{"id":12943,"date":"2026-03-03T17:51:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12943"},"modified":"2026-03-05T09:06:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:06:04","slug":"dont-let-those-seagulls-crap-on-our-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12943","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let Those Seagulls Crap on our Parade!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brighton used to be a team that I quite liked. A nice seaside town (albeit rather \u2018Green\u2019), good fish and chips and a well-run club that seemed to have an amazing worldwide scouting network that unearthed gem after gem, played good football and appointed a series of intelligent, fair-minded coaches. Then Hurlezer arrived. He adopted a snarling, cynical demeanour in interviews and his teams mirrored a not dissimilar approach on the pitch. The gamesmanship that resulted in Declan Rice getting a second yellow from a muppet referee (who I believe has been selected for this game too!!) who \u2018didn\u2019t have a choice\u2019 lives long in the memory as do the coach\u2019s subsequent remarks supporting the sending off. Such calumnies tarnish that club for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have played Brighton on only 34 previous occasions. That\u2019s because they have spent almost their entire history in lower divisions with which, of course, once promoted to the top tier in 1919, the Arsenal have never soiled their shoe leather, unlike certain London clubs, inclined to posture, that I could name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We first played Brighton in 1935, in an FA Cup tie, at the Goldstone Ground, their home from 1902 until 1997, and won 2-0 with goals by Joe Hulme and Ted Drake. We didn\u2019t face them again until 1979 after their promotion to Division One (remember that era, chaps? – ask yer pa if you don\u2019t). Over the years, we have won 19, lost 8 and drawn 7. In league games, at their place, those numbers are 5 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. Since Brighton\u2019s return to the top flight in 2017, our Premier League record at their place is 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats. Most of these games have been very tight, one goal margins, though we did have an excellent 3-0 win at the Amex Stadium in April 2024 with goals from Saka, Havertz and Trossard but, on the other hand, Brighton did beat us at the Grove by the same margin a year earlier. We need a repeat of our 3-0 away win and those three goal scorers from 2024 may all be available for the forthcoming match to repeat their scoring feats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want an analysis of how Hurzeler\u2019s Brighton can be expected to play, check out Ned\u2019s excellent preview<\/a> to our home game against them from just after Christmas. Brighton are coming off a 2-1 home win against Forest, in which they had 54% possession, made 522 passes, had 14 shots, 7 on target, had 2 clear cut chances and gained 3 yellow cards but they did allow Forest 14 shots, 1 clear cut chance and 4 corners. That was Brighton\u2019s first home league win since beating Burnley at the beginning of January. However, their home record isn\u2019t too shabby, having won 6, drawn 5 and lost only 2. Nonetheless, that home record has deteriorated since the home defeat to Villa in early December: they have drawn at home against West Ham, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Everton and lost to Palace. Brighton currently sit in 11th place with a goal difference of +3. Their season isn\u2019t going as well as was expected and Hurzeler has been under recent pressure so this game is extremely likely to be another scrap as the German tries to relieve that pressure with a statement result. As far as I can see they have no key players absent apart from longterm injuries to Tzimas and Webster. Ayari is returning from injury but this game may be too soon for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what of the Arsenal? We started well against the Chavs on Sunday, had a wobbly middle period, recovered our mojo then had an extremely nervy final ten minutes against ten ASBO\u2019s during which we were extremely grateful to Raya for his superb reflexes. We need to sort out those nerves – we really should have kept the ball and used our extra man advantage in the final phase of the game rather than get defensive jitters and, yet again, show a suicidal tendency that may yet harm our title challenge. I don\u2019t know whether the late addition of multiple attackers with fresh legs from the Chav bench made the difference against our tiring midfielders and defenders or whether it was the result of deep seated anxiety primed by the late equalisers conceded at Wolves and Brentford or a mixture of both. Either way, it needs to be sorted or we will not achieve our objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it would be reasonable to argue that we need to make changes to the starting XI for this game, if only because our late jitters may reflect tired legs and tired minds, the fact that the subsequent game is an FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town gives a bit of leeway, as key players can be predictably and more safely rested in that game. Raya who was superb on Sunday, clearly keeps his place and Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Hincapi\u00e9 had, until that late mass wobble, excellent games against the Chav forwards. White is apparently still unfit. However, I wouldn\u2019t be at all surprised to see Calafiori start at left back given how much Hincapi\u00e9 has played recently (and very well, he has, too). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Declan Rice pulled up in the late stages of the Chavski game, with what looked like a muscle issue, after haring back to cover a breakaway and was limping as he came off so he was a doubt for this game. However, in his pre-Brighton press conference, Mikel Arteta was confident he would be fit. If he wasn’t fit, I expected N\u00f8rgaard to start as our holding midfielder with Zubimendi at left \u20188\u2019, but given the likelihood that Rice will play, it may be that Zubimendi will get a rest either during the game or even from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of Merino is certainly coming home to roost as our key midfielders are getting no breaks at the moment. It sounds as if \u00d8degaard isn’t going to be fit for this game though his knee injury is ‘not serious’. If he had been fit, I would have started \u00d8degaard rather than Eze as the former provides far greater game control albeit, these days, he offers fewer ‘wow moments’ but Eze was quite disappointing for much of Sunday\u2019s game and didn\u2019t provide the defensive cover that \u00d8degaard regularly offers. We will need reliable tracking back if Rice doesn’t make it after all and for this reason, Havertz, if fit enough for 90 minutes, might be a better option in the advanced midfield role than Eze. Of course, another option would be Saka with Madueke playing wide right. That would certainly give Brighton’s left sided defenders a challenge but I suspect that’s well down Arteta’s list of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are no issues about our midfielders’ fitness, my front three would be Saka, Gy\u00f6keres and Martinelli. Saka was our best forward on Sunday when the attack didn\u2019t exactly shine. Gy\u00f6keres needs to rediscover the \u00e9lan he displayed against the neighbours but his recent scoring rate makes him first choice striker ahead of Jes\u00fas and a rehabilitating Havertz while Martinelli added energy to our attack when