[Albion] Going too early?

[rippleman]

And Locadia was on the bench and Connolly was absent (presumably still injured and not risked).
Like it or not we have 4 senior strikers now and thats before you get into the argument of whether Trossard - who mostly played as a central forward on Saturday is in fact a centre forward.

Locadia isn't a striker; he is barely a footballer. Have you seen him play or is it so long ago that the memory has clouded?

A player who has failed to make the grade in the MLS will not an EPL player make. Just gotta hope that Maupay can stay fit. I do of course also hope that Welbeck stays fit but that is a totally forlorn hope.

 

[chaileyjem]

I disagree with the article, and would suggest having two GKs and Locadia on the bench is the very reason why we need better more depth and quality up front.
The same issue re finishing appeared again on Saturday with Welbeck, and I wonder whether we'd have been forgiving it we'd lost 1-0.

Bit harsh on Welbeck . The through ball from Trossard whilst great in terms of potential didn't have quite the strength on it for him to take it in his stride which explains why he snatched on it.

 

[chaileyjem]

Locadia isn't a striker; he is barely a footballer. Have you seen him play or is it so long ago that the memory has clouded?

A player who has failed to make the grade in the MLS will not an EPL player make. Just gotta hope that Maupay can stay fit. I do of course also hope that Welbeck stays fit but that is a totally forlorn hope.

I said like it or not. He's now part of our striker line up. You clearly don't like it !! fair enough. Who denies he doesn't have a lot to prove. But we clearly now have 4 strikers not 3.

PS: who knows about Welbeck's fitness this season - but last year despite the reputation we saw a lot of him. He missed 8 games out of 30 due to injuries.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Well I think we’re better than we think we are. Individual players improving all round, new players fitting the jigsaw and developing players coming through. To be honest I think more established clubs will be looking over their shoulders and start to worry about playing us.
I, for one, am loving it.
And as far as Naylor is concerned, not everyone was worried about the lack of movement for a striker, especially if they don’t fit the bill at the right money.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

2 goalies on the bench because of this stupid 9 subs thing, it's unnecessary. And why shouldn't Locadia be on the bench?

Also, that wasn't an easy chance for Welbeck at all. He hit it a bit tamely in the end but it was no more than half a chance.

And the issue on Saturday wasn't about finishing or taking chances. If you're going to be critical of our performance it would be that we didn't pass well enough or create much at all.

Critical also that we didn't get our game together at all early on, Brentford had chances, and on another day could have been two up at the interval.

 

[bluenitsuj]

Far too early. We have played only 1 decent team so far and they beat us.

 

[Stat Brother]

It might not generate 10,000 words for The Athletic, but if circumstances allow, the Stats will be going too early on Sunday.

Thankfully we're in the ESL so will probably still have to lock up behind us.


#BadFans.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Well I think we’re better than we think we are. Individual players improving all round, new players fitting the jigsaw and developing players coming through. To be honest I think more established clubs will be looking over their shoulders and start to worry about playing us.
I, for one, am loving it.
And as far as Naylor is concerned, not everyone was worried about the lack of movement for a striker, especially if they don’t fit the bill at the right money.

Say all this in a couple of months time, and with a few more positive results under our belt, and l may just be tempted to agree with you.

For now though, let's just wait and see.

 

[amexer]

Strange but pleasing start to season. Dominated so many games last season and havent done in one game so far. Would go as far as saying couldnt say apart from maybe Watford have not played well and were poor against Everton.
If our aim again is to stay up it is essential we beat teams in lower half so great start.. Of course like all sides want a 20 goal a season striker but whatever you spend no guarantee. Look at Sheffield. Potter and Bloom are hoping we create as many chances as last season and put away more.
Weakness last season was LB/LWB and hopefully this now solved.
Big worry so far is lack of contribution from Lalana. Feeding forwards from an advanced midfield position is key and unless he starts getting into games can see Moder taking over that role.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Far too early. We have played only 1 decent team so far and they beat us.

Correct.

 

[Clive Walker]

Well I think we’re better than we think we are. Individual players improving all round, new players fitting the jigsaw and developing players coming through. To be honest I think more established clubs will be looking over their shoulders and start to worry about playing us.
I, for one, am loving it.
And as far as Naylor is concerned, not everyone was worried about the lack of movement for a striker, especially if they don’t fit the bill at the right money.

and we still have Tariq to return!

 

[Icy Gull]

Locadia isn't a striker; he is barely a footballer. Have you seen him play or is it so long ago that the memory has clouded?

A player who has failed to make the grade in the MLS will not an EPL player make. Just gotta hope that Maupay can stay fit. I do of course also hope that Welbeck stays fit but that is a totally forlorn hope.

He did OK in Germany I think, he also scored a worldy against Millwall to bring us back into the game and on the way to Wembley.

