And so to the Falmer Stadium, better known as the Amex, for a late Saturday afternoon encounter with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Amex site, although not the stadium, sits astride the Lewis-Brighton border, a geographical inconvenience that delayed by at least five years the ending of the Seagull’s 14 errant years after their old Goldstone Ground was sold from under them to developers in the 1990s.
It gave the good burghers of Lewis, once the home of Thomas Paine, ‘Merkan ‘holics may be interested to know, the excuse to indulge in old-fashioned Nimbyism by opposing the construction of a football stadium under the guise of protecting designated open countryside. The boundary-straddling field, used as a temporary stadium carpark until 2021, is now set to be turned into student housing for the Falmer campuses of the Universities of Brighton and Sussex. So much for green intentions!
Meanwhile, the football club continues to develop its compact stadium. A new ‘fan zone’, The Terrace, will open towards the end of this season. Fan zones are the US concept of plazas at sports venues where folk can congregate pre- and post-match so the club can sell them more overpriced food and drink. The stadium also gets a new event space to monetise on non-match days. Kerching all round!
A two-story club shop will be next in the ‘Albionisation’ of the Amex. The existing one will relocate to the space now occupied by Dick’s Bar and the club’s museum. Both those close after our game on Saturday to let the refurbishment start. In the unlikely event that either is on your bucket list, last chance, and all that.
Some travelling ‘holics may also like to know that from 2027, away fans will be relocated from behind the goal to the southwest corner of the South Stand, which will include an area of safe standing.
Hürzeler
In addition to property development, Brighton has a sideline playing football. Chris Hughton led the Seagulls back into the top flight in the 2017-18 season, 34 years after their relegation from the old Division One. However, it is his three successors—Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi and Fabian Hürzeler—who have solidified the club’s position there.
Each appointment was bold and imaginative, but none more so than Fabian Hürzeler, who became the Premier League’s youngest-ever manager at 31 and the first to be born after the competition began in 1992. The Texas-born Swiss-German had been a talented enough player to be on Bayern Munich’s books as a teenager and progress through Germany’s youth teams to the Under-19s. However, he played his senior football for Bundesliga B teams and gave it up in his early twenties to become a coach.
He arrived at Brighton in the summer from Hamburg’s anti-establishment ‘kult’ club, FC St Pauli, which he had just steered to promotion to the Bundesliga.
As when he took over at St. Pauli, Hürzeler has mostly maintained his predecessor’s formation at Brighton but adapted it to his philosophy of high-intensity attacking football that uniquely straddles the Juego de Posición system favoured by most top European teams and the emerging controlled chaos of Relationalism coming out of Brazilian football (see: Diniz, Rydstrom et al). Both approaches focus on building from the back to break the opposition press and then creating overloads in attack; however, in the latter, the overloads are generated by players, particularly midfielders, swarming the ball, with the team not beholden to a rigid structure.
While Hürzeler used an inherited 3-4-3 at St Pauli, he has built on De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1 at Brighton. In the build-up, his and De Zerbi’s Brighton look similar: the goalkeeper makes a back three with the two centre-backs. The full-backs go wide and two midfielders drop to create a line of four in front of them. It is once the opposition’s press has been broken that the differences emerge. Hürzeler has his midfielders moving the ball and themselves rapidly upfield to create a fluid attacking six or seven.
The midfielders’ freedom to hunt in packs to create fast overloads that stretch opposition defences out of shape, and especially pull them wide, frequently means vacating central midfield. This requires the defensive line to play high. This high-risk attacking gambit leaves Brighton vulnerable to counterattacks. This season, it has conceded a league-high four breakaway goals.
Opposing managers may be starting to work out Hürzeler’s novel approach. After a five-game unbeaten run to start the season that had Brighton second in the table at one point, his side has slipped to tenth. Monday’s draw with Aston Villa extended Brighton’s winless streak since beating Bournemouth on November 23rd to seven, even if so far this season, only the Mugsmashers and ourselves have lost fewer games than the Seagulls.
