[Albion] Are Hughton’s tactics too negative?

[Thunder Bolt]

Oh here we go again. ANOTHER opportunity to have a negative, angst-ridden thread full of people moaning that, contrary to the past three years, we suddenly expect Chris to send out a side that commits men forward at will and dang the consequences at the back. This thread is going to be full of people somehow surprised at Chris' tactics, as if they haven't watched a Brighton game for several years, full of people with no football tactical nous whatsoever banging on about how this is sending us down, and a gazillion more over-the-top reactions from people who have just been so completely spoiled by two seasons of winning week in week out they should really go and sit in the corner.

For the record, I never ever expected so many Brighton fans to be turning on Chris Hughton this season. It really makes me angry. And we didn't even F*CKING lose. And there's FIVE F*CKING teams who've had a worse season than us so far.

I thought the Premier League would be hard. I didn't think the hardest part about the Premier League would be coping with my fellow Brighton fans.

The sense of entitlement is astonishing, even for the glass half empty fans. It takes time to build a Premier class side. We are competing, there are 5 teams who are as 'poor' as us, with 4 others only just above us. We are not in the bottom three, and we are not mathematically relegated, so keep fighting.

Moaning isn't going to change anything although I appreciate it's only on social media.

 

[Marshy]

I am INCREDIBLY mild Yes. Only slight. Away draws are fine if followed up with a home win. There is no excuse whatsoever not to go for West Ham on Saturday.

These are my thoughts exactly

 

[Triggaaar]

I'm a no, because I don't think we have the tools or the quality to simply 'attack' teams like people believe, especially away from home, especially when the opposition are behind.

Indeed, it's possible he's too negative, but it's also possible that we're just not good enough and footy isn't as simple as the fans think.

I'm minded to go yes (I obviously don't know), because we do see lesser sides (those outside the PL) having a go in the cup, and getting success against teams far better on paper than them, so surely we should be able to do the same on occasion? However I accept that when we do attack and then lose the ball, it can be a bit of a panic, so perhaps we can't afford to be adventurous too often?

It is a fantasy that we can simply turn a switch and suddenly attack teams forcing them back when we cannot retain possession well enough - in short we'd be taken apart.

Indeed. Maybe we're not good enough to play 442 (4411) against most PL sides, and a 2 man centre midfield isn't enough?

 

[Mellotron]

I don't subscribe to the overly simplistic "our players are not good enough" argument. Against the top 8/9? Perhaps not. Against the rest? Absolutely.

 

[darkwolf666]

I am INCREDIBLY mild Yes. Only slight. Away draws are fine if followed up with a home win. There is no excuse whatsoever not to go for West Ham on Saturday.

Apart from home games against the Big 6 when haven't we gone for it at home... We even went for it a bit against Liverpool and look what happened there!

 

[northstandsteve]

Ball retention in my opinion is a big let down for us, and perhaps we don't play to our attacking strengths enough. I don't believe we are too negative, I'm just realistic about being in the Prem. A win on Saturday followed by a Performance against Stoke and a win against Swansea, would dispel a lot of this negativity. Oh and perhaps Lockedia will be our answer...

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

I’d like us to be 25% more positive. Positive without recklessness, a balance.

Maybe we are already at the tipping point and to be anymore 'positive', with our limited squad, might make us more vulnerable? Chris has to assess what is possible with what he has. Many on here are trying to make the same assessment without inside knowledge of what is truly being asked of the players.

I am in the be more positive camp, but I fear that we may lose more games if we are.

Take last night for example, we started very positively but as time went on we lost confidence and became ragged, was that down to Chris or was it the fault of the players at his disposal?

 

[Triggaaar]

Oh here we go again. ANOTHER opportunity to have a negative, angst-ridden thread full of people moaning that, contrary to the past three years, we suddenly expect Chris to send out a side that commits men forward at will and dang the consequences at the back. This thread is going to be full of people somehow surprised at Chris' tactics, as if they haven't watched a Brighton game for several years, full of people with no football tactical nous whatsoever banging on about how this is sending us down, and a gazillion more over-the-top reactions from people who have just been so completely spoiled by two seasons of winning week in week out they should really go and sit in the corner.

Actually the posts up until yours were sensible opinions on our options and the difficulty of playing in this league, nothing like what you predicted.

I thought the Premier League would be hard. I didn't think the hardest part about the Premier League would be coping with my fellow Brighton fans.

I generally agree with you, but this thread wasn't yet like that.

 

[Triggaaar]

People should be aware this is a public poll.

And you are responding to the question "Are you a THICKO?".

Don't tell 'em

 

[Weststander]

No. CH has had to work with a squad lacking in several key areas. To me, it's almost a miracle that we had accumulated 24 points by 31 January, with that squad.

The games where we opened up and really gave it go in numbers, Chelsea and Liverpool at home, resulted in thrashings. No matter what spin you put on it.

One personal viewpoint (but I'm only a supporter), I wish he'd had started Izquierdo in every PL game over recent months, rather than the completely out of sorts March. Which would have given us more of a counter attacking threat IMO.

