[Albion] We're 3 players from being a top 10 side

[Uh_huh_him]

cant agree with that. Thought he had more drive when he came on than Proper and Stephens have managed since the entire restart

Ryan is good enough.

Wonderful drive through their press soon after he came on leading to a decent opportunity.

 

[Jolly Red Giant]

In my opinion we need 3 top quality players in order to become a top ten side.

1: Goalkeeper. Ryan is a ok and has done well for us, however I think we need someone better if we are going to kick-on. Preferably someone who can reach the corners.

2: Centre Mid. Someone who has the ability to score goals and become the engine in our side and really make us tick.

3: Striker (obvs). A new Glenn / Bobby. Big, strong, quick and can get us 15+ a season.

I have to disagree - while a striker that can hit 15+ a season would be a big step forward I would argue that the team is 6/7 players away from being able to compete at that level (consistently). Now that can include some of the younger players getting a lot better with experience - but to be a top ten team you don't need just a good starting 11, you also need a step up in quality in the rest of the squad.

 

[elwheelio]

I agree. Messi, Ronaldo and Van Dijk would do the trick.

 

[NooBHA]

In my opinion we need 3 top quality players in order to become a top ten side.

1: Goalkeeper. Ryan is a ok and has done well for us, however I think we need someone better if we are going to kick-on. Preferably someone who can reach the corners.

2: Centre Mid. Someone who has the ability to score goals and become the engine in our side and really make us tick.

3: Striker (obvs). A new Glenn / Bobby. Big, strong, quick and can get us 15+ a season.

It's amazing what that last minute goal against Arsenal seems to have done.

It looks like Expectations have gone through the roof - That match was great to watch last night but essentially none of those teams had any interest in defending. There was mistakes all over the place from both sides. So I wouldn't confuse being close to a great side with being a side which come up against a team who had already won the League who were show boating a bit and were just chasing goals and playing some kids.

After all, one game earlier the team at the bottom of the League gave as good as they got - It may well be that this type of open football could elevate Brighton up the Table next year but I think you saw in the first 5 minutes how that type of football could leave you with a mountain to climb. If a side like Aston Villa had punished 2 mistakes like that in the first 10 mins and gone 2-0 up. They would then have just sat in and put everyone behind the ball and said ''Right break us down if you can''

I agree the match had a feel good factor about it last night but it was far from the normal type of match that gets played out in the PL.

 

[Jesus Gul]

In a similar vein to when we took a raft of 1980s Chelsea rejects (Dublin, Isaac, Rougvie, Chivers) how good would Barkley, Loftus-Cheek and Giroud be in our current squad? Goals and a bit of bite in midfield.

 

[Marshy]

2 players

Technically gifted holding centre mid who can receive the ball in a busy central area and keep the ball moving.

Centre forward - Younger version of Glenn with more pace... hard to come by...

 

[CHAPPERS]

Molumby is the interesting one for me, hoping he can play a role with us next year. Otherwise a loan to a team competing a little higher in the Champ than Millwall (no offence to them, well run club by all accounts).

 

[Bakero]

It's amazing what that last minute goal against Arsenal seems to have done.

It looks like Expectations have gone through the roof - That match was great to watch last night but essentially none of those teams had any interest in defending. There was mistakes all over the place from both sides. So I wouldn't confuse being close to a great side with being a side which come up against a team who had already won the League who were show boating a bit and were just chasing goals and playing some kids.

After all, one game earlier the team at the bottom of the League gave as good as they got - It may well be that this type of open football could elevate Brighton up the Table next year but I think you saw in the first 5 minutes how that type of football could leave you with a mountain to climb. If a side like Aston Villa had punished 2 mistakes like that in the first 10 mins and gone 2-0 up. They would then have just sat in and put everyone behind the ball and said ''Right break us down if you can''

I agree the match had a feel good factor about it last night but it was far from the normal type of match that gets played out in the PL.

A team like Aston Villa wouldn't have caused nor ruthlessly taken advantage of those mistakes.

As for showboating from Liverpool, I didn't see much of that. And kids? Neco Williams is the only one I remember and he got dragged off at half-time after being tormented by our kid

 

[Grombleton]

Did you miss his shot against Norwich. Really nasty one for the keeper to deal with.
He isn't awful at shooting, quite the opposite.
He's just young and is trying to score 30 yard screamers too often, rather than being ready for a genuine opportunity.

Exactly. Take Alzate, he is the other end of the spectrum in that he takes too many touches trying to wait for the perfect opportunity and usually the chance has gone.

If someone can go all Mad Scientist and fuse both Alzate and Bissouma together we'd have a HELL of a player.

 

[GT49er]

In a similar vein to when we took a raft of 1980s Chelsea rejects (Dublin, Isaac, Rougvie, Chivers) how good would Barkley, Loftus-Cheek and Giroud be in our current squad? Goals and a bit of bite in midfield.

Trouble is, that was then, this is now. I for one think Giroud and Barkley would be excellent additions to our squad (Giroud getting on a bit, but an excellent fill-in until our youngsters come through), but they're on Chelsea wages - and that pretty much spoils them for any smaller club.

I know we got Lamptey, but he wasn't on first team wages, I'll bet.

 

[dazzer6666]

Disagree that Ryan needs to be replaced. More than adequate keeper for a top 10 team.
Bissouma is the centre-mid you are looking for, and with Molumby coming through, I don't necessarily see a need to bring in someone expecting to be a guaranteed starter.
I'm sure we will continue to bring in strikers who we hope will make it, but buying in a big, strong, quick, guaranteed 15+ goals, is out of our budget and will not happen.

Personally I think wealready have the players we need to become established in the top 10.
It's just they are all young and will be developing over the next 2, 3 seasons.

