Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City *** Official Match Thread ***

[DJ NOBO]

I would just add that Dunk looked good and his long passing superb.

That pass to knocky. Seriously . Just wow.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

What's the NEC got to do with it?

You corrected your error very, very quickly mr Ruislip

 

[BevBHA]

And who's meant to replace him..


Main points to take from this.

Our back line is pretty sturdy, we were VERY difficult to break down. Maty Ryan's not instilling confidence in me.
Central midfield is where we lost today, Stephens poor, Propper, proper poor. I'm not going to write off Propper, but it wasn't a good performance. He has a deadly right foot though, so could score a few this season.
Wingers, well Brown - no way we can comment. He was looking good, hope he's okay. Murphy did what he could but he isn't premier league quality. Solly could be sniffed by some mid table teams in the league. Absolute quality.
Nothing of note to say about Gross and Hemed, no service..

I wasn't arguing the player, I was debating the formation.

Personally I would have gone 4-3-3 with March and Brown as wingers alongside our best target man - Murray. We were playing Man City and we've lost 2-0. Why not be braver? Press higher against a back three and try to get our wingers in behind their wing backs, forcing them to have the ball a lot deeper and inside their own half. If they play around us and score a goal, it would have been because it was an immense move and one worthy of title favourites.

I had limited expectations for today, obviously given the opposition, but to me I'm going home thinking we've expected to lose and have just rolled over, rather than using our largest ever crowd at the Amex in our first ever Premier League game and have a real go to make a statement.

 

[AmexRuislip]

You corrected your error very, very quickly mr Ruislip

A pleasure Mr Coldean

 

[SUIYHP]

Well, it wasn't really a thumping was it? For what it was, we held impressively against a side that far outstrips our own in budget and talent. We have a great defensive mentality and that is very important in these big games. Man City are favorites for the title, but it wasn't easy for them was it? Yes its shit we lost, but that's something that we've got to get used to. Regardless of the outcome of this season, this squads going to come a long way in experience, and some of our younger players are going to get better and better.

Propper needs a bit more time. There was a tiny moment of inspiration in the first half but he was making some horrendous passes and that really punished us. Stephens has been more of a worry, aside from the error which cost us the goal he seemed a bit out of it. Hemed again is reinforcing the need for a new striker, he is too slow.

March again was great, but its a shame he was forced on the defensive because it's his mentality up front which sets him apart. Dunk and Duffy were solid as ever, and hopefully Izzy Brown will recover quickly, because he was doing quite well until he came off.

 

[Weststander]

Can't play 4-4-1-1 with 11 players in touching distance of our own penalty area!



I know CH knows far more about football than I do, and there are at least a million reasons why he is a top manager and I'm not, but the one thing I really disagree with him is about leaving one player far up the field. Not just at corners - though that is a particular grievance - but one attacking player who isn't ten yards inside our own half, please! At least it means that two of our opponents will be tied down watching him.

I thought I was the lone voice saying that at Albion games! Leave someone with pace such as March or AK near the centre circle, to tie up two opposition players and give us a fighting chance of a counter attack from their set plays.

 

[AmexRuislip]

A decent post match interview on BT Sport with CH.

 

[GreersElbow]

The struggle came from the midfield, it allowed too much pressure on the defence and gave no service to the strikers.

Leicester will be a good test, hopefully the new chap will be in and Knocky fit and ready to go.

 

[PTC Gull]

Glen just been interviewed on NBC. Happy they held them for 70 mins. Disappointed with the goals. Agreed it's a quicker game and looking forward to Knocky being back fully fit.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

How old is Bruno? Class will out!

 

[Weststander]

I wasn't arguing the player, I was debating the formation.

Personally I would have gone 4-3-3 with March and Brown as wingers alongside our best target man - Murray. We were playing Man City and we've lost 2-0. Why not be braver? Press higher against a back three and try to get our wingers in behind their wing backs, forcing them to have the ball a lot deeper and inside their own half. If they play around us and score a goal, it would have been because it was an immense move and one worthy of title favourites.

I had limited expectations for today, obviously given the opposition, but to me I'm going home thinking we've expected to lose and have just rolled over, rather than using our largest ever crowd at the Amex in our first ever Premier League game and have a real go to make a statement.

We may well have got ripped to pieces with that. CH probably got it right, as our available squad (just for today hopefully) lacks top flight pace/goals up front.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Gerrard saying we were toothless upfront and will go down, but does like CH.
That's all well and good Gerrard, but you're still a sh!t pundit!

 

[kiwigull]

Personally i think losing 2 nil to this team is a reault. They will thump a few 6 nil this season! The real season starts next week!

You're the c**t then! Season started today mate! We did ourselves proud but you carry on pretending weekends against the big 6 are dead rubbers!

 

[Marxo]

Man City are going to beat better teams than us by bigger margins this season, we'll get better by the week. No worries.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Didn't know that. My comment was not meant seriously, but it's good if the Yanks have come round to the rest of the world's way of thinking.

Certainly out of fans' demands and not out of realizing how it effected the broadcasts. I noticed today NBC had adverts popping up in great numbers all over the telly screen while the match proceeded.

If only Trump would learn to behave like the rest of the world and not like the North Korean leader.

 

[hitony]

Gerrard saying we were toothless upfront and will go down, but does like CH.
That's all well and good Gerrard, but you're still a sh!t pundit!

This a billion times over!!

 

[BevBHA]

We may well have got ripped to pieces with that. CH probably got it right, as our available squad (just for today hopefully) lacks top flight pace/goals up front.

Difficult one, can see the arguement both sides. Sooner that striker comes in, the better

 

[PTC Gull]

CH now being interviewed on NBC. Agreed we could have held the ball better. Happy with holding them for 70 mins. Says more positives than negatives. Also confirmed looking at more players coming in.

 

[Berty23]

Tactical masterclass today. We were never going to play them off the park. Keep it nil nil and score from set play which we very nearly did. They created two chances second half and both errors by us so can't blame manager.

Their bench cost more than our training centre, stadium and squad.

 

[seagulls4ever]

BBC Radio Manchester: "The scoreline flatters Brighton'', "The sooner the whistle blows, the better for Brighton"

BBC live commentary: "Nothing to see here. We're just easing towards a routine Manchester City win."

Hardly, on all counts. These are the kind of remarks we can expect all season!

Promising start for us but you can see where we need to improve.