The opposition
A ball-playing keeper is the starting point for Hürzeler’s system. The young Dutch international Bart Verbruggen is first choice. In front of him, club captain Lewis Dunk partners another young Dutch international, Jan Paul van Hecke, in the middle. Compatriot Joël Veltman has been playing right back, although Tariq Lampety is now back from injury and will be seeking to cement his return, having scored the equaliser against Villa. Ecuadorian Pervis Estupiñán has been on the left, with Ferdi Kadioglu, a left-back bought from Fenerbahce in the summer for £25 million, gone in the fetlock. However, Estupiñán missed the midweek game against Villa because of illness and is 50/50 for Saturday. Brazilian centre-back Igor Julio or the long-serving Adam Webster would deputise.
London-born Danish international Matt O’Riley and the 20-year-old Carlos Baleba, another potential gem unearthed by Brighton’s recruitment department, will likely occupy the crucial ghost midfield roles — shape-shifting sixes-cum-eights-cum-false 10s. Look for them to play quickfire ‘third man’ passes to make the rapid attacking transitions Hürzeler wants. Injuries have hindered the highly-regarded Dutch international midfielder Mats Wieffer, who joined from Feyenoord in the summer for £25 million, from nailing down a starting place. He again is unavailable for Saturday. The young Swedish international Yasin Ayari is Plan C.
The dangerous and rapid Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma and one of Solly March, newly returned from injury, Brajan Gruda, a 20-year-old Albanian-German brought from Mainz in the summer for £26 million or Yankuba Mintech, a £29 million summer buy from Newcastle, will offer the width that is crucial to Hürzeler’s high-intensity attack. Another left-wing option is Simon Adingra, a 22-year-old Ivory Coast international and another who exemplifies Brighton’s astute talent spotting.
Julio Encisio, the prodigiously talented 20-year-old Paraguayan who has struggled for playing time under Hürzeler, has nonetheless recently been deployed as the third false 10. In October and November, Hürzeler opted for an even more attacking 4-4-2, with Georginio Rutter, a £37 million summer buy from Leeds, the versatile Brazilian João Pedro and Evan Ferguson, another promising 20-year-old struggling for form and minutes, playing alongside leading goalscorer Danny Welbeck, formerly of this parish. All three have also played as the single striker in a 4-2-3-1. Crocked ankles mean neither Welbeck nor Ferguson will make even the bench on Saturday.
The Arsenal
Timber will miss the rematch, having picked up a soft fifth yellow against Brentford. This will likely require moving Partey to right back, which, in turn, could mean Martinelli replacing Nwaneri on the right wing to help deal with Mitoma, even though Nwaneri did enough against Brentford to retain his place.
Calafiori might well be rotated. Rice should return after being rested for most of the Brentford game. Arteta expects those stricken with the lurgi to be available, including the worst affected, Havertz, but the German may be eased back in from the bench. Thus:
Raya
Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly
Ødegaard, Rice, Merino
Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
It is unnecessary to repeat that every game now must yield three points. Additionally, there is the ridiculous Rice red card home draw to avenge. Beating Brighton would close the gap at the top of the table to three points by the time Liverpool plays on Sunday, putting a smidgen of pressure on them. Unfortunately, they have a home game against a team in the bottom third of the league that hasn’t scored a goal at Anfield since 2019.
Hürzeler, who displays the cockiness of youth (Matron!), says his team will win if it plays with its signature high intensity and courage in possession and deals with our set pieces. He is neither the first to say that nor to see such ambition blunted by Arteta’s counter tactics of dominant control. The gentlemen of the turf think a 2-1 away win is the most likely outcome, but any win for the Arsenal will do.
Enjoy the game, ‘holics far and wide.
Thanks very much for the preview, Ned, as ever furnishing me with way more knowledge about the opposition than I had ever dreamed possible.
I agree that Nwaneri is likely to be stood down in order that Martinelli’s prodigious work ethic can be used to support Partey against the left-sided attack of Estupinan and Mitoma. We have to find a way to employ that right-sided overload we utilise so effectively with White/Timber but which has tended to be somewhat blunted when Partey plays at right back. The manager could of course surprise us by playing Lewis-Skelly at right back. Personally I’d prefer that approach but strangely enough Arteta has never called me for tactical advice.
