[Football] Not good enough

[Hiheidi]

Did this include that pair who seemed more interested in bench-pressing than medical affairs?

Both long gone. One of which was Adam Brett, head of medical and performance, who'd been here 9 and a half years - before leaving in August.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Any team that presses a lot train very hard, which is most of them these days. Klopp’s Liverpool looked knackered last season but have a chance of the title this season. Newcastle have had more injuries than us this season. It’s not unique to RDZ.

Our hench physios and club doctor seem to have disappeared though. Bit of an elephant in the room that one,

Liverpool‘s challenged is coming off the rails. Players as talented as that shouldn’t be converted to race horses. Like our team they look absolutely knackered. All the money in the world won’t give them more stamina than is humanly achievable.
This style of football will eventually burn itself out, as it has the players whose talents are being frittered away due to exhaustion. I’d rather see skill than a survival of the fittest.

 

[GT49er]

There are two people who are best placed to see the bigger picture of what is going on at Brighton.

Luckily those two people are the ones that have to make the decisions regarding the development of our football club.

Even more lucky is that they also have a track record of making (mostly) fine decisions to progress the club thus far.

The way I see it is our role in all this is not to lose our shit and get all torches and pitch forms when things don't go as well as they can.

I guess this makes me a happy clapper! But seriously if you are not happy with where we are at at the moment you are supporting the wrong club. Thank f*** that some posters on here arent making the decisions regarding the clubs progress.

This summer is going to be exciting I feel. I am really looking forward to next season.

This is a fans' forum board. We're not here to make decisions, of course - but we are here to make discussions.

But thanks for the lecture anyway.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

It's a combination of things for me.

1. Our CM is undeniably weaker. Gilmour and Gross have done a fine job of covering the gap but injuries and over working of Gross has finally caught up with us to show us what we already knew. Ali Mac and Caceido are massive misses and the next cabs off the rank aren't really there this time around.

2. Our left side last year was one of the best in world football. Estupinian currently looks like a Poundland version of himself and Mitoma hasn't really been around since Christmas. It's a shadow of what it was last season.

3. Enciso was unplayable at wolves then got injured. Pedro against Palace similarly. Injuries are one thing but the timing of them another. No Pedro for Wolves / Rome really cost us.

4. Ferguson has disappeared. Undav is banging goals in for Stuttgart. We've never under Potter or De Zerbi been a free scoring side when Moder has been in the side for whatever reason. We had to rely on clown show defending to get goals against Forest and Burnley. The drill before the game yesterday was worth watching. The finishing from everyone bar Welbeck was absolute pub team stuff. We just don't look like scoring. After I watched that I stuck a bet on Burnley to win.

5. De Zerbi has done himself no favours since Christmas. It's his job to get the best out of what we've got and he's spent too much time moaning about it. The tactics in Rome were naive in the extreme. He's been brilliant for most of his tenure but the version we've had for the last 3 months I'd rather went elsewhere next year if he wants to go.

Roll on August, a few new faces and a refreshed squad.

 

[amexer]

A little harsh many of comments are on here. It realy is not a bad season finishing half way in PL and a poor spell is always likely to occur. Circumstances have now changed. Not long ago we had Caicedo Mitoma Macalister etc out on loan and came back to play big parts. From what I can see we have no players of similar quality out on loan ready to play a definate part. To maintain PL top ten position some big decisions will have to be made in getting in all but ready players. This plus replacing Welbeck Lalana etc will mean a different approach by club. If Bloom still 100% sticks to doing the same and bring in promising 18/20 year olds we may struggle next season. I realy hope our recruitment team is ok because we have lost many senior people.

 

[Justice]

It's a combination of things for me.

1. Our CM is undeniably weaker. Gilmour and Gross have done a fine job of covering the gap but injuries and over working of Gross has finally caught up with us to show us what we already knew. Ali Mac and Caceido are massive misses and the next cabs off the rank aren't really there this time around.

2. Our left side last year was one of the best in world football. Estupinian currently looks like a Poundland version of himself and Mitoma hasn't really been around since Christmas. It's a shadow of what it was last season.

3. Enciso was unplayable at wolves then got injured. Pedro against Palace similarly. Injuries are one thing but the timing of them another. No Pedro for Wolves / Rome really cost us.

4. Ferguson has disappeared. Undav is banging goals in for Stuttgart. We've never under Potter or De Zerbi been a free scoring side when Moder has been in the side for whatever reason. We had to rely on clown show defending to get goals against Forest and Burnley. The drill before the game yesterday was worth watching. The finishing from everyone bar Welbeck was absolute pub team stuff. We just don't look like scoring. After I watched that I stuck a bet on Burnley to win.

5. De Zerbi has done himself no favours since Christmas. It's his job to get the best out of what we've got and he's spent too much time moaning about it. The tactics in Rome were naive in the extreme. He's been brilliant for most of his tenure but the version we've had for the last 3 months I'd rather went elsewhere next year if he wants to go.

Roll on August, a few new faces and a refreshed squad.

