Brighton & Hove Albion (A) | Post Match Thread

[thebiglug]

Endless cash. You are a rag or a dipper. They say that about him being a cheque book manager.

Well, he has only managed clubs with good backing but that's because clubs want the best available.

In my opinion, there's no such thing as a cheque book manager. If all you have to do is throw money at it, then you would just get a manager on the cheap and give them money.

But Pep now is in a position he's not really been in. I think we can all agree we are not in the top two teams in the country anymore and have a team that looks like they're quite far away from competing for the title. Of course people can point to the odd season he has had in his career, like his first here, where we weren't winning a title but this is different.

This is the first time he's ever had his own established team that's declined so much. He's got to prove something he's never had to before, which is re-establish a team that's clearly declined from where be built them up to be.

Make no mistake, this is new territory for Pep in a 17 year managerial career.




Sent from my Asus iPad.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

After a long coach journey home and a decent night's sleep it doesn't get any better.

That was the most worrying lifeless performance in the Pep era and my biggest fear is that the type of players we so desperately need for his style of play just don't exist anymore

Football has moved on and we're drifting in limbo.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

I’ve coached at many levels & when I watch Nunes, it’s like he’s turned up to training at an under 14’s team & he looks like he will be a fantastic athlete & so quick - then you quickly realise he’s never player football before, as he has no concept of the game in terms of space, passing, heading the ball & the rules of the game. He was like an 8 year old defending trying to save his face when giving the penalty away! Prior to that he needed to just let Trafford pick the ball up but be proceeded to trap the ball, which meant Trafford couldn’t pick it it up - he’s like a brain dead 8 year old who doesn’t know the rules! Astonishing we haven’t gone out to get a right back!

Thought Rodri bossed the game until their subs came on & he ran out of steam, surely Pep should have added Nico to help him - which was the same as last year!

I don’t understand how we end up with some much space between our defenders - pick 4 defenders that can defend - Pep reverted to that in our treble year & needed now!

It's funny you say that because that's exactly what Nunes is. He didn't really start football seriously till he moved to Portugal in his teens.

He's good offensively and with his pace as that's natural to him but the defensive side and positioning doesn't come naturally to him.

With no one getting Haaland through balls.. it basically forces Pep to play him and the least risky position is somehow right back in Pep's judgment but Pep clearly doesn't trust him in the middle. He will take a chance on him at Left Back, Right back and the wings.. sometimes inverting as a right back in the middle.

Even Rodri agrees with your assessment:

 

[TShed]

It's funny you say that because that's exactly what Nunes is. He didn't really start football seriously till he moved to Portugal in his teens.

He's good offensively and with his pace as that's natural to him but the defensive side and positioning doesn't come naturally to him.

With no one getting Haaland through balls.. it basically forces Pep to play him and the least risky position is somehow right back in Pep's judgment but Pep clearly doesn't trust him in the middle. He will take a chance on him at Left Back, Right back and the wings.. sometimes inverting as a right back in the middle.

Even Rodri agrees with your assessment:

At least we didn’t do the elementary mistake of letting the ball bounce yesterday so that’s one soccer school lesson on boarded in a week
Let’s move on this week to passing and trapping a ball ffs

 

[melrose40yarder]

What’s that mean?

So, I interpret your this has sack Pep?

No credit for the achievement of last season with unprecedented injuries but still finished third 3 points behind a team that had a good season, got to a FAC Final?
You might have missed it but he is building a new team / squad it takes time for players to adapt to a new league and club
He’s also doing it without a pre season due to the CWC City and Chelsea asked for the PL to delay the season start but were denied

I will give credit for the end of last season.
However we have not beat a half decent side for a over a yr.
Any team with pace causes us problems.
As for building a new team/squad this is a major issue.
Dias been shite for 18 mths no pace.
Lewis not good enough.
Nunes not good enough.
Ake always injured.
Akanji ponderously slow.
Bobb hyped up.
Savinho not good enough.
Doku not good enough.
Kovacic not good enough.
Gonzalez i have more movement and pace when im asleep.
The jury is still out on the other new signings
That leaves us Josko,Rodri.Stones and Erling as the 4 top class players we have.
Hopefully Phil can get back to where he was that would give us 5.
If Pep is sanctioning the signings he needs to be told to go.
Im not being reactionary but he thinks we played well against Spurs and for most of yesterday.We were ponderous and slow in both games and this we must control comes from him.
We need an adventurous manager like Irola at Bournemouth.I have no doubt that the charges have hampered us in the transfer market.
However we need to start buying players with pace because this tippy tappy shit aint working anymore.

