[Albion] Potter DeZerbe and Hurzeler

[One Teddy Maybank]

I think Potter was quite lucky in some respects.

The home record was appalling for a spell, and quite possibly COVID helped him with no fans adding to the pressure.

Despite that he got there in the end….. and laid the foundation.

 

[Crawley Dingo]

To inconsistent to talk about luck, if there is its at the right time while the new and ex-injured players get it together. It wont be long in my opinion before we wont need any luck.

 

[Seagull on the Hill]

........ Poter and Hurzalar

I don't recognise these people, are they friends of Houghton?

 

[Shaktarman]

I don't recognise these people, are they friends of Houghton?

It’s still hurting my eyes and nobody else seems bothered

 

[SeagullinExile]

You make your own luck.

Nah. Luck is a virus.

Red Dwarf taught me that.

 

[drew]

Perhaps lucky we were not 4 down at half time but outstanding in 2nd half At Everton they missed 2 sitters in first 20mins then we dominated. Fortunate we did not go 2-1 down against Utd

What was fortunate about Utd? Offside is offside.

 

[oldboyroy]

Would be nice to buck our achilles heel v Wolves. Sooooo many points dropped v teams that just rock up and park the bus

The thing is Wolves aren't bad. Yes, they are struggling but I don't think they'll rock up and park the bus. They'll have a go but defensively they're not so good so hopefully we can exploit them.

 

[warmleyseagull]

I think Poter and Hurzalar are often not singled out when comparing the three of them.

All tree have had lukky maches.

 

[BadFish]

In the Potter era especially lots of possession and shots from outside the box don’t win games. Fans lord the opposition keeper although in my view that defence splitting pass never came in those games or the fight wasn’t there to get in to them and open them up.
Rutter is determined that cross he put in for Welbeck against Spurs is what was missing in those dull possession games we couldn’t win at home.

This, the way I see it is that Hurtzball means that we get some quick attacks that can open up defences. This means we will always get goals and appear lucky. Newcastle is a good example of this.

What is seen as lucky by some is a product of our style of play.

Piss farting about with it for hours on end and not producing good quality shooting chances simply does not look lucky.

 

[warmleyseagull]

I think Potter was quite lucky in some respects.

The home record was appalling for a spell, and quite possibly COVID helped him with no fans adding to the pressure.

Despite that he got there in the end….. and laid the foundation.

6 defeats in a row followed by 0-0 against Norwich; 7 games, one point and only goal was scored by Dunk. Short memory - it was post Covid in Feb/Mar 22.

In next game, Mwepu came back from injury and Caicedo started first game. Next 8: W5 D2 L1 starting with 2-1 at Emirates. Finished 9th and GP was main man. He wasn't; Caicedo was.

GP was honest enough to admit later that he should have started Caicedo earlier after his return from Beerschot. Had he done so, Brighton would very likely have got the 6 points needed to qualify for Europe from the disastrous run of results in Feb/Mar.

Triumph of achievement of best finish in history sounded out the lost opportunity that we could have done even better.

 

[Justice]

This, the way I see it is that Hurtzball means that we get some quick attacks that can open up defences. This means we will always get goals and appear lucky. Newcastle is a good example of this.

What is seen as lucky by some is a product of our style of play.

Piss farting about with it for hours on end and not producing good quality shooting chances simply does not look lucky.

Indeed 40% possession and 3 points away at Newcastle who hadn’t lost.a home game since January very satisfying.
That result in a way put us on the map I’ve heard Liverpool fans on TS today saying iff we can get something against Brighton we might mean business for a title charge.

 

[Justice]

6 defeats in a row followed by 0-0 against Norwich; 7 games, one point and only goal was scored by Dunk. Short memory - it was post Covid in Feb/Mar 22.

In next game, Mwepu came back from injury and Caicedo started first game. Next 8: W5 D2 L1 starting with 2-1 at Emirates. Finished 9th and GP was main man. He wasn't; Caicedo was.

GP was honest enough to admit later that he should have started Caicedo earlier after his return from Beerschot. Had he done so, Brighton would very likely have got the 6 points needed to qualify for Europe from the disastrous run of results in Feb/Mar.

Triumph of achievement of best finish in history sounded out the lost opportunity that we could have done even better.

I’ve always said Caceido got him the Chelsea job not his managerial skills. Finally we stopped getting overrun in midfield.

 

[nickjhs]

.........Welbeck’s goal really was against the run of play.