Maybe you’re the one whose memory has clouded with the witch hunt on NSC. Not even a footballer? His stats for BHA would suggest otherwise, maybe not a massive success but few of our strikers are and he didn’t play that much.

https://www.infogol.net/en/player/jürgen-locadia/3710

 

[PHCgull]

Potter brought on from the bench a Polish international who provided the assist to the assist, an Argentinian international who provided the assist, and a wing back who's made 114 appearances in the Premier League and not far off our player of the year last season. He also had sitting there another international who last year scored the winner against Liverpool as well as a 19 and 20 year old who are some of the brightest prospects from the club in a long while. Panic stations indeed.

fair point well made i suppose.

Nevertheless it *feels* like we are a bit thin... especially with welbeck's history of breaking and lallana strangely off colour on saturday... maybe more than a couple then, lets say we had injury crisis and alzate was starting regularly, with richards and roberts regularly used as subs... would we be okay with that?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

The Athletic emailed me (and possibly you) the below, which is the start of an article that sits behind their paywall...

Multifaceted Brighton making a mockery of perceived No 9 weakness

Brighton’s flying start to the season is confounding the critics who insist they needed to splash out on a striker in the transfer window.

It’s still early days but the way Graham Potter is using the players at his disposal has been handsomely rewarded by three wins from his team’s opening four matches.

The unprecedented nature of the club’s eye-catching launch to their fifth campaign in the Premier League is highlighted by one outstanding statistic — they already have nine points following Saturday’s 1-0 victory away to Brentford and they’ve never had more than nine points after eight games in any of their four previous seasons in the top flight.​

Whilst I'm absolutely delighted with our start, isn't it a wee bit early for such triumphalism?

Were loose

 

[chaileyjem]

fair point well made i suppose.

Nevertheless it *feels* like we are a bit thin... especially with welbeck's history of breaking and lallana strangely off colour on saturday... maybe more than a couple then, lets say we had injury crisis and alzate was starting regularly, with richards and roberts regularly used as subs... would we be okay with that?

Webster's absence is going to be tough but Potter still has option of a back three with Dunk, Duffy, Veltman or back four with Dunk, Duffy and various LB/RB/Wing back options.
Gross, Lamptey, Mwepu are far more likely to be ahead of Richards and Roberts and on Saturday he couldn't find a starting spot for March, Moder, Alzate, and MacAllister.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

The Athletic emailed me (and possibly you) the below, which is the start of an article that sits behind their paywall...

Multifaceted Brighton making a mockery of perceived No 9 weakness

Brighton’s flying start to the season is confounding the critics who insist they needed to splash out on a striker in the transfer window.

It’s still early days but the way Graham Potter is using the players at his disposal has been handsomely rewarded by three wins from his team’s opening four matches.

The unprecedented nature of the club’s eye-catching launch to their fifth campaign in the Premier League is highlighted by one outstanding statistic — they already have nine points following Saturday’s 1-0 victory away to Brentford and they’ve never had more than nine points after eight games in any of their four previous seasons in the top flight.​

Whilst I'm absolutely delighted with our start, isn't it a wee bit early for such triumphalism?

Just a shade! Four winnable games. Not that I'm not pleased, but n=4 is not a large enough sample to inform a conclusion.

 

[Hotchilidog]

It's way too early for any sort of triumphalism, but I felt the article did explain the club's philosophy re goal-scoring. They are focused on the number of goals rather than who is scoring and they expect the team to contribute rather than just rely on one or two individuals. It's clear that Nunez and Garcia (?) were players we were genuinely interested in but once we could not get them in they were not going to get someone in just for the sake of it.

Whilst Man City's quality precludes them from being a decent comparison for us but they employ a similar philosophy and do pretty well.

It's been a fine start to the season and I think there is no harm in enjoying right now as there will surely be tougher times ahead later in the season.

 

[AmexRuislip]

Best PL club in East Sussex

 

[Perkino]

We have made a wonderful start to the season, beating sides in games we would've previously drawn. The tracker gives us a clear indication that we had an easier start but that brings a degree of pressure which we have dealt well with. The squad was intentionally thinned over the summer and maybe we missed out on a couple of potential incomers or maybe Potter feels the youngsters around the squad deserve their chance.

Most seasons an unexpected sides has a good start and collectively the football world says the bubble will burst soon and they seem to sustain their accumulation of points for the majority of the season. If we manage to gather enough early wins then the momentum may be on our side to hold on to a top 10 finish which would give our recruitment team a fabulous selling point when trying to add talented individuals to the squad

 

[Lethargic]

And Locadia was on the bench and Connolly was absent (presumably still injured and not risked).
Like it or not we have 4 senior strikers now and thats before you get into the argument of whether Trossard - who mostly played as a central forward on Saturday is in fact a centre forward.

Until proven otherwise I will stick with my 2/3rd but yes makes the article even more sensationalist.