He knew he needed some help in January Blooms stance was misguided relying on injured players returning and to pick up form almost immediately.
Who was right and who was wrong?

 

[amexer]

He knew he needed some help in January Blooms stance was misguided relying on injured players returning and to pick up form almost immediately.
Who was right and who was wrong?

would have helped if we had kept Dahoud and Undav who I assume DeZerbi agreed to loan out

 

[Hiheidi]

He knew he needed some help in January Blooms stance was misguided relying on injured players returning and to pick up form almost immediately.
Who was right and who was wrong?

And, at the very least if he didn't want to buy anyone, we should have kept Sarmiento when he came back from West Brom. Ipswich are using him as an impact sub, so pretty sure he'd have at least got the same if not more minutes with us.

 

[Hugo Rune]

We have lost some pace and dynamism over the last few weeks. Mitoma, March and Hinshelwood who gave us a lot of energy down that right hand side.
Added to that Pervis either has an injury or his mind is elsewhere.
Today our fullbacks for the majority of the game were Igor ( who defended well) and Veltman. Hardly the most dynamic fullbacks going forwards.
Having said all this Burnley have been a lot better recently. A 2/2 draw with Cleasea, away, and down to ten men for the majority of the game. I thought they ran their hearts out today for their cause. We lacked cutting edge but some of the comments on NSC are a bit over the top tonight.

Good post.

What I believe has happened is the following:

1. The club failed to ‘insure’ certain positions such as the left footed right winger and attacking left back with comparable back-up in the last window. This was done in partnership with RDZ.

2. Injuries and poor form have hit the positions where we have the least numbers on the flanks. The likes of Ferguson and Pervis have been poor (for various reasons) compared to their form last season.

3. Certain signings just haven’t worked out. Dahoud and Milner being key example.

4. After the Roma spanking, it seems the high risk strategy has been shelved until next season. My guess is because RDZ does not trust players like Baleba (see Burnley goal) to play the system correctly. The injury to Gilmour was the nail in the coffin here. Dezerbiball has been ditched.

Centrally, Moder and Baleba are not trusted to play the high risk, high reward system we are used too. The risks are now too high. We are also so much weaker on our flanks (in an attacking sense) without Mitoma and March allied to Enciso and Adingra (since the African Cup of Nations) being injured or ineffective. Just watch the highlights of our away game against Sheff Utd to see how important Mitoma is for our attacking. They shit themselves and tried to break his thigh.

In conclusion, a top 10 finish would be outstanding considering the key injuries we have endured. The club won’t make the same mistakes in the next window in terms of recruitment either. Be it trusting RDZ’s instincts on the likes of Fati or Dahoud or not having effective back-up or competition in key positions such as central midfield or inverted right wingers.

We took two steps forward last season (one by Potter and another by RDZ) but have taken one back this season. But I believe with the correct recruitment in the summer, we could take two steps forward again and challenge for the top 5.

I’m already looking forward to it.

 

[Justice]

would have helped if we had kept Dahoud and Undav who I assume DeZerbi agreed to loan out

Undav had personal issues although Dahoud made one mistake and got binned. Earlier in the season he had played well especially at Manure away being his best performance. Must of been more to it than the red card.

 

[Hiheidi]

We took two steps forward last season (one by Potter and another by RDZ) but have taken one back this season. But I believe with the correct recruitment in the summer, we could take two steps forward again and challenge for the top 5.

Agree. I think maybe all of us - club, media, fans - got caught up on the narrative that we could sell our best players and not miss a beat; perpetuated by our improvement after the departure of Bissouma and Cucurella. But actually it was a false narrative because they weren't our best players and we had in place or bought in ready made, good to go replacements in Caicedo and Estupinan.

This Summer, we actually did lose our best players and didn't really have anything near equal replacements at the club or available to bring in. Then with Estupinan's demise, it's like the departures from the two previous Summer windows have caught up with us.

The club will have lots of learnings, and hopefully a good Summer of recruitment coupled with moving on some players where it would benefit us to do so.

 

[Change at Barnham]

It's a combination of things for me.

1. Our CM is undeniably weaker. Gilmour and Gross have done a fine job of covering the gap but injuries and over working of Gross has finally caught up with us to show us what we already knew. Ali Mac and Caceido are massive misses and the next cabs off the rank aren't really there this time around.

2. Our left side last year was one of the best in world football. Estupinian currently looks like a Poundland version of himself and Mitoma hasn't really been around since Christmas. It's a shadow of what it was last season.

3. Enciso was unplayable at wolves then got injured. Pedro against Palace similarly. Injuries are one thing but the timing of them another. No Pedro for Wolves / Rome really cost us.

4. Ferguson has disappeared. Undav is banging goals in for Stuttgart. We've never under Potter or De Zerbi been a free scoring side when Moder has been in the side for whatever reason. We had to rely on clown show defending to get goals against Forest and Burnley. The drill before the game yesterday was worth watching. The finishing from everyone bar Welbeck was absolute pub team stuff. We just don't look like scoring. After I watched that I stuck a bet on Burnley to win.