So far we have beaten Man U, Spurs, and Newcastle, drawn against Arsenal and only lost to Chelsea (from which FH clearly made changes as a result). Games we would normally expect to win and historically we tend to lose we have won or drawn. It can't all be down to luck. From the top down we have a fantastically run club and FH is yet another amazing signing. Possession doesn't win games, of all the teams in the PL that should be glaringly obvious to us. As you said Hurzeler has the team digging in and supporting each other, we have centre-backs taking shots and forwards defending. Just because a player gets into a scoring position doesn't mean it was luck that they didn't score, if this was the case scorelines would be much much higher. I think what we are seeing is the exact opposite of what the pundits were worried about. We have a young manager who rather than dictate, has brought the squad together and they are all working on his ideas together.

 

[Farehamseagull]

It’s too early to say with FH but I like what I see so far. We are prioritising winning games of football rather than getting 75% possession or failing to convert an xG of 12. There has been luck - good (Man United) and bad (Ipswich) - but he’s had one real stinker of a game (Chelsea) and a half (Spurs) and learned and adapted quickly and pragmatically. Very happy with our choice so far.

Agreed but even in the Chelsea game we were better and more solid in the second half so he tweaked things during the game to improve us then. I was really worried at half time but we definitely got better. Really liked his response after that game too.

As I put on another thread, we’ve had a tough start and yet taken 15 points from our first eight games - we only took 9 from the same fixtures last season. Having played 4 of the other 7 teams in the top 8 and with a whole new coaching staff and a load of new players, I think it’s a really impressive start and Fabian deserves a lot of credit.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Mentioned on another thread.

The perception of being ‘lucky’ this season is partly I think because the oppo is getting more disallowed goals against us from offsides.

But that’s not luck - or that we have suddenly becoming the darlings of FA match officials - we are beginning to defend much better imo - part of that is an improvement in our playing the offside trap as we press and counter press with a higher defensive line. We had more offsides this season than any other PL team after 4 games.

And also, Gary Player.

"The more I practice, the luckier I get".

 

[Albion my Albion]

I think Poter and Hurzalar are often not singled out when comparing the three of them.

Squater & Hürtsolar should be singled and doubled out more.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Agreed but even in the Chelsea game we were better and more solid in the second half so he tweaked things during the game to improve us then. I was really worried at half time but we definitely got better. Really liked his response after that game too.

As I put on another thread, we’ve had a tough start and yet taken 15 points from our first eight games - we only took 9 from the same fixtures last season. Having played 4 of the other 7 teams in the top 8 and with a whole new coaching staff and a load of new players, I think it’s a really impressive start and Fabian deserves a lot of credit.

Good post. And it’s worth reminding people that this young coach has only lost ONCE since he joined us, in friendlies, EPL and cup games, and that was to Chelsea away.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

6 defeats in a row followed by 0-0 against Norwich; 7 games, one point and only goal was scored by Dunk. Short memory - it was post Covid in Feb/Mar 22.

In next game, Mwepu came back from injury and Caicedo started first game. Next 8: W5 D2 L1 starting with 2-1 at Emirates. Finished 9th and GP was main man. He wasn't; Caicedo was.

GP was honest enough to admit later that he should have started Caicedo earlier after his return from Beerschot. Had he done so, Brighton would very likely have got the 6 points needed to qualify for Europe from the disastrous run of results in Feb/Mar.

Triumph of achievement of best finish in history sounded out the lost opportunity that we could have done even better.

Well 9 wins out of 38 between 2019 and 2021 would suggest my memory isn’t that short…..
5 wins - 19/20
4 wins - 20/21

I would suggest not having fans when COVID hit was fortunate for him, because that is a poor record, and as you say it took a while to improve post-COVID.

 

[HeaviestTed]

Im going to withhold judgement until later on in the season - it could be luck, it could be skill but we haven’t seen enough results to know - we need to see the other leg of sons of these games at a minimum.

I am enjoying it though

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Agreed but even in the Chelsea game we were better and more solid in the second half so he tweaked things during the game to improve us then. I was really worried at half time but we definitely got better. Really liked his response after that game too.

As I put on another thread, we’ve had a tough start and yet taken 15 points from our first eight games - we only took 9 from the same fixtures last season. Having played 4 of the other 7 teams in the top 8 and with a whole new coaching staff and a load of new players, I think it’s a really impressive start and Fabian deserves a lot of credit.

Thought we were equally appalling, just different problems.
Don’t recall a meaningful shot in the second half, and also recall bad finishing by them in the second half. Webbo last ditch clearances.

That game was shocking and continued into the first half versus Spurs.