 

[Triggaaar]

Time will tell

That's cheating. Either we're going about it the right way, or we're not, seeing the result (which will involve some luck) isn't the right way to determine if we're doing the right thing now.

his goal this season is to stay up, by any means necessary. Even if that means being ultra cautious and nicking enough points to finish 17th.

And if being cautious is the right way to get those points, it's not too negative, it's justifiably and wisely negative.

 

[Hiney]

Oh here we go again. ANOTHER opportunity to have a negative, angst-ridden thread full of people moaning that, contrary to the past three years, we suddenly expect Chris to send out a side that commits men forward at will and dang the consequences at the back. This thread is going to be full of people somehow surprised at Chris' tactics, as if they haven't watched a Brighton game for several years, full of people with no football tactical nous whatsoever banging on about how this is sending us down, and a gazillion more over-the-top reactions from people who have just been so completely spoiled by two seasons of winning week in week out they should really go and sit in the corner.

For the record, I never ever expected so many Brighton fans to be turning on Chris Hughton this season. It really makes me angry. And we didn't even F*CKING lose. And there's FIVE F*CKING teams who've had a worse season than us so far.

I thought the Premier League would be hard. I didn't think the hardest part about the Premier League would be coping with my fellow Brighton fans.

Wise words.

 

[Triggaaar]

I’d like us to be 25% more positive. Positive without recklessness, a balance.

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

That's cheating. Either we're going about it the right way, or we're not, seeing the result (which will involve some luck) isn't the right way to determine if we're doing the right thing now.

And if being cautious is the right way to get those points, it's not too negative, it's justifiably and wisely negative.

Lets see how he handles the shiny new toys he has been given, then I'll let you know.

 

[Mackenzie]

Maybe we are already at the tipping point and to be anymore 'positive', with our limited squad, might make us more vulnerable? Chris has to assess what is possible with what he has. Many on here are trying to make the same assessment without inside knowledge of what is truly being asked of the players.

I am in the be more positive camp, but I fear that we may lose more games if we are.

Take last night for example, we started very positively but as time went on we lost confidence and became ragged, was that down to Chris or was it the fault of the players at his disposal?

I’m not sure what the mindset is but as a simple fan watching proceedings it seemed like we flicked a switch after scoring and handed them the initiative. We seem to do this quite a lot, especially when we lead going into the final third of a game. Last season we were so defensively strong our team coped easily with the pressure, this year the better opposition finds a way to get through. We’re not far off, but the tactics/mindset of the players needs a bit of a tweak, perhaps Locadia will be the key.

 

[Napper]

its yes isn't it.

If you spend 60m on top a side that wins promotion then you have to take the shackles off a bit surely.

Last night summed it up in so many ways

 

[Triggaaar]

A win on Saturday followed by a Performance against Stoke and a win against Swansea, would dispel a lot of this negativity.

If that happens I'll eat my hat.

 

[Turkey]

Indeed, it's possible he's too negative, but it's also possible that we're just not good enough and footy isn't as simple as the fans think.

I'm minded to go yes (I obviously don't know), because we do see lesser sides (those outside the PL) having a go in the cup, and getting success against teams far better on paper than them, so surely we should be able to do the same on occasion? However I accept that when we do attack and then lose the ball, it can be a bit of a panic, so perhaps we can't afford to be adventurous too often?

Indeed. Maybe we're not good enough to play 442 (4411) against most PL sides, and a 2 man centre midfield isn't enough?

I think it is those sort of results from lesser sides in the Cup etc that cloud judgement a bit. People see those as an example to follow but forget the (made up number incoming..) 90% of ties where the bigger club won. Plus, if you lose, you're out, and if you're hammered, the GD doesn't matter. I think CH is very pragmatic and plays the balance of probabilities so to speak. He knows we could nick unexpected points playing a different way, but I suspect he thinks our best chance of getting the expected points is playing the current way.

Regarding midfield. We don't have a couple of big blokes who can sit and boss it and allow the forward players to play. I think Stephens and Propper have done well, I don't fault their commitment at all, but long term we need better players in every position. We need midfielders who can sit and inspire such confidence and cover so much ground that our attacking players do not have to contribute as much to defending. We need full backs who are quick, strong and can also put in a good cross. Not sure I completely buy into all we needed was more fire power. I think we need better plays to enable our forward players to, one play higher, and two receive better quality balls into them. Realistically that wasn't going to happen this window but if we can stay up they'd be areas I'd think we'd be looking at.

 

[HalfaSeatOn]

I voted no. His caution is understandable being premier newbies but there are situations when 'going for it' is a good situational decision. To be fair, there haven't been too many but would include WBA away and 15 mins before half time last night. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

 

[Surf's Up]

I've voted "yes" because I just hate the tactic of scoring and then putting 11 men behind the ball and inviting the opposition to attack us for the rest of the game. It shows a lack of confidence in our attacking ability (which is surprising because we can look quite dangerous going forward) and must really piss the players off big time. Ok, I can understand it up to a point when we're playing the big boys but there are 13 or so other teams in this division that we should not be adopting this tactic with but we do. Our only hope is that there may be 3 teams who are worse than us but that's by no means a given.