The progress made with our young players this season is no accident.
Excellent recruitment at youth level and fantastic facilities are starting to come good.
It's worth noting that our loan players are highly regarded, and our under 23s are sitting third in PL2 ahead of Liverpool, City, Arsenal, Spurs.

Absolutely this - need to be careful not to be impatient - it's a long term project. We're really not that far off now - 1-2 more seasons of development will see us there. We've progressed enormously this season without getting the points we perhaps deserve, Potter has learned much and quickly, youth has been properly blooded, the average age of our starting 11 is plummeting and we have some fantastic prospects playing for us. There will be tweaks and the odd targeted upgrade (certainly need to replace Muzza to support Maupay and Connolly) but I really don't see an awful lot of incoming as happening or necessary.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Can't fault Dan Burn and Bissouma for their enthusiasm, bless 'em. But squad players at best in a club with top 10 ambitions. Webster may well improve marginally, but Stephens is in decline. So that's a minimum of FOUR players we need an upgrade on

 

[LlcoolJ]

It's amazing what that last minute goal against Arsenal seems to have done.

It looks like Expectations have gone through the roof - That match was great to watch last night but essentially none of those teams had any interest in defending. There was mistakes all over the place from both sides. So I wouldn't confuse being close to a great side with being a side which come up against a team who had already won the League who were show boating a bit and were just chasing goals and playing some kids.

After all, one game earlier the team at the bottom of the League gave as good as they got - It may well be that this type of open football could elevate Brighton up the Table next year but I think you saw in the first 5 minutes how that type of football could leave you with a mountain to climb. If a side like Aston Villa had punished 2 mistakes like that in the first 10 mins and gone 2-0 up. They would then have just sat in and put everyone behind the ball and said ''Right break us down if you can''

I agree the match had a feel good factor about it last night but it was far from the normal type of match that gets played out in the PL.

Isn't it a bit early to be totally shitfaced Noo? Or are you on holiday somewhere?

I've no idea where to start with how wrong almost everything is with this post, and you're usually measured and sensible. Odd.

 

[throbinson]

Harsh on Ryan. He's not world class but ultimately he clearly has the trust of the defence which is why we're solid at the back. Apart from that, there is little to disagree with. I think Bissouma (who is getting better with every passing game) could be that engine you refer to next season, but Stephens needs replacing now. He's been a good servant, stayed with the club to get us over the line when asked, but unfortunately he's not quite good enough anymore.

He needs to start learning when not to pass a ball to a player with hes back to the game and getting closed down by two opposition players

 

[Hugo Rune]

Whilst last night's result makes it less likely that West Ham will finish above us, they are very unlikely to go down with games against Norwich, Watford and Villa to come.

Beating Norwich is a given.

If they lose to Watford & Villa, they’ll not get points anywhere else but that would still see them finish on 34 points. Villa or B’Muff could then fail to overtake them as they’ll most likely have a worse GD.

This is how it could finish:


Watford 37
West Ham 34
- - - - - - - - - - -
Villa 32
B’Muff 28
Norwich 22

 

[Marshy]

Can't fault Dan Burn and Bissouma for their enthusiasm, bless 'em. But squad players at best in a club with top 10 ambitions. Webster may well improve marginally, but Stephens is in decline. So that's a minimum of FOUR players we need an upgrade on

very very harsh... on Biss and Burn... both have far far more about them than just Enthusiasm.... both more than capable in top 10 sides.. Bissouma may go higher if he continues to progress.

 

[dazzer6666]

Can't fault Dan Burn and Bissouma for their enthusiasm, bless 'em. But squad players at best in a club with top 10 ambitions. Webster may well improve marginally, but Stephens is in decline. So that's a minimum of FOUR players we need an upgrade on

Don't agree.....Bissouma has developed hugely this season and he's still only 23 and for shows every sign of becoming a 'first name on the team sheet' kind of player. Webster (still only 25 so 3 years behind Dunk in development terms) has also got better and better. Do agree re Stephens (still a good squad player), but Bissouma will take his place - we need the backup though.

 

[Lush]

Did you miss his shot against Norwich. Really nasty one for the keeper to deal with.
He isn't awful at shooting, quite the opposite.
He's just young and is trying to score 30 yard screamers too often, rather than being ready for a genuine opportunity.

I would rather the chances that have fallen to Propper and Stephens over the past few seasons, fell to Bissouma.
Equally I would like Bissouma to be more circumspect about what is and isn't a shooting opportunity ( I think he is getting better at this tbh)

This. All day long.

I spend more of the time screaming at Propper than I do at Stephens, but I think at least one will have to give way for Jayson Molumby and Max Sanders

 

[clockend1983]

If you were to suggest three parts of our team which should be improved, GK would not be on my list.

We need a new left back before we need a new goalkeeper. No insult to Dan Burn who has done well but it's not his natural position and he's been a good stand-in rather than a proper long-term solution.

We have one sitting on the bench
I just can’t see why Burn gets in in front of Bernardo at leftback

 

[NooBHA]

Isn't it a bit early to be totally shitfaced Noo? Or are you on holiday somewhere?

I've no idea where to start with how wrong almost everything is with this post, and you're usually measured and sensible. Odd.

My analysis above is not dis similar to how I analysed the errors on the other thread about whether is was individual errors or tactical mistakes

I responded '' Neither - I think it was a ''Learning Curve'' in a match where you could afford to take a chance. No harm was done really and it made for a good match to watch and to entertain the fans.

I am saying it how I see it - There isn't anything vindictive in my post. You have to try and manage the Expectations of fans. Otherwise you start to reach for something which might not be tangible as of yet.

Optimism is good but if you get carried away too soon then it could end in disappointment.