Hurzeler has shown himself to be something of a purveyor of the dark arts and it would be nice to continue his poor run of 1 win in the last 8, but it is concerning that they have drawn 5 in that period. Hopefully the fact that they are at home will mean they feel compelled to try to attack.
Thanks Ned for an excellently readable and informative preview including the insider tips on Amex and Lewes redevelopment items which will no doubt be useful for someone’s real estate portfolio. Three points and keeping the momentum rolling, as you say, are the orders of the day so long may the Gabriel Jesus hot streak continue and may our sick from midweek, including Martin if indeed he was one of them, have recovered quickly.
A late morning trip to Brits Pub, the Minneapolis home of Guinni, fish and chips and Arsenal telecasted matches, appears to be on the morrow’s agenda. Tough gig to be sure, but somebody has got to do it. COYG
I doubt that there will be a more comprehensively informative preview in the Arsenal blogosphere (or anywhere else) this weekend, Ned. Superb.
An Arteta surprise might be to start Tierney at RB where he featured for both Celtic and that wonderful little nation north of the border. However, like you, I think TP5 is the more likely pick for tomorrow. Timber’s VERY soft yellow was a real disappointment as neither Thomas nor the team seem to be at their best when Partey starts as a fullback.
As for their manager, based on his comments after the Rice sending off, I have no doubt whatsoever that he was a frequent attender of the appropriately named Dick’s Bar.
2-1 will do me fine. I hope the bookies are on the money. Consecutive away wins against two difficult Bs in a week will give me quite a buzz.
A very fine read Ned, most informative.
We might want to remember what Crystal Palace did to this lot but a few weeks ago and how we dealt with Palace a week later. I’d be pleased with another 3 nil win and that nasty little oik Pedro getting his marching orders.
As ever a highly informative and enjoyable preview, Ned. I do think you provide the most informative blogs in the Goonersphere. Bravo! I also think you’ve called the starting XI correctly though I share CER and BtM’s preference to see TP5 in the middle. A 2-1 win for the Arsenal would be very acceptable though, like Sancho Panza I’d be pleased, and much more relaxed, with a 3-0 victory.
COYG
Another terrific preview Ned and a very interesting one for me. My nearest League club is Gillingham and for a couple of seasons at the end of the last century Brighton used Gillingham as their home. I went to see them in their last ever game there – I think it was a draw with Rochdale and I went to try to understand what keeps clubs alive. It is a far from straightforward 140 mile round trip between Brighton and the Medway towns . Initially crowds were terrible but they picked up just as results did and they survived in the League and returned to the Brighton area at the old athletic stadium, the Withdean- about as ghastly a place to watch football as you can imagine . Talking to some of tge fans who made that trek I was filled with admiration for them. A few years later my grandson who was in the junior academy had his birthday party during a game at the Amex in the season before they went up . I found it soulless but transport links are good and it’s a cut above the Withdean .
It was inconceivable that they would become a very accomplished Premier League club but they have as you detail so well. As for Hürzeler let’s just say I found him obnoxious when they played us this season . I note Kavanagh is nothing to do with the game tomorrow. Anthony Taylor is ref and Darren England who did the Ipswich game is on VAR .
I think your logic in team selection is impeccable but Mikel is ringing the changes more and he might surprise us. We’ve played exceptionally well down there over the last two seasons and I hope we can escape with a 2-0 win
Mike McDonald on Brentford
Immensely enjoyable preview Ned, especially the tactical analysis part. Thank you!
Speaking of St. Pauli, it would be an interesting historical study to see if any English football club ever attempted to embrace that kind of bohemian anti-establishment (but not hooliganism, far from it) cultural identity as is associated with Der Kiezkicker.
Speaking of Brighton, watching them play sometimes reminds me of this anecdote that I once heard from Salman Rushdie in an author event. He told his audience of him once meeting with Umberto Eco over lunch, where Eco said something like: I hate it when they write like me, and I hate it when they don’t write like me. I have seen Brighton play some open and creative football against us, and play their fair share of “let’s kick Arsenal players at every opportunity” … and I immensely disliked them in both of these versions. 🙂
I think your team is likeliest, but I am more inclined to agree with others here that we should keep Partey in his best role at the base of the midfield. We play much more controlled and yet incisive football with him in that role, and I feel MLS has both the technique and the physicality required to fill in for Timber for one match. He will have Saliba next to him for guidance and positional support, and if we play Martinelli on the right wing, another player who will give him complete defensive support throughout the match. In that case Trossard starts on the left ahead of Calafiori, Rice in the left 8 role, Jesus as the central striker. Havertz on the bench to be brought in later if needed.
