[Albion] Brighton & Hove Albion vs West Bromwich Albion *** Official Match Thread ***

[Weststander]

Slept on it. I’m potter out!

Slept on it.

No regrets about my criticisms last night. We were more than matched by strong relegation candidates and saved by the final whistle, our defensive set up is unable to earn clean sheets, our game management is patchy, we’re not a savvy battle hardened unit. Awful subs policy by Potter last night - genuinely disappointed at the time to see Lallana replaced by the woeful Gross (yesterday’s man).

We’re also strong relegation candidates.

 

[giveusfalmerplease]

actually i was even baffled before kickoff with the lineup. 5-3-2 at home against a team favorite for relegation made no sense. i think potters biggest problem is team moral. We have 5 central defenders with a collective value of 100m+ fighting for three places and all about the same standard. Last year with Duffy, GP seemed happy to make him backup and often didnt make the bench. Now, he feels obliged to play all the defenders and cant choose. I dont have anything particularly negative about White. I think he got all the hype last year in a Leeds team that dominated the Championship and so maybe White's performances were made to look even better than they are, i dont know , never watched them play. However, he's now come to the PL, being talked about 50m move to Liverpool which is enough to put anyone under pressure.

Maupay had a great start to the season with 4 from 4 but he definitely seems to play better as part of a front 2, not really a target man. As others have mentioned he's looking a little knackered. Maybe time to bench him and give Connolly a chance. Hopefully Welbeck will be up to speed in a few weeks. Potter implied in the post-match interview he was still unfit. Then when we have real competition up-front we may see Maupay spring to life again.

 

[BLOCK F]

Bad day at the office..

I think it was worse than that, they looked like they were working from home in the second half.

 

[Nameless]

View attachment 129796
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Add West Brom.

Portsmouth, don't be so pedantic, Premier League ffs!

Well we lost 4 months to covid, don't be so negative ffs.

 

[BLOCK F]

We clearly miss Duffy. I don't care how bad he is at passing. We are lacking steel

I think some of the Celtic fans would gladly give him back to us!

 

[neilbard]

Well we lost 4 months to covid, don't be so negative ffs.

We didn't lose any games to covid, in fact covid most probably saved us, because after losing at home to Palace on the 29/2/2020 we looked in big trouble, lockdown gave us time to regroup.

 

[Weststander]

We didn't lose any games to covid, in fact covid most probably saved us, because after losing at home to Palace on the 29/2/2020 we looked in big trouble, lockdown gave us time to regroup.

I agree. It killed the positive momentum for some clubs eg The Blades, whilst we happily were able to reset.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Potter needs to train Webster not to dangle his leg. Another goal that shouldn't have happened.
Has Bissouma dropped a level or two since Dale left?
Taking off March left Burn exposed.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but clearly we needed to score two in the first half when we were on top. West Brom weren't good enough for a point and yet they got one. It was our worst since Sheffield Weds in the Cup. Walking football won't win matches. Maupay said months ago that he was best with another player to share the load, specifically Murray at the time. Yet we play him on his own and he doesn't have the time to control and shoot away from the keeper. Why do Albion players shoot straight at the keeper so often? What to do about Tariq now he has defenders doubled up on him. Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?
I don't know the answers and my bed is dry, but I'm a bit worried.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Potter needs to train Webster not to dangle his leg. Another goal that shouldn't have happened.
Has Bissouma dropped a level or two since Dale left?
Taking off March left Burn exposed.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but clearly we needed to score two in the first half when we were on top. West Brom weren't good enough for a point and yet they got one. It was our worst since Sheffield Weds in the Cup. Walking football won't win matches. Maupay said months ago that he was best with another player to share the load, specifically Murray at the time. Yet we play him on his own and he doesn't have the time to control and shoot away from the keeper. Why do Albion players shoot straight at the keeper so often? What to do about Tariq now he has defenders doubled up on him. Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?
I don't know the answers and my bed is dry, but I'm a bit worried.

I think that’s harsh on WBA. From the moment we scored they upped their game, they were in control for the whole of the second half and arguably a point is the least they deserved.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Potter needs to train Webster not to dangle his leg. Another goal that shouldn't have happened.
Has Bissouma dropped a level or two since Dale left?
Taking off March left Burn exposed.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but clearly we needed to score two in the first half when we were on top. West Brom weren't good enough for a point and yet they got one. It was our worst since Sheffield Weds in the Cup. Walking football won't win matches. Maupay said months ago that he was best with another player to share the load, specifically Murray at the time. Yet we play him on his own and he doesn't have the time to control and shoot away from the keeper. Why do Albion players shoot straight at the keeper so often? What to do about Tariq now he has defenders doubled up on him. Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?
I don't know the answers and my bed is dry, but I'm a bit worried.

We were lulled into a catastrophic drop in performance. Second half was weird. West Brom sat back, their theory was allow us to slow the game down, don't let us sit back and start to defend the lead, play in a way that draws us out, but half heartedly. Give West Brom their due, it was tactically an excellent ploy, once we got sucked into thinking it was just a case of knocking the ball around, they started to hit us at pace by doubling up in key areas behind the wing backs, these lopsided attacks just pulled our shape apart. Potter to his credit reacted, only it went even further wrong as player's individual responsibility got lost, we played the final 30 mins looking at each other with confused faces 'I thought he was your man'.

