Poyet in the Mail
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clippedgull
Hotdogs, extra onions
Good article too 
Mail on Sunday
Gus Poyet says English football has to blend tradition with a passing game - and play it the Brighton way
By ROB DRAPER 13th February 2011
With the sun rising over the South Downs on a crisp and glorious Sussex morning, Gus Poyet takes in a scene that is quintessentially English - and delivers a critical verdict on the state of the national game.
Poyet has been in love with English football since he uprooted his family from a comfortable life in Zaragoza and joined Chelsea 14 years ago.
But now, as manager of Brighton and Hove Albion, he is relishing the chance to see his belief in the way football should be played reap its reward with a Premier League scalp to add to FA Cup conquests when they face Stoke in Saturday's fifth round.
Beautiful game: Gustavo Poyet thinks other clubs shoudl follow Brighton's example
The 43-year-old Uruguayan has transformed Brighton since taking over 15 months ago, convincing his team to adopt the stylish, passing football that has made them runaway leaders of League One.
In doing so, he has learned much about the state of English football - and the problems inherent in a game that, in many quarters, condones the sort of aggressive tackle that landed Newcastle's Joey Barton in more controversy last week.
For Poyet, the most baffling aspect of Barton's challenge on Abou Diaby, which saw the Arsenal midfielder sent off for retaliation, was that so many in English football - TV pundit Alan Shearer and former referee Graham Poll among them - defended it.
'If he had done that in my country, it would have meant a fight,' says Poyet. 'I accept it because I'm in England but I don't like it.
'What surprises me most is the pundits who said it was a very good tackle. I listen to them and I laugh. If he breaks Diaby's leg, I cannot accept anyone saying that is a good tackle. It's absolute rubbish.'
So does English football play to a different version of the rules?
'Definitely,' says Poyet. 'Here in England you can go with your leg up showing your studs and get the ball and it's not a foul. Everywhere else in the world it's a foul. Jump with two hands on the back of someone and here they say it is a good challenge. Anywhere else in the world it's a foul.'
Poyet has no desire to drive aggression out of the English game. But he believes the more skilful aspects have been neglected and lack of success at European and international level is the inevitable result.
'The problem is when you go in Europe you need to adapt,' he says.
'There is also a fear that if someone makes a mistake you're going to get the blame. I always say to my players that I accept the responsibility. If we lose because we're playing a passing game, it's my mistake. It takes the pressure off them.'
He illustrates his point with a simple lesson he has drummed into his players at Brighton.
'It's well known in England that when the ball is going forward every centre-half in the division loves to head it as high and as long as possible back down the pitch,' he says.
'We do that if it's a 50–50 ball. But if we are on our own, I tell them to bring the ball down, don't just give it away.
'That doesn't mean we never play the ball long. It's not like we only pass the ball. But we have made a big change. If you are able to convince your players, then you can get both sides into your game. You can get the aggression, the craziness, the pace, the commitment, the good part of English football. But also you can do the other side. 'It's also about taking risks. To win you need risk. When you play long from the back and kick it away into the last third, you don't take any risk, it's easier.'
Poyet is no football purist. He refuses to condemn Stoke's deployment of Rory Delap's long throws - much derided by some critics.
'It's fair,' says Poyet. 'It's a way of getting some advantage. If I had the lad with me, I would use him, but not all the time.
'If you use it at the right time, it's great. Roberto Carlos had a long throw but did you see him sending every throw into the box? No.'
He concedes that his football philosophy has not always paid off for others. Former Chelsea team-mate, Roberto Di Matteo, also a disciple of the passing game, has just been sacked by West Bromwich Albion after three wins in 18 games.
'People only look at the way we pass the ball and the way we take risks,' he says.
'But our success is also because of the way we defend. We are the best team in defending. It's not sexy, like "Let's play fantastic flickies and one-twos and forget about the rest." No, no. First play the basics, which means you need to defend well.'
It is an exciting time to be a Brighton supporter and not just because of the football on display. For 14 years, since the controversial sale of their old Goldstone Ground, they have wandered like an exiled tribe, enduring a 140-mile round trip to groundshare with Gillingham, in Kent, before moving back to Brighton to the wholly unsuitable Withdean Stadium, a venue built for athletics and including the obstacle, for watching football fans, of a hammer cage.
Now, with the Championship and an FA Cup quarter-final in their grasp, they are about to move into a 22,500 all-seater stadium, the American Express Community Stadium, at Falmer, just outside Brighton.
The ground has been funded by a benefactor chairman, Tony Bloom, who believed that £90 million was better spent on infrastructure to sustain the club through generations, rather than on a star striker and centrehalf.