They will not play with low defensive blocks, and we need to be able to use the space behind, by moving the ball quickly through the midfield. Raya’s excellent long pass and distribution will come in handy as well to spring counter attacks.
The best antidote of the “controlled chaos” is the “controlled calm”, and not let their player overloads faze our excellent abilities to play through the press and the great technical abilities to keep possession. If Martin is on the top of his game, he can be singularly decisive in this match.
Another must-win match.
Thanks Ned, there’s have already summed how fine a preview you have provided and so I will but agree with those sentiments.
As you say just win. Has Calafiori ever played right back? No idea but like many I worry about TP5 at RB. I wonder if we might see Jorginho for this one but perhaps he will be saved for the cup games to come.
“Those above have already summed up” should be the start of that sentence!
Thanks TTG for the Mike McDonald link above. Mike’s, and also Adam Clery’s Arsenal-related insights and peatls of wisdom are really very impressive.
Thanks for the kind words, all. I agree that we are better served by having Partey in the midfield, but I suspect that on this occasion, he will have to fill in at right-back. I did mull the possibility of Calafiori playing there. He has done so at least a couple of times, but not for some years. However, I can’t find any record of MLS playing right back; in the Academy, he was primarily a midfielder, not a defender, and when he did play in the back line, it was as a left back (which did make me wonder if he was quietly being groomed for the role, but we just didn’t notice). I also considered Josh Nichols, who does play right back for the PL2 side, but it would be a big ask for him to step up from the Academy to contain Mitoma. Also, he may have an injury at the moment as he hasn’t been called up to train with the first team. I was intrigued by BtM’s mention above that KT3 had played at right-back. I see he played three games there for Scotland, and they won the lot.
Dr F@9: My understanding is that St Pauli, which was founded in 1910, came to be a counter-culture ‘kult’ club relatively late, in the 1980s. My two cents would be that socio-political conditions then in Germany (and especially Hamburg, which was developing a particular youth culture around hip-hop and graffiti, rather than punk) were sufficiently different from those in the UK that what was happening at St Pauli wouldn’t necessarily be reflected in English clubs. The left in Britain was out confronting the Thatcher government, whereas the left in what was still West Germany was more focused East and on the Cold War. There might be some parallels with some fan elements in Scottish clubs, but there would be more knowledgeable ‘holics than me in that regard. The other possibly relevant point is that the member ownership of most German clubs probably makes the clubs more reflective of the fan base than the ownership structure in the UK.
Thanks Ned,
Top notch as usual.
As for seagulls, noisy birds that eat your chips at the beach and shit everywhere – what’s to like. I hope we bash them 4-0 with another Jesus hat trick.
UTA.
Many thanks Ned for a great informative review. The monks are really up to speed – I trust you are suitably rewarding them for all their endeavours.
I don’t think Arteta will change much after Wednesday’s delightful endeavours unless there are @ny players needing a rest. I’m with the other denizens of the bar in seeing Partey playing RB for this match and guess Rice will resume his place in midfield.
Hurzeler is becoming a manager who is showing no class whatsoever with his comments and hopefully they can be shoved right up where the sun doesn’t shine. As always a win of any score will do nicely – a close win is my guestimate.
COYRRR
Ned, I must agree with the prevailing sentiment in the bar and say that I really think that is the best preview for this match available anywhere. It’s a masterclass. We’ll done indeed. Each and every monk deserves a tot of something warm, Benedictine perhaps.
Uply is spot on about Hurzeler. Some people seem to go through life being contrary and rude without it impeding their success in any way. Hurzeler seems to be such a character, and he’s a hard chap to view with any warmth. I’ll ignore whatever he says about the match as it is guaranteed to be infuriating rubbish. Hopefully that’s exactly what he thinks about his team’s performance today.