It's not a half we've experienced for some time. So far this season we have played well and dominated, but been hit on the counter or conceding a sucker punches or soft penalties. I don't want to make excuses, but the decisions we've experienced, the Palace penalty when they did nothing all game, the added time and our penalty Var'd off against MU have totally changed where we are this morning - these were very good performances.

It's chastening because of all the games we've played so far this season, and we've played some good teams, we didn't expect it to unravel against West Brom. It did though, and it's a valuable lesson in what can happen if you drop off even a fraction in performance.

 

[Nameless]

We didn't lose any games to covid, in fact covid most probably saved us, because after losing at home to Palace on the 29/2/2020 we looked in big trouble, lockdown gave us time to regroup.

4 months of no home football? Kind of does seem like we lost 4 months of opportunities to win home matches. saying only 1 home win 2020 when nearly half the year we haven't played at home is just a desperate attempt to justify pointless negativity. In my opinion.

 

[neilbard]

4 months of no home football? Kind of does seem like we lost 4 months of opportunities to win home matches. saying only 1 home win 2020 when nearly half the year we haven't played at home is just a desperate attempt to justify pointless negativity. In my opinion.

My point is, we where in trouble after losing to Palace, Arsenal up next then Leicester away, as you rightly say we had a 4 month break,

we went from struggling to playing well, beating Arsenal and putting in a decent performance against Leicester but those games came after a 4 month break so arguably the 4 months break helped not hindered?

Sorry if you feel it's unnecessary and pointless negativity on my part, that is your opinion and I respect that.

 

[kevo]

Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?.

Too much reliance on lightweight players - I think Stephens could have done a decent job last night. Sometimes a more pragmatic approach, and more pragmatic players - like Stephens, Duffy and Murray - are needed. We need a combination of Potter and Hughton.

 

[Insel affe]

Too much reliance on lightweight players - I think Stephens could have done a decent job last night. Sometimes a more pragmatic approach, and more pragmatic players - like Stephens, Duffy and Murray - are needed. We need something inbetween Potter and Hughton.

Poppycock

where was Stephens and Murray at Newcastle or against Man United this year ?
How is Duffy doing at Celtic ? pants that is how he is doing and Celtic would send him back if he carries on if they could.

 

[sydney]

Potter needs to train Webster not to dangle his leg. Another goal that shouldn't have happened.
Has Bissouma dropped a level or two since Dale left?
Taking off March left Burn exposed.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but clearly we needed to score two in the first half when we were on top. West Brom weren't good enough for a point and yet they got one. It was our worst since Sheffield Weds in the Cup. Walking football won't win matches. Maupay said months ago that he was best with another player to share the load, specifically Murray at the time. Yet we play him on his own and he doesn't have the time to control and shoot away from the keeper. Why do Albion players shoot straight at the keeper so often? What to do about Tariq now he has defenders doubled up on him. Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?
I don't know the answers and my bed is dry, but I'm a bit worried.

2 on Tariq should leave a spare man ..? we need to attack in 3's at least , we need more support.

 

[neilbard]

Potter needs to train Webster not to dangle his leg. Another goal that shouldn't have happened.
Has Bissouma dropped a level or two since Dale left?
Taking off March left Burn exposed.
Not sure where I'm going with this, but clearly we needed to score two in the first half when we were on top. West Brom weren't good enough for a point and yet they got one. It was our worst since Sheffield Weds in the Cup. Walking football won't win matches. Maupay said months ago that he was best with another player to share the load, specifically Murray at the time. Yet we play him on his own and he doesn't have the time to control and shoot away from the keeper. Why do Albion players shoot straight at the keeper so often? What to do about Tariq now he has defenders doubled up on him. Has losing Murray, Duffy, Stephens and, through injury Propper, been too much for the squad?
I don't know the answers and my bed is dry, but I'm a bit worried.

They don't.

 

[kevo]

Poppycock
How is Duffy doing at Celtic ? pants that is how he is doing and Celtic would send him back if he carries on if they could.

Betrays the fact that you don't realise Celtic changed their defensive set up to three at the back, a system that clearly doesn't suit him. Something Lennon has been widely criticised for. Or do we go with your theory that overnight he has become a terrible player? Only an absolute idiot would think that. He is not a Potter player for sure - nor were Murray and Stephens. But sometimes you need players like that.

 

[Insel affe]

Betrays the fact that you don't realise Celtic changed their defensive set up to three at the back, a system that clearly doesn't suit him. Something Lennon has been widely criticised for. Or do we go with your theory that overnight he has become a terrible player? Only an absolute idiot would think that. He is not a Potter player for sure - nor were Murray and Stephens. But sometimes you need players like that.

I agree with you sir....

But teacher the other kids on NSC were implying that if Duffy was still here we would be doing better

 

[Rinkmaster]

That was very disappointing. We were poor through out, even in the first half when we were the better side we looked flat. Second half...ooof. Thoroughly outplayed by west brom. I reckon that was the worst performance of the season. Frustrating it came against as limited a side as West Brom.

Hopefully it's out of our system now and we can get back to playing well next game.

Totally agree with you that the 1st half was rubbish. If I had paid ppv for that display I would have been shouting for my money back. Mopay is obviously having a lean spell. Much as I love the guy give him a break. Should have been subbed for Welbeck b4 h/t

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

“You should have kept Hughton”

Come on just say it.

Seriously V - that ship has sailed a long time ago - get over it.