 

[Bluekiwi]

Khusanov was a massive positive for me. When he got subbed off it shown.

What a coincidence - take Khusanov off on 85 and a few minutes later their second goal. Why did Pep decide to make that change when the lad had obviously done something good during those 85 minutes. And as for Nunes, if he was struggling he should have been subbed earlier.
I find it hard to get my head around Pep's faith in Ruben when he hasn't been good for quite some time. About time Pep stopped placing absolute trust in the "oldies" and persevere with the younger ones.

 

[Dawsenna]

I don't have complaint for the first goal as it is a subconscious act to put elbow up to protect face. for that smashing shot there is no time to think or judge.

for the second goal, it is unforgivable that in the left wing side no one bothered to even move a single step back to help. Doku standing with a defender at the opponent's final third area and a midfielder in the front half court just stand watching.

Watch it again he had has arm up before the player even shot it’s totally inexcusable

 

[thebiglug]

What a coincidence - take Khusanov off on 85 and a few minutes later their second goal. Why did Pep decide to make that change when the lad had obviously done something good during those 85 minutes. And as for Nunes, if he was struggling he should have been subbed earlier.
I find it had to get my head around Pep's faith in Ruben when he hasn't been good for quite some time. About time Pep stopped placing absolute trust in the "oldies" and persevere with the younger ones.

He made the change because Dias was actually coming on for Stonea, literally just about to step onto the pitch but Khusanov was clearly down on the floor holding his ankle, so he took him off instead of stones as he had to make a decision instantly.

Any manager would have done the same.

 

[himalayan_blues]

Our uncles are dragging us back... Its nit their mistake but if we had akanji, gundo, kovacic and even stones out we would have mgw, livremanto rodrigo at our club...
Of course the new players need time to jell. No need to pani yet...

 

[himalayan_blues]

Khaldoon and Mansour need to sort this shitshow out. This goes right to the top. Pep has lost the dressing room and is stuck in a loop of mistakes. They now need to do what’s best for the club.

This is not true. He knew brighton direct balls will trouble us so he played khusanov.
New signings needs time to jell. Even if things doesn't go to plan pep stills has to be given till next year to sort it out. Even ferguson got 2/3 years time...

 

[Bewar3them00n]

The troubling thing was, that the 2nd half start was dismal, we were losing control in the middle, which carried on. I would’ve put Gonzales on for Marmoush & left Haaland up, pushing Reijnders further forward.
The first goal was just errors from 2 of our error prone players, totally avoidable.
Khusanov just needed to stay in his feet, & Nunes needs to learn from Dias about keeping arms out of the way.
I’m sure Pep gave his version of the hairdryer treatment after the game.
Again, it’s all about taking chances, we had enough to finish Brighton off in the first half.

 

[Dogtanian]

Beaten by pace once again and only 6 shots on target in two games, the Dutch lad in midfield has been missing for two games now

 

[GaudinoMotors]

The morning after the shit show before.

Yep - united above us.

Looking forward to work.

 

[Bluekiwi]

He made the change because Dias was actually coming on for Stonea, literally just about to step onto the pitch but Khusanov was clearly down on the floor holding his ankle, so he took him off instead of stones as he had to make a decision instantly.

Any manager would have done the same.

Thanks for the clarification - I only had the text match report to base my comment on.

 

[NeilMcnabTwoFooted]

Couldn't agree with that anymore. I honestly don't understand what Pep sees in him, like you say all his defensive attributes are shite and especially his awareness. I don't understand why he was jogging back like that today for the second goal. Some people claim he's a leader but im sorry, imagine playing along side him taking instructions off someone who can't even make a 10 yard pass. He literally adds nothing to our team.

