Do Brighton Dezerb it?

No – the title of my post is not intended to criticise Roberto de Zerbi – nor even Brighton, currently sixth in the table – but the Press reaction.

The penny dropped with the football press that Brighton are over-achieving and a number of glowing reports appeared.

No soon had these been published then Brighton’s form began to plummet – losing 6-1 to Aston Villa and 2-3 at home to AEK Athens in the Europa League.

There was an article in The Times sports section last Saturday questioning whether Brighton had been ‘found out’ tactically.

It contained a significant error as – upon listing the teams that did the double over Brighton last season – Alan Tanner’s Fulham was omitted.

The thrust of the article was that, if the opposition sits back and yields space to Brighton, De Zerbi has no answers other than to push forward, leaving gaps in defence.

Such a view ignores one of Brighton’s principal  assets, namely their never-say-die spirit of “one for all and all for one”.

This is why, in their last two games, Brighton have obtained draws after being behind.

Against Liverpool this came from a set piece – at which centre half Lewis Dunk is especially affective – and this time Jurgen Klopp was moaning, not about VAR, but at the inability of his team to defend set pieces.