Seagulls soaring
With 7 points outs of a possible 9, Brighton can look back at a successful festive season.
For the first time Brighton scored 3 in a match at Everton in a 3-2 win and 2 came from the unlikely source of Alex Mac Allister [Note to sub-editor: he likes to separate his “Mac” from his “Allister”].
He came from Argentina and there were initially problems with his visa so he went back there on loan. He took time to establish himself in Brighton.
Graham Potter plays a 5-3-2 by preference – with Marc Cucrurella and Qadir Lamptey as overlapping wing-backs – there are only 3 central berths, contested between Bissouma, Lallana – who are regulars – and Jacob Moder, Pascal Gross, Leandro Trossard, Sten Alzate and Solly March.
Yet Mac Allister is one of the best strikers of the ball in the club and on Saturday scored twice at Everton.
With Bissouma playing for Mali in the African Cup of Nations, he should get more outings this month.
One of Graham Potter’s best assets as a coach is the improvement he makes to players.
Mac Allister is at the start of his career – by contrast Dan Burn is at the end of his.
He never established himself at Fulham and his career looked like finishing at Wigan when he then moved to Brighton.
He was behind Lewis Dunk, Shane Dufy Ben White and Adam Webster in the pecking order but last season he was un-droppable.
He is tall, a tad ungainly, but is now a most reliable defender.
Potter’s other asset is that he puts the group first and tactics second.
Some coaches – even the best ones – do it the other way around.
This – and a strong team spirit – explain why Brighton punch above their weight and are above so-called “Big Boys” Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle in the table.
I do not think Potter is ready for a big club.
He has no experience of handling big egos.
Nino Esperito Santo is the latest casualty in a long line of managers who did well at a middle-of-table club (Wolves) but did not last long at Tottenham.
Potter is intelligent and probably realises his limitations so Brighton benefits him as much as he benefits us.
