[Albion] Brighton & Hove Albion vs AEK Athens *** Official Match Thread ***

[hart's shirt]

I just get worried that Dunk in our central partnership makes up for the inadequacies of all the other central defenders. If Dunk and Van Hecke don’t play we are going to struggle. It doesn’t surprise me that Igor’s disciplinary record is so poor.

This is it for me.

Dunk is a player who makes the other players around him look even better.

We saw it with Ben White who struggled initially at Arsenal. We've seen it with Webster. And now we're seeing it with van Hecke.

 

[Eeyore]

Spare a thought for English teams in the past that have been cheated in Europe. If not for VAR what would that result have been? That ref wasn’t bent imo but I have seen games in the past that were later proved to be corrupt decisions.

He was poor but, aside of the penalties, his poorness was equal. Both sides gained and lost on his judgement.

 

[GoingUp]

This is my worry when Dunk retries or finally losses his step.

Dunk is no spring chicken, we need a replacement for him otherwise we're going to have this issue when he retires or has to sit out games on a more regular basis.

 

[jcdenton08]

Onto Sunday. Much like Alan Partridge, I’m sure we’ll bounce back.

Veltman has to play, he’s consistently one of our best players.

 

[The Fits]

This is it for me.

Dunk is a player who makes the other players around him look even better.

We saw it with Ben White who struggled initially at Arsenal. We've seen it with Webster. And now we're seeing it with van Hecke.

And Duffy who was struggling before he joined us and has done nothing after, and Burn to an extent, and Colwill to an extent.
We don't have two outstanding CBs.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Given the team selection I think that's a good indicator that we are prioritising the league over Europe this season.

 

[dangull]

It makes qualifying more interesting now. Nothing worse if your sailing throgh the group and have 2 games to play with nothing riding on the result.
Away from home at AEK they will probably be more adventurous which will probably suit Brighton.

 

[BN41Albion]

And Duffy who was struggling before he joined us and has done nothing after, and Burn to an extent, and Colwill to an extent.
We don't have two outstanding CBs.

It's easy to pin the defensive performance on dunk being out of the team but we've had a number of performances and results like tonight with Dunk in the team - WH just the other week for a start. Very simplistic imo to say that conceding 3 tonight was because of Dunk.

 

[Eric the meek]

Just my opinion, but people are focusing on the defence being at fault, while I think the issue lies further up the pitch in midfield.

We should keep the ball better. Then we won't be putting undue pressure on the defence. I've no idea of the stats in this game, but we seemed to give the ball away much more than we do in the PL. I appreciate that this may be due to the close man-marking employed by AEK.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Looks like it's already been called many times, but Dunk is a huge loss.

Igor looks like a bit of a Donkey.

 

[The Fits]

It's easy to pin the defensive performance on dunk being out of the team but we've had a number of performances and results like tonight with Dunk in the team - WH just the other week for a start. Very simplistic imo to say that conceding 3 tonight was because of Dunk.

I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's very hard to judge another CB when they play alongside Dunk because he clearly makes players look better (mostly).

 

[origigull]

Not the result we wanted but playing in Europe isn't easy. AEK played well, BHA played pretty well. It's a learning curve and we have to improve to progress. Missing Dunk and Ferguson. VH and Igor first start together and they were hesitant at times but it's not all doom and gloom as still a good chance of getting results.

 

[BN41Albion]

Crowd had an absolute shocker. It's funny at the AMEX sometimes.

Intrigued to hear from those at the game as it sounded really shit on the telly. Very surprising all things considered and the fact it's been very good in the league

 

[BN41Albion]

I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's very hard to judge another CB when they play alongside Dunk because he clearly makes players look better (mostly).

Sorry - my post wasn't really aimed at you, just the general theme! Happened to quote yours but probably should've made the point that I wasn't aiming it at you specifically

Agree with you 100%

 

[ManOfSussex]

Onto Sunday. Much like Alan Partridge, I’m sure we’ll bounce back.

Veltman has to play, he’s consistently one of our best players.

Sunday Bloody Sunday. What a great song. It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn’t it?

 

[armchairclubber]

What?

Igor. More like Herman Munster.

I've really no idea why people are singling out Igor for criticism tonight unless they are mistaking him for another player.. a very assured and composed performance.
Yes we missed Dunk. Yes he should probably have scored the header ( but no reason to believe another defender would have been in that position and scored)
He was pretty much our best player tonight, maybe other than Pedro. Credit where its due.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Too much doom and gloom. Good possession and crisp passing. We had the chances to win it and were the better team. We won’t win every game.

 

[beorhthelm]

Just my opinion, but people are focusing on the defence being at fault, while I think the issue lies further up the pitch in midfield.

We should keep the ball better. Then we won't be putting undue pressure on the defence. I've no idea of the stats in this game, but we seemed to give the ball away much more than we do in the PL. I appreciate that this may be due to the close man-marking employed by AEK.

yes, too easy to pin all on the defense when the ball was given away so cheaply, too often, little cover in front of them.

 

[Weststander]

Typical Albion whining about officials.

No Velrman, Dunk or proper DM was the killer. Keystone Cops from the start. They could easily have scored 6.

Nonchalant to play two slow technicians in front of the CB’s. Seized upon by AEK, we made their CF look like Mbappe.

 

[Munchkin]

Thought Igor looked more composed than Van Hecke.

Funny how people see the game so differently.