After yesterday’s drab draw with Burnley, it’s now all but certain that Albion will fall short of last season’s sixth-placed Premier League finish. Brighton forum member Iggle Piggle picks out five key reasons for why Albion are going to fall short.
It’s a combination of things for me.
1. Our central midfield is undeniably weaker. Billy Gilmour and Pascal Groß have done a fine job of covering the gap, but injuries and the overworking of Groß have finally caught up with us, showing what we already knew.
Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo are massive misses, and the next cabs off the rank weren’t quite ready to step in with no loss of quality this time around.
2. Our left side last year was arguably one of the best in world football. Sadly, Pervis Estupinan currently looks like a Poundland version of himself, and Kaoru Mitoma hasn’t really been around since before Christmas. Combined, Albion’s attacking left side is a shadow of what it was last season.
3. Julio Enciso was virtually unplayable at Wolves, but he then got injured. It was a similar story with Joao Pedro against Palace. Picking up Injuries to key players is one thing, but the timing of them is another.
Not having Joao Pedro for the Wolves Cup fixture and Roma Europa League games really cost us.
4. Evan Ferguson has disappeared. Deniz Undav is banging goals in for Stuttgart.
Neither under Graham Potter nor Robert De Zerbi have Albion been a free-scoring side when Jakub Moder has been in the side. We’re struggling to score, and have had to rely on clown-show defending to get out goals against both Forest and Burnley.
The warm-up drill before the game at Turf Moor yesterday was worth watching. The finishing from everyone bar Welbeck was absolute pub-team stuff. We just don’t look like scoring. After I watched that I stuck a bet on Burnley to win.
5. Roberto De Zerbi has done himself no favours since Christmas. It’s his job to get the best out of what we’ve got, but he’s spent too much time moaning about it.
The tactics in Rome were naive in the extreme, giving us no chance to save the tie in the second leg. De Zerbi has been brilliant for most of his tenure, but with the version we’ve had for the last three months, I’d rather he went elsewhere next year if he really wants to go.
Roll on August with a few new faces and a refreshed squad, and we go again!
This article is taken from a North Stand Chat thread. If you have a view, opinion or insight to share with other Albion fans, please get in touch – we’re only just getting started and would love to hear from you!
Images courtesy of Reuters