The excitement at the club is palpable.
'I'm the one trying to keep things calm,' says Poyet.
For a man who has made no secret of his ambition to manage at the top - and Chelsea would be the obvious job one day - it seems there has been a shift in aspirations over the past year.
'My mentality now is to stay here for a long time,' he says. 'If we can do the things we are doing here, then why not?
'Of course, I could do different things. When I didn't get the job I wanted [his spell as assistant manager at Tottenham ended in October 2008], I was trying other things, trying to set up another business.'
And he puts his hand on his heart as he adds: 'Football is here and at the moment it is going well, so I hope I can do it for a long time.
'I do it because I want to prove that what I believe works. And that's something personal.'
His affinity for England is also personal, and the Poyet name may yet be written in the annals of the national team through his son, Diego, a Charlton Athletic trainee and stalwart of the England Under-16 side.
'If I see the name Poyet on the England shirt, it's going to be strange,' he concedes. 'But he got British citizenship last week, so why not?'
Mail on Sunday
Gus Poyet says English football has to blend tradition with a passing game - and play it the Brighton way
By ROB DRAPER 13th February 2011
With the sun rising over the South Downs on a crisp and glorious Sussex morning, Gus Poyet takes in a scene that is quintessentially English - and delivers a critical verdict on the state of the national game.
Poyet has been in love with English football since he uprooted his family from a comfortable life in Zaragoza and joined Chelsea 14 years ago.
But now, as manager of Brighton and Hove Albion, he is relishing the chance to see his belief in the way football should be played reap its reward with a Premier League scalp to add to FA Cup conquests when they face Stoke in Saturday's fifth round.
Beautiful game: Gustavo Poyet thinks other clubs shoudl follow Brighton's example
The 43-year-old Uruguayan has transformed Brighton since taking over 15 months ago, convincing his team to adopt the stylish, passing football that has made them runaway leaders of League One.
In doing so, he has learned much about the state of English football - and the problems inherent in a game that, in many quarters, condones the sort of aggressive tackle that landed Newcastle's Joey Barton in more controversy last week.
For Poyet, the most baffling aspect of Barton's challenge on Abou Diaby, which saw the Arsenal midfielder sent off for retaliation, was that so many in English football - TV pundit Alan Shearer and former referee Graham Poll among them - defended it.
'If he had done that in my country, it would have meant a fight,' says Poyet. 'I accept it because I'm in England but I don't like it.
'What surprises me most is the pundits who said it was a very good tackle. I listen to them and I laugh. If he breaks Diaby's leg, I cannot accept anyone saying that is a good tackle. It's absolute rubbish.'
So does English football play to a different version of the rules?
'Definitely,' says Poyet. 'Here in England you can go with your leg up showing your studs and get the ball and it's not a foul. Everywhere else in the world it's a foul. Jump with two hands on the back of someone and here they say it is a good challenge. Anywhere else in the world it's a foul.'
Poyet has no desire to drive aggression out of the English game. But he believes the more skilful aspects have been neglected and lack of success at European and international level is the inevitable result.
'The problem is when you go in Europe you need to adapt,' he says.
'There is also a fear that if someone makes a mistake you're going to get the blame. I always say to my players that I accept the responsibility. If we lose because we're playing a passing game, it's my mistake. It takes the pressure off them.'
He illustrates his point with a simple lesson he has drummed into his players at Brighton.
'It's well known in England that when the ball is going forward every centre-half in the division loves to head it as high and as long as possible back down the pitch,' he says.
'We do that if it's a 50–50 ball. But if we are on our own, I tell them to bring the ball down, don't just give it away.
'That doesn't mean we never play the ball long. It's not like we only pass the ball. But we have made a big change. If you are able to convince your players, then you can get both sides into your game. You can get the aggression, the craziness, the pace, the commitment, the good part of English football. But also you can do the other side. 'It's also about taking risks. To win you need risk. When you play long from the back and kick it away into the last third, you don't take any risk, it's easier.'
Poyet is no football purist. He refuses to condemn Stoke's deployment of Rory Delap's long throws - much derided by some critics.
'It's fair,' says Poyet. 'It's a way of getting some advantage. If I had the lad with me, I would use him, but not all the time.
'If you use it at the right time, it's great. Roberto Carlos had a long throw but did you see him sending every throw into the box? No.'
He concedes that his football philosophy has not always paid off for others. Former Chelsea team-mate, Roberto Di Matteo, also a disciple of the passing game, has just been sacked by West Bromwich Albion after three wins in 18 games.
'People only look at the way we pass the ball and the way we take risks,' he says.
