[Albion] Simplistically, what do you think is our biggest problem?

[Jim in the West]

None of the above. I still think its inexperience amongst many of our team that means consistency and decision making in key moments isn't at the levels these players will eventually reach. Lamptey, White, Connolly show some great moments, and also Webster, Maupay, Bissouma, Trossard, and Potter himself, but expecting it week in week out will take time

Some really interesting comments on this thread, but this hits the nail on the head (for me). We've got a young team, by and large, and they're still learning. As is Potter. Yesterday was a tough lesson (but a lot of the frustration on here is our typical habit of over-reacting when things don't go quite right).

 

[warmleyseagull]

Surely the answer is simple. Look at the table: only three teams have conceded more, but seven have scored fewer. Defence is the problem.

Not for me to Potterbash but defensive frailties do rather smack of coaching problems, particularly with so many coming from set pieces.

 

[sydney]

Our shooting is hideous. Connolly & Maupay missing the target entirely from inside the box (positions that I can guarantee opposition strikers would put away against us) happens far to regularly for my liking.

Connolly is a work in progress , him and Welbeck in eachothers way .......i'd like to see Maupay and Wellbeck up front together , i reckon they will form a decent partnership in time. oh and obviously the failure to score is our major problem , there are eskimos and amazon tribesmen who know that " Brighton play a lovely game of football but they just can't seem to get the ball in the net".

 

[JBizzle]

Connolly is a work in progress , him and Welbeck in eachothers way .......i'd like to see Maupay and Wellbeck up front together , i reckon they will form a decent partnership in time. oh and obviously the failure to score is our major problem , there are eskimos and amazon tribesmen who know that " Brighton play a lovely game of football but they just can't seem to get the ball in the net".

Agree entirely. Connolly will be a very good striker one day. I actually think we don't have bad strikers, just poor finishers. Maupay and Connolly are a real nuisance constantly and create space for others. Welbeck hold the ball up and brings people into play well.

 

[Mackenzie]

Vulnerability at set pieces, partially due to an underperforming goalkeeper.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Agree entirely. Connolly will be a very good striker one day. I actually think we don't have bad strikers, just poor finishers. Maupay and Connolly are a real nuisance constantly and create space for others. Welbeck hold the ball up and brings people into play well.

I think Connolly will be very good.
He will be kicking himself about his miss against Liverpool.
When he's got in those sort of positions previously he has hit the target.

 

[Springal]

Our shooting is hideous. Connolly & Maupay missing the target entirely from inside the box (positions that I can guarantee opposition strikers would put away against us) happens far to regularly for my liking.

Not just them. Gross used to score a few but his shoot on Monday was terrible. At least twice wasn't it he had a shot inside / edge of the area and he might as well have been taking a rugby conversion kick

 

[vagabond]

Surely the answer is simple. Look at the table: only three teams have conceded more, but seven have scored fewer. Defence is the problem.

Not for me to Potterbash but defensive frailties do rather smack of coaching problems, particularly with so many coming from set pieces.

Why defence, and not goal keeper though?

Surely if we’re conceding few chances but a high percentage of said chances go in it indicates an issue in goal.

 

[Mellotron]

Conceding - we look far too easy to score against, especially at set pieces.

 

[studio150]

If we actually scored our expected goals we would be far higher up the league.
Need to convert more chances.
We always seem to need a second goal, but seldom get it.

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

The stats on XG show we actually score the expected amount of goals based on the chances we create but let in far more than we should.

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

Against Southampton, we continued to let in more than the XG but didn’t score the XG either, which hasn’t been the case so far this season. Overall it is our defence that is letting us down, but on Monday night if we’d scored the second expected goal then we would have probably of won.

 

[GT49er]

Obviously improvement at both ends would be the ideal, but since Potter was brought in to play a more attacking, adventurous style, I would say that taking our chances is more of a priority than shoring up the defence (which, tbh, isn't that bad).
A lot of it is about game management, and the timing of our goals - if we could learn to score immediately after our opponents score, rather than just before them! Conceding just after scoring means we are never comfortable holding a lead (and pushing on for a second) - psychologically I think it puts us on the back foot.

 

[SittingbourneSeagull]

Stop conceding from set pieces.

Start scoring from set pieces.

That would be a start.

Yes we never look like scoring from a set piece. Dunks awful miss from a free kick first half is a prime example. At least should have worked the keeper. And at the other end I always expect a corner or free kick to cost us a goal or at least cause panic.

 

[SittingbourneSeagull]

we are paying for not buying a striker who van guarantee 15 goals a season. Maupay works hard and will probably score 10, and Welbeck if he stays fit may also get 10 but its a big if.

Connolly makes great runs but lacks composure in front of goal.

I know why we havent splashed the cash on a striker but it could cost us.

 

[boik]

we are paying for not buying a striker who van guarantee 15 goals a season. Maupay works hard and will probably score 10, and Welbeck if he stays fit may also get 10 but its a big if.

Connolly makes great runs but lacks composure in front of goal.

I know why we havent splashed the cash on a striker but it could cost us.

You do know how few strikers actually manage 15 PL goals a season. And of those, only half a dozen are more or less guaranteed, and none will be for sale.

Carry on dreaming!

 

[Seasidesage]

A little bit of both. Goals conceded has become a bigger problem of late but 3/4 games back it was goals scored v chances created. If we could make small gains in both areas we will improve and rapidly. We are a better side than this table suggests but the longer Xg etc is undershot the more likely it is that there is an underlying reason...

 

[Peter Grummit]

Stop conceding from set pieces.

Start scoring from set pieces.

That would be a start.

That alone would get us to mid table.

Not as simple as it seems, but both things we should be able to be drilled in training. I just wonder whether for all Potter's innovative thinking and emotional intelligence based player management, the basics of working on set plays is not high enough priority?

 

[portslade seagull]

Problem is we are now in are annual PL winter months slump where picking up points always seems tough for us. Luckily we dodged it last season whilst in a big dip in form, had a 3 month lay off and saved ourselves. It's going to be tough

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

Voted for goals scored but it’s both. The stats show that we create plenty of chances but we don’t have the clinical edge to our game that sees us put them away. If we put away those three golden opportunities against Southampton in the first half, it’s all but game over. But we didn’t which allowed them to come back in to the game (a familiar story this season). This then leads to the one shot on target from the opposition that inevitably goes in, in this instance because we’re pretty naff at defending set pieces. So it seems we need to work on both ends of the pitch to me