[Albion] Hürzeler’s (Brighton) Tactics

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lovelyboy

Active member
Nov 17, 2005
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Justice

Dangerous Idiot
Jun 21, 2012
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Born In Shoreham
Seven games in and I'm not 100% sure what we're trying to do.

By this point with RDZ the intent was at least clear. And he didn't have a pre-season.
It’s a head scratcher the season we retain our best players and add £200m worth of talent is the season we hire an equivalent league one manager or am I being harsh?

I have no idea how far down the list he was but by recent reports he wasn’t near the top.
 


Flounce

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Nov 15, 2006
4,256
It’s a head scratcher the season we retain our best players and add £200m worth of talent is the season we hire an equivalent league one manager or am I being harsh?

I have no idea how far down the list he was but by recent reports he wasn’t near the top.
When does game management become the players responsibility? In the last two games I think the players have failed on three occasions whilst winning, one of them with a 2 goal margin. Harsh to blame the manager yet imo. We have literally lost control when on top in both games, we got away with it in one of them.

A combination of a rookie manager and new players or players returning from injury means we are going to have hiccups. Let’s see how we’re doing by the end of the year before suggesting that the manager is League One standard.

In short - yes very harsh.
 
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Bakero

Languidly clinical
Oct 9, 2010
14,883
Almería
It’s a head scratcher the season we retain our best players and add £200m worth of talent is the season we hire an equivalent league one manager or am I being harsh?

I have no idea how far down the list he was but by recent reports he wasn’t near the top.

It's amazing that a League 1 coach was able to win Premier League Manager of the Month.
 




Jim in the West

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Sep 13, 2003
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Not a criticism just an observation. I've noticed on tv whenever there is a break in play and the camera goes to Dunk he looks incredibly stressed. I think he is either struggling or not enjoying himself at the moment.
I haven’t noticed this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dunk *is* stressed out. I know he was never quick, but he really seems to have lost pace this season. Perhaps it has more to do with his own performances…but obviously having to adjust to another new set of tactics, which include playing a high line, can’t be easy. Especially without much cover in front of him.
 


GrizzlingGammon

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
1,995
It's somewhat harsh to say we've spent £200 million and results aren't improving. Only 2 of the new recruits were ready and fit to play, and one of those got wiped out after a few minutes, leaving 1 new fit player. Wiefer is clearly being slowly brought into the team after his injury.

The starting lineup on Sunday had one new player.

Still undefeated and waiting for the new players to be fully up and running. But sometimes, reading on here, you'd think we've lost 5 games.
 


Triggaaar

Well-known member
Oct 24, 2005
53,133
Goldstone
Well yes.

NSC seems to be under the impression that we should have gone to the transfer market, to buy two centre backs who have all the ball playing, header winning and physical attributes of Dunk and JPVH, but can also reel in Salah in a 30 yard foot race

Or (and this might be a bit cheaper), don't keep such a high line.

Of course there are benefits of a high line if you can defend a simple ball over the top, but if you can't (and we can't) then you need to adjust.
 




sussex_guy2k2

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Jun 6, 2014
4,079
When does game management become the players responsibility? Two games on the bounce I think the players have failed on three occasions whilst winning. Harsh to blame the manager yet imo. We have literally lost control when on top in both games, we got away with it in one of them.
I’d say the exact opposite. We have a young team that needs guidance and that’s learning to play his style, whatever that proves to be. But there are times when the best managers know they have to be pragmatic to get results, and the new guy hasn’t yet shown that maturity. Which is understandable as he’s a young guy.

Still, we’re unbeaten, which is great as our team’s young and many of our new players haven’t been fit, but he definitely needs to take some blame for the dropped points against Ipswich and Forest. And if he continues to fail to adapt in game, as he has done so far, then some of these results will quickly start going against us as Prem sides are just too good.
 


sussex_guy2k2

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Jun 6, 2014
4,079
Or (and this might be a bit cheaper), don't keep such a high line.

Of course there are benefits of a high line if you can defend a simple ball over the top, but if you can't (and we can't) then you need to adjust.
The other thing you need to be able to do is defend the turnover more effectively by winning the ball back at source. Our current tactics don’t allow for that particularly, making it easy for one or two passes to get the opposition behind us.
 


One Teddy Maybank

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Aug 4, 2006
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Or (and this might be a bit cheaper), don't keep such a high line.

Of course there are benefits of a high line if you can defend a simple ball over the top, but if you can't (and we can't) then you need to adjust.

Though when he went to a 3 he effectively narrowed the holes between the two CBs, by going with three.

The issue is a complete lack of pace without Webster and Lamptey, and in reality neither of them are starters.

Hopefully, we’ll adjust vs Chelsea, as it will be a hammering.
 




One Teddy Maybank

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Aug 4, 2006
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Worthing
The other thing you need to be able to do is defend the turnover more effectively by winning the ball back at source. Our current tactics don’t allow for that particularly, making it easy for one or two passes to get the opposition behind us.

To be fair, I felt Saturday was our weakest effort in that respect, until then we seemed quite good.
 


One Teddy Maybank

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Aug 4, 2006
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I’d say the exact opposite. We have a young team that needs guidance and that’s learning to play his style, whatever that proves to be. But there are times when the best managers know they have to be pragmatic to get results, and the new guy hasn’t yet shown that maturity. Which is understandable as he’s a young guy.