Tottenham get battered
Even when they stay
Tottenham get battered
Even when they stay
Even when they stay
Spot on Bt8, beat me to the punch.
Ned, excellent as ever, thank you !
Team selection is difficult to predict at the moment and necessarily so as rotation is required through such an intense period of games. I think Jesus and Martinelli will start as two of the scorers in the last game but at the expense of Trossard. I think Havertz will return to bolster our set pieces and Jesus will move back to the left wing. Changes to midfield again might disrupt our rhythm initially but I reckon you’ve got that department sorted.
Hürzeler does seem to have arrived with little or no respect for his counterparts in the Premier League. Not a great surprise perhaps as Hürzeler does translate as cocky little shit. He would have got on well with Maupay.
Interesting line up. Kai still ill. Martin on the bench.
Raya,
Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori,
Jorginho, Rice, Merino,
Nwaneri, Trossard, Jesus.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Lewis-Skelly, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Odegaard, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji, Martinelli.
No Dunk for Brighton.
Oh, I heard on radio that Havertz was available – clearly not.
Looks like our set piece routine may suffer a bit today.
Just have to tear them apart through the middle.
We may have to improvise with that lineup but let’s do it. COYG!!
Chav supporters in the bar are just a tad downcast after failing to thrash Palace, not to mention the little matter of dropping two precious points. 😎
No Gavertz and Narinelli and Odegaard on the bench – never saw that coming.
Apologies for not spell checking.
COYG
SHOOT THE SEAGULLS DOWN!
Yeah, they are short too, we got this and Ode and Gabigol
to call on if not
Surprised they haven’t started Mitoma with us playing our 4th choice right back
Can only assume they have some Galloping Lurgi in the camp too, Matt
Superb
Foul on Gabriel and a foul on the keeper from a poor cross and the idiots on Sky talk about how Adìngra has got the beating of Partey.
Estupinan kicks the ball away. No card. Quelle surprise.
Lot of confidence from Nwaneri, calm finish.
1-0 half time, can’t complain about that and a great goal from Nwaneri though I suppose their keeper will be a bit disappointed.
Taylor is a wanker but that’s hardly news
Fine first half. Need to remain completely switched on in the second. TP5 doing well at RB. Some amazingly advanced positions. Martinelli on for Ethan. Sensible.
Quelle surprise, Taylor.
Taylored again
Ole ole
That’s the kind of penalty that is only given against Arsenal. We didn’t create enough in the second half. Marin didn’t look 100% to me when he came on.
We looked quite lively in the first half and that was a nice goal from Nwaneri but we were sloppy a few times in defence. We looked as if we were wading through treacle in the second half and couldn’t produce a decent final ball. Too many players looked as if they were playing through flu – Ødegaard didn’t look right from the moment he came on. Strange penalty – clash of heads -never seen that given before – may never see it again. We didn’t do enough to win. Take the point and move on.
BtM correct about the penalty. There’s nothing in that. I wouldn’t expect it to be given for us, but I’d fully expect Taylor to give it against us.
We were poor in the second half, it looked like a lot of them hadn’t fully shrugged off their illness (Odegaard was probably the worst I’ve ever seen him when he came on) but on a day like today you just need to grit your teeth and ride your like. Unfortunately, we had no luck.
I didn’t like the midfield setup. If Partey isn’t in there, then I’d play Rice as a 6. Rice, Merino and Jorgi didn’t look like a unit in possession. We struggled to get the ball into attacking positions.
If they hadn’t been gifted a penalty then we’d probably have won. But either way it wasn’t a good performance and we need to put it behind us and go again.
That was not the result we needed, and there was an air of a wet January day at the seaside to the performance. The penalty was a very soft call, I felt. Taylor again. Ole! Ole! indeed.
The squad is looking threadbare in the face of injury and illness. Ødegaard appeared out of sorts against Brentford, and I am sure whatever bug is going around was the cause of his start on the bench today. It might have been better to have left him there wrapped up and warm with a mug of Horlicks.
We play again on Tuesday. As GSD says, put it behind us and go again.