5. De Zerbi has done himself no favours since Christmas. It's his job to get the best out of what we've got and he's spent too much time moaning about it. The tactics in Rome were naive in the extreme. He's been brilliant for most of his tenure but the version we've had for the last 3 months I'd rather went elsewhere next year if he wants to go.

Roll on August, a few new faces and a refreshed squad.

Your first four points are clear evidence of why RDZ has struggled. Guardiola or Klopp would have struggled with the squad RDZ was left with.
Our squad has been decimated by injury.

In point five you mention your frustration: "It's his job to get the best out of what we've got".
In what is probably the strongest league in the world that is quite a challenge with only half a squad and many of your best players unavailable for long periods.

RDZ has been honest throughout and I don't think he's ever said anything inaccurate.
We also need to remember that under Premier League rules RDZ has to attend the press conferences. Maybe his error has been to be too open and honest.

I very much hope we can begin next season with RDZ in charge and 2 or 3 new quality additions. (and hang on to Pascal Groß).
Apart from the Big Six/Seven, most clubs would love to be where we currently are.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The Pigeons have come home to Roost. If you sell all your best players every season and do not replace them with the same quality Bissouma, Burn, White, Trossard, Caiciedo, Macalister plus Mwepu take a punt with rookies and have a nightmare list of injuries which needs to be looked into something has to give. We have had a great run and made a lot of money but the team is a shadow of the one a year ago. Do not blame De Zerbi he made it clear from day 1 he is ambitious and wanted to aspire to european football every season. Because of all of the above this is simply not realistic

 

[portlock seagull]

And, at the very least if he didn't want to buy anyone, we should have kept Sarmiento when he came back from West Brom. Ipswich are using him as an impact sub, so pretty sure he'd have at least got the same if not more minutes with us.

I was surprised when we let him out at beginning of season, he was good enough last. An outstanding prospect. We need him back!

 

[BadFish]

This is a forum! It where debate happens! Posters are well within their rights to have a different opinion and vent any frustrations!
You can have frustrations but still be happy with the overall place we are in!

This is a fans' forum board. We're not here to make decisions, of course - but we are here to make discussions.

But thanks for the lecture anyway.

I didn't mean to lecture, I was just adding a little context to the discussion. I know that in this day and age, we all believe in the god given right to holding and expressing our opinions but sometimes it is humbling and focusing to understand that actually the opinion we have been posting ad nauseam on thread after thread, and then defending ad nauseam on thread after thread really means the square root of f*** all.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The Pigeons have come home to Roost. If you sell all your best players every season and do not replace them with the same quality Bissouma, Burn, White, Trossard, Caiciedo, Macalister take a punt with rookies and have a nightmare list of injuries which needs to be looked into something has to give. We have had a great run and made a lot of money but the team is a shadow of the one a year ago. Do not blame De Zerbi he made it clear from day 1 he is ambitious and wanted to aspire to european football every season. Because of all of the above this is simply not realistic

There's no accounting for the freakish injury list. Agree with the rest of your post tho. Said it before, say it again: the higher the quality of player you sell, the harder it gets to replace them with a ready-made replacement of similar quality. There's also a bit of an age crisis looming in the next couple of years. A fair few of our squad are in their thirties now and nearing the end of their careers at this level. They'll need replacing with, again, experienced ready-made replacements of similar quality. The Kids Are Alright, as it were, but there's a big gap to be bridged there. We live in interesting times. Fascinating, even

 

[Napper]

If the season started tomorrow then I reckon we would be heading for relegation and a horrible season

Luckily players will come back and hopefully signings but we are bang in trouble in this league as things stand

 

[Justice]

And, at the very least if he didn't want to buy anyone, we should have kept Sarmiento when he came back from West Brom. Ipswich are using him as an impact sub, so pretty sure he'd have at least got the same if not more minutes with us.

That was a strange he rarely starts a game for Ipswich he would be better on our bench then theirs. He said in an interview if Ipswich get promoted he stays with them I don’t know if that’s on loan or permanent.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I didn't mean to lecture, I was just adding a little context to the discussion. I know that in this day and age, we all believe in the god given right to holding and expressing our opinions but sometimes it is humbling and focusing to understand that actually the opinion we have been posting ad nauseam on thread after thread, and then defending ad nauseam on thread after thread really means the square root of f*** all.

You could condense this whole forum down to about 8 original posts, the amount of ad infinitum repetition that goes on, which is in part because people quite understandably don't bother trawling back through long threads, but also because day on day another thread about same topic with a different title crops up. Groundhog Stand Chat.

 

[Arkwright]

The two recent away games against Brentford and Burnley which seem to have angered most people for me we didn't play that badly in open play we just lack that final ball in the final third.
We've had to play Pedro out of position and really he is our main threat up top.
We miss Mitoma and March and lack a powerhouse in midfield.
We really aren't far off being a regular top seven team.
Keep the Faith.