shame we didn't take our chances.

- Amex is a great stadium that does that the match day experience properly. Take note Leicester.

[wattolcfc]

Some random thoughts from yesterday:

- De Laet should have replaced Moore, doubling up didn't work.

- King and James were excellent. Drinkwater slow and sloppy again.

- Marshall was ineffective, mainly due to his tendency to move inside rather than give an option out wide.

- Brighton were poor, there for the taking.

- Schlupp offered more than Wood has last few games.

- Nugent looked tired and disinterested.

- Kane was atrocious, regardless of being out of position it was basic stuff he was screwing up with.

- We dominated the game at times, just a shame we didn't take our chances.

- Amex is a great stadium that does that the match day experience properly. Take note Leicester.

Sums it up perfectly. Although if you are referring to Brighton being loud on TV/Stream, that may have been because the microphones were positioned further from the away fans.

[KFS]

Some random thoughts from yesterday:

- De Laet should have replaced Moore, doubling up didn't work.

- King and James were excellent. Drinkwater slow and sloppy again.

- Marshall was ineffective, mainly due to his tendency to move inside rather than give an option out wide.

- Brighton were poor, there for the taking.

- Schlupp offered more than Wood has last few games.

- Nugent looked tired and disinterested.

- Kane was atrocious, regardless of being out of position it was basic stuff he was screwing up with.

- We dominated the game at times, just a shame we didn't take our chances.

- Amex is a great stadium that does that the match day experience properly. Take note Leicester.

Albeit they handled the buses very well, I still got back to my car an hour and a half after kickoff. That's what you get when you dump a ground in a massive crater.

Also, what the FVCK is fanzone or whatever they called it? "Put your hands up for Brighton"?

Credit to the designer though, the acoustics work well when they all get involved. The builders forgot their spirit level for part of the stadium it seems.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Got to about page 8 of the thread then gave up. Criticism should be given when warranted and praise when warranted. Yesterday we played well and were unlucky. They deserve credit for the way they played. Liam Moore however proved once again he is not yet up to the task against the better players in the division. Got skinned time and time again. Good performance and hopeful of a strong finish to boost us into the play offs. Still hoping.

[theessexfox]

Anyone mentioned Drinkwater's clearance off the line?

[Ricey]

Sums it up perfectly. Although if you are referring to Brighton being loud on TV/Stream, that may have been because the microphones were positioned further from the away fans.

I was at the match and it wasn't the atmosphere I was referring to but the Leicester themed concourses, padded seats, friendly stewards, showing U21 highlights and such before the game rather than just blaring out awful music like we do and actually using the video screens properly during the match rather than just for adverts.

[Munshi]

Didnt think nugent was that bad.

[LCFC FOX]

Everyone hating Drinkwater again I see, just saying having him back we didn't play like we did at Barnsley... For me Drinkeater is actually a key player after Wes and Kasper

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I am bitterly disappointed. Thought we would win this match I should have known better.

[Guy]

Fair play to quite a few of the Brighton fans for the standing applause directed in our direction when the announcer read out how many fans we took yesterday.

They've probably some of the friendliest fans I've ever met in the country, although don't tell Palace fans that!

[BoneDog]

Have Brighton been getting that size crowds all season? I've noticed a couple of 28,000's there lately.

Didn't the Withdean only hold 10,000?

[LJS]

They average just under 26,000. Highest in the league.

[marbelladave]

King was our best player and the only one i thought would get us that goal, you say he wasnt creative but he was hear there and every fking where. He plays deep from midfeild to high upfront, he was trying to be the best of both worlds and still shone through, hit the bar and had many other opportunities at the same time cleaning up drinkwaters sloppy play.

He is a smashing player in many respects but no not really creative. He doesn't get wide and get in crosses, or drive forward with the ball at his feet or play people in with neat passes, none of those things.

Going forward he his a continuity type of player, moves the ball on and gets forward with real menace, though his finishing has completely deserted him this season. Yesterday he was detailed to look after Bridcutt, Brightons 'point' man, that helped us keep control of midfield for much of the game but seemed too simple a job for such an accomplished player.......

[Bettsj2]

They average just under 26,000. Highest in the league.

Gays have loads of expendable income.

[Dan]

Pearsons tactical inability really showed. If we had Poyet and they had Pearson we would be walking home with the 3 points.

That must be why Poyet took a grand one point, when they were at home.

Posts like this annoy me. I'll get called a Pearson arselicker but posts like this just show an agenda and nothing more. Stupidity beyond belief.

[MPH]

I don't think Brighton are a poor team... I just think we played well and stopped them from playing.

It did puzzle me however that a decent RB with pace wasn't brought on to combat lua lua. (RDL).

and like others ... confused about the subs near the end.. but just a quick q for any refs.. I noticed they were both up there waiting to come on before our goal... once the info of who is coming on is passed to the fourth official, can we change our minds? Just trying to find a reason other than craziness as to why two attackers came on....

[ozleicester]

LUA LUA took us apart and a change shouldve been made, probably at half time, nothing against the lad, but LL had his measure and was a danger to us.

I like RDL as a right back and think he couldve quieted him down.

Also, late in the 2nd half Vicente was everywhere and dominating the middle, if we had a strong midfielder who couldve sat on him... well, as i said at the end, We played well and a draw wasnt a bad result.

[Dan]

Albeit they handled the buses very well, I still got back to my car an hour and a half after kickoff. That's what you get when you dump a ground in a massive crater.

Also, what the FVCK is fanzone or whatever they called it? "Put your hands up for Brighton"?

Credit to the designer though, the acoustics work well when they all get involved. The builders forgot their spirit level for part of the stadium it seems.

Their acoustics are good but to be honest they just don't seem to be a very vocal bunch of fans. Very good when they do get going but it was incredibly quiet for long spells for nearly 30,000, even we'd have been a lot louder.

Thought our end was.... meh. Same as most this year, strong numbers but very lacking in noise.

[Dan]

He is a smashing player in many respects but no not really creative. He doesn't get wide and get in crosses, or drive forward with the ball at his feet or play people in with neat passes, none of those things.

Going forward he his a continuity type of player, moves the ball on and gets forward with real menace, though his finishing has completely deserted him this season. Yesterday he was detailed to look after Bridcutt, Brightons 'point' man, that helped us keep control of midfield for much of the game but seemed too simple a job for such an accomplished player.......

He's an off-ball player. On it he rarely gives it away and can finish, but the good side of King is off the ball, hence why he's called invisible etc...

[RowZ]

How?

Again somebody putting the blame on the manager when he should be blaming the players for failing to come up with the goods and/or failing to hold on to a lead professionally.

Arrr, bless...

So he buys 'em, trains 'em, motivates 'em, chooses his best 11 and gets paid a million quid and it's not his fault FFS?!

First rule of management is to accept that everything's your fault. Don't matter if you're selling pork pies or season tickets, as a manager, you ACCEPT the responsibility for your actions and those of your staff. If you're lucky enough to keep your job when you're SH*TE, the board are letting their customers down by keeping you on...