Brighton’s tactics of leaving three players spread out across our halfway line whenever we had a corner was highly effective. We had to drop three back to cover them, leaving too few in the six-yard box to create the chaos and keeper-pinning on which our corner-scoring prowess is predicated.
We looked very tired today and a game two days later than Brighton’s last game is highly significant especially as there is a bug in the camp.
I suspect Odegaard has it. So we were effectively missing White , Timber, Odegaard , Saka and Havertz today- half our first team and we last played on Wednesday evening . Now Nwaneri is injured too. Spreading fixtures out fairly matters so much at this time of year . Liverpool last played on Sunday and have a week’s rest . We had two away fixtures ( albeit not very far away )
I don’t often listen to football podcasts but I heard the start of Le Grove’s post- Brentford effort . They were underlining we didn’t need to buy anyone and tge squad was adequate to cope with the fixture list . Rubbish !
We are running on fumes and we face massive games over the next week or so albeit mainly at home . Signing people at the end of the window doesn’t really help.We needed them on January 1st . We didn’t get our recruitment in the summer anywhere near as right as we did the summer before . We must hope that all the other teams are as knackered as us !
The dilemma is that when everyone is fit, the squad is adequate to cope with the fixture congestion. But not everyone is fit. Loans are the only realistic way to get bodies in in the short term without distorting the long-term building of the squad. But that is not to say any loanees will be plug-and-play replacements for those taking an extended break on the treatment table.
The solution may lie in finding a way to draw on the Academy to plug emergency gaps. Arteta’s comments about looking internally and the number of youngsters he has training with the first team suggests the club is looking at what can be done in this regard beyond lucking out with talents like MLS and Nwaneri. The key problem is the lack of experience of senior football, not ability. No easy answers for that.
To be honest I don’t mind the tactic of teams leaving 3 players forward, we had three good set piece chances in the game, albeit two from free kicks, and we really should have done better than 3 headers over the bar.
As for Taylor, I can only refer to my comment @38. Though that comment was made after he booked Nwaneri, it stands for the penalty decision. No doubt PGMOL will defend it.
To Ned’s point about using the Academy we have two prodigies but otherwise a pretty average academy . The next can off the rank is Max Dowman who is 14 or 15 . Looking at how we did in the CL youth competition underlines we aren’t in a vintage period for youth production. Thankfully we have two exceptional youngsters .
The academy always looks average until someone pops out of it. League results are not necessarily representative as so many play above their age group. The u-17s won the Fkamenho Vup in December, described on website as “ The largest international youth tournament in Brazil”. While it is tempting to think of the Academy as a production line, the factory metaphor is not really accurate. The raw material can change in ways that the club cannot control – height and size are two of such variables – and a kid who is outstanding at 14 can be average by 20. This is one reason some clubs have so significantly improved the process behind their purchasing of players.
As for the general doom and gloom, I look at he fact that we are second, averaging 2 points out of three in a season where we have been affected significantly by injuries, allied to the fact that of the 20 points dropped this season, 5-8 have been as the result of frankly extraordinary , not to say downright curious refereeing decisions.
In a normal season we would be on roughly the same points as Liverpool and C115y and a point at Brighton would be seen as a good result given our injuries. My doom and gloom stems from an opportunity missed in the Summer recruitment which was akin to me going to Tesco with my shopping list in my other coat pocket. We got the noodles but fuck it we forgot to buy the stir fry vegetables, and a zingy sauce. And that packet of Trossard is past its sell by date.
I feel your pain, SP. However I think there as a larger game being played in the summer. Overall spend in the PL was somewhere in the region of £2.1b, not far off the record. However this was offset by sales recouping around £1.45b, itself a record. Source: Sky Sports. This net spend represents the 7th largest since 2016, and only marginally larger than the next lowest, £625m in 2021. I imagine that behind this is a knowledge that FFP or whatever it is called was going to be to the fore, with meaningful penalties placed on Forest and Everton last season and the big C130y case coming up. Hence all clubs had to abandon the uncontrolled spending. Arsenal pretty much balanced out with net spend around £4m. Clubs with a negative net spend included Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle and C130y. Of these, only Liverpool are outperforming us.
I just can’t get too exercised, given the wider context.
>>>>>>>