'But our success is also because of the way we defend. We are the best team in defending. It's not sexy, like "Let's play fantastic flickies and one-twos and forget about the rest." No, no. First play the basics, which means you need to defend well.'
It is an exciting time to be a Brighton supporter and not just because of the football on display. For 14 years, since the controversial sale of their old Goldstone Ground, they have wandered like an exiled tribe, enduring a 140-mile round trip to groundshare with Gillingham, in Kent, before moving back to Brighton to the wholly unsuitable Withdean Stadium, a venue built for athletics and including the obstacle, for watching football fans, of a hammer cage.
Now, with the Championship and an FA Cup quarter-final in their grasp, they are about to move into a 22,500 all-seater stadium, the American Express Community Stadium, at Falmer, just outside Brighton.
The ground has been funded by a benefactor chairman, Tony Bloom, who believed that £90 million was better spent on infrastructure to sustain the club through generations, rather than on a star striker and centrehalf.
The excitement at the club is palpable.
'I'm the one trying to keep things calm,' says Poyet.
For a man who has made no secret of his ambition to manage at the top - and Chelsea would be the obvious job one day - it seems there has been a shift in aspirations over the past year.
'My mentality now is to stay here for a long time,' he says. 'If we can do the things we are doing here, then why not?
'Of course, I could do different things. When I didn't get the job I wanted [his spell as assistant manager at Tottenham ended in October 2008], I was trying other things, trying to set up another business.'
And he puts his hand on his heart as he adds: 'Football is here and at the moment it is going well, so I hope I can do it for a long time.
'I do it because I want to prove that what I believe works. And that's something personal.'
His affinity for England is also personal, and the Poyet name may yet be written in the annals of the national team through his son, Diego, a Charlton Athletic trainee and stalwart of the England Under-16 side.
'If I see the name Poyet on the England shirt, it's going to be strange,' he concedes. 'But he got British citizenship last week, so why not?'
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
For a man who has made no secret of his ambition to manage at the top - and Chelsea would be the obvious job one day - it seems there has been a shift in aspirations over the past year.
"My mentality now is to stay here for a long time,' he says. 'If we can do the things we are doing here, then why not?"
Love this bit
"My mentality now is to stay here for a long time,' he says. 'If we can do the things we are doing here, then why not?"
Love this bit
Daffy Duck
Stop bloody moaning!
What a brilliant article.
And a GORGEOUS photo of our Gus!!!!!!
Boroseagull
Well-known member
Ahh....so The {Sunday} Mail is not all bad then? Excellent read & so deserved.
D
Deleted User X18H
Guest
This thread is of course fixtures nice bit gus wrote in the mail but good morning.
Uncle C
Well-known member
I knew I'd seen him somewhere before
Seagulls Downunder
Active member
It's about time The Mail online didn't just do the Premiership. For expat fans looking online for lower league stuff all the national papers seem to ignore it and The Argus online info is not much better.
Great article which I have posted on the SDU facebook page, more of the same from the rest of the nationals please.
Great article which I have posted on the SDU facebook page, more of the same from the rest of the nationals please.
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,025
yeah, he's seen the grass on the other side and knows that its just the same. he can build here without so much pressure and has years to pursue a managment career at higher levels (with us hopefully)
he is the messiah. that makes Bloom god and presumably Knight is the holy ghost?
The Peanut Roaster
Banned
I now officialy love him the same as Alan Mullery.
'Ee is class.
'Ee is class.
Easy 10
Brain dead MUG SHEEP
The standout quote for me is:
"That doesn't mean we never play the ball long. It's not like we only pass the ball. But we have made a big change. If you are able to convince your players, then you can get both sides into your game. It's also about taking risks. To win you need risk. When you play long from the back and kick it away into the last third, you don't take any risk, it's easier".
Our patient style of play, encapsulated in a sentence.
Course, some would say boring.
"That doesn't mean we never play the ball long. It's not like we only pass the ball. But we have made a big change. If you are able to convince your players, then you can get both sides into your game. It's also about taking risks. To win you need risk. When you play long from the back and kick it away into the last third, you don't take any risk, it's easier".
Our patient style of play, encapsulated in a sentence.
Course, some would say boring.
cannedheat
Banned
But but but this is the Mail if you read it you are a racist nazi according to some on here.
Last edited:
Lincoln Imp
Well-known member
- Feb 2, 2009
- 5,964
Well I tried to read the article in WH Smith's in Churchill Square but the paper fell in half and an assistant glared at me and it was all pretty embarrassing but I will never ever give the publishers of that xenophobic rag a penny of my hard-earned.