Still, we’re unbeaten, which is great as our team’s young and many of our new players haven’t been fit, but he definitely needs to take some blame for the dropped points against Ipswich and Forest. And if he continues to fail to adapt in game, as he has done so far, then some of these results will quickly start going against us as Prem sides are just too good.

You can do so much from the touch line though, Venables used to give simple instructions for each half, which is the way to go IMO.
 


dejavuatbtn

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Aug 4, 2010
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Henfield
I haven’t noticed this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dunk *is* stressed out. I know he was never quick, but he really seems to have lost pace this season. Perhaps it has more to do with his own performances…but obviously having to adjust to another new set of tactics, which include playing a high line, can’t be easy. Especially without much cover in front of him.
Playing a high line against some of the quickest players in the world is always going to be difficult for central defenders in particular. I am not convinced we have the players to do this comfortably or effectively.
 






Nobby Cybergoat

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Jul 19, 2021
8,624
Or (and this might be a bit cheaper), don't keep such a high line.

Of course there are benefits of a high line if you can defend a simple ball over the top, but if you can't (and we can't) then you need to adjust.
A high line is the foundation of the game plan. It won't be changed because we concede goals.

This is a risk Hurzeler chooses to accept. We'll continue to concede goals like against Forest and Man Utd.

What I think we’ll see in the coming months is the forces working in the opposite direction of us improving the way we do it, so for example, I think clearly Veltman and more arguably Van Hecke likely went off script for the Forest equaliser, that will improve, but on the other side of it manager’s will work out the parts if the pitch and players who’s press is weakest and try to build up from deep there. A tactical cat and mouse.

What I’m certain, we’ll continue to see is Dunk and JP having to sprint back to their own goal after our trap has been sprung. We’ll undoubtedly get absolutely smashed by a Liverpool or Spurs at some stage this season.

The high line is also getting us goals. It's enabling us to turn the ball over high up
 


raymondo

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Apr 26, 2017
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Wiltshire
Our line is so high that we're on the halfway line!!
Veltman (I don't blame him) and co can be as smart as they like...but a quick break by fast attackers will still get through - they can pretty much run from their own half!
For me, needs a tweak to the tactics or good teams will score easily.
 


Nobby Cybergoat

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Jul 19, 2021
8,624
Our line is so high that we're on the halfway line!!
Veltman (I don't blame him) and co can be as smart as they like...but a quick break by fast attackers will still get through - they can pretty much run from their own half!
For me, needs a tweak to the tactics or good teams will score easily.
Had Veltman held the position he should have done, Forest would have been easily offside.

Not chewing the fella out who has had a terrific start to the season.

But these are the things we need to improve on if we're going to make this work
 




Han Solo

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May 25, 2024
2,454
I feel people are discussing problems that don't exist.
The high line is doing a massive amount of work for us. Nottingham 4 offsides and 4 attempts. Wolves 9 offsides and 9 attempts.

Offsided Arsenal 3 times, Ipswich 3 times, Man United 6 times, Everton 7 times. And this obviously doesn't mention the times where they avoid making the forward pass when discovering offside situations.

The league average is ~2 offsides per team and game. So we're doing a very good job eliminating attacks this way.

Unfortunately Veltman was a meter away from killing off another counter-attack with an otherwise perfect offside trap... and thats going to happen sometimes. It doesn't mean you should scrap the whole system that has made us very difficult to counterattack against in an efficient manner. Just like you shouldn't scrap playing out from the back just because it will inevitably fail every now and then.

We're going to concede a lot less goals this way compared to the whole "Lewis Dunk repeatedly 1vs1 against Romelu Lukaku" strategy from last year with a bunch of dangerous man-man situations in every game. But we're still going to concede goals every now and then, thats just how the game works.
 


Nobby Cybergoat

Well-known member
Jul 19, 2021
8,624
I feel people are discussing problems that don't exist.
The high line is doing a massive amount of work for us. Nottingham 4 offsides and 4 attempts. Wolves 9 offsides and 9 attempts.

Offsided Arsenal 3 times, Ipswich 3 times, Man United 6 times, Everton 7 times. And this obviously doesn't mention the times where they avoid making the forward pass when discovering offside situations.

The league average is ~2 offsides per team and game. So we're doing a very good job eliminating attacks this way.

Unfortunately Veltman was a meter away from killing off another counter-attack with an otherwise perfect offside trap... and thats going to happen sometimes. It doesn't mean you should scrap the whole system that has made us very difficult to counterattack against in an efficient manner. Just like you shouldn't scrap playing out from the back just because it will inevitably fail every now and then.

We're going to concede a lot less goals this way compared to the whole "Lewis Dunk repeatedly 1vs1 against Romelu Lukaku" strategy from last year with a bunch of dangerous man-man situations in every game. But we're still going to concede goals every now and then, thats just how the game works.
But it's the attacking potential as well. The idea is to give the opposition no easy outball. We're scoring goals from winning the ball back high up, eg Baleba against Wolves. We're also getting control of games with high possession, despite giving the ball away with high tariff passes, we're winning it back very quickly and able to pen in and strangle decent sides.

I think the problem with it, that when it goes wrong, which of course it will do, it just looks bad. Lazy TV analysts will slate these goals given up as tactical howlers dreamed up a young ideologue. But in my mind what's important is that the league table looks good. And at the moment it does.
 


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