Khusanov was a massive positive for me. When he got subbed off it shown.

previously when we required a top central defender we went out & got him Laporte for example, i’m absolutely dumbfounded why we’ve increased his contract length when i saw that news i thought what! Why? He had a few very good seasons but his form & seemingly ability has regressed to a frighteningly low level, Khusanov is head & shoulders above Dias at this juncture the only negative you can say about Khus is he can be rash in tackles similar to Otamendi but that can be coach out of him to maintain his aggression but not to go overboard, Josko, Stones, Khusanov are first on the team sheet for me but if any of them get injured we’re in trouble especially considering Stonesys injuries down the years, but if we have a Dias, Nunes/Rico Ait Nouri defence we’re gonna leak goals all over the shop, Dippers are bringing in top talent Isak probably Guehi as for Wirtz they’ll see best of him next season, but being brutally honest we’re looking like a team battling the top 6 to sneak into the top 4 basically Villa or Newcastle & i don’t mind telling you i’m dreading the Derby because they are terrible but we aren’t looking any better & their counter attack style will probably see us 1-0 up at halftime before they get two late stuffy goals courtesy of some self inflicted billy smarts circus clown like defensive idiocy.

 

[NeilMcnabTwoFooted]

I’ve coached at many levels & when I watch Nunes, it’s like he’s turned up to training at an under 14’s team & he looks like he will be a fantastic athlete & so quick - then you quickly realise he’s never player football before, as he has no concept of the game in terms of space, passing, heading the ball & the rules of the game. He was like an 8 year old defending trying to save his face when giving the penalty away! Prior to that he needed to just let Trafford pick the ball up but be proceeded to trap the ball, which meant Trafford couldn’t pick it it up - he’s like a brain dead 8 year old who doesn’t know the rules! Astonishing we haven’t gone out to get a right back!

Thought Rodri bossed the game until their subs came on & he ran out of steam, surely Pep should have added Nico to help him - which was the same as last year!

I don’t understand how we end up with some much space between our defenders - pick 4 defenders that can defend - Pep reverted to that in our treble year & needed now!

is it possible to Like this post 5 times as it hits the nail on the head perfectly.

 

[NeilMcnabTwoFooted]

Really fucking wrong.

i got carried away myself with a straight face i proclaimed we’d win first 8/9 matches on the bounce, ludicrous considering what we’re witnessing now.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Just watched the second goal again. Where do you start. So from their goalkeeper the ball moves to their left back. He has time to look up and see that there are 4 Brighton attackers on the half way line vs 3 defenders (Stones has had to move wide to cover for Lewis inverting and he is well into the Brighton half). The left back puts a speculative ball out to the left wing. Stones and the Brighton forward attack the ball. Stones wins it but the challenge is weak. He might have just put the ball in row z but instead the ball is moved in the air around 15 metres straight onto a Brighton head. What the Brighton player sees in front of him is a 3 vs 2 overload with Dias playing all three on side. The header is well executed into space and from then on its really a foregone conclusion. Dias is pulled between 2 attackers and doesn't have the pace to impact either. Ait-Nouri is trying to track Minty but because he was on a high line wont catch him.
Stones made a weak challenge
Dias played three yes three Brighton attackers on side
Pep's inverted full back makes these overloads inevitable against teams that are committed to attacking us.
All this from a move straight from their Goalies hands. Not a fast transition and executed with one forward pass and a header into space.
Other teams will watch that and cream themselves.

 

[Dizbuster]

Maybe he was sulking after getting benched ? he was a beast up until the treble season but I'm just sick of him now.

I'm still stunned we inked a new deal with him. Unless Pep modifies his system, he won't help us much going forward, or backward, which I believe is the crux of the issue with him.

 

[applecentral]

So much wrong.

Just so much wrong. Recruitment has been off/misplaced. Ignored gaping holes. Haven’t addressed needs when we do bring players in.

Tactics are just off. Everyone in the world — including the guys in the locker room, I’d wager, — know we don’t have the personnel for the system. Except Pep.

Conditioning is off. Last two weeks we’ve wilted so, so much in the last 45. How many shits on goal did we have in the second halves the last two weeks? Two? Less?

We needed to be ruthless last summer after the 4th in a row. We *really* needed it this summer. And with a day to go, the deadwood’s still on the squad, in the eleven, and even wearing the captain’s armband. We can’t possibly do enough before the window closes.

So we hold on, wait for another summer and hope the turnover happens? Including the manager at that point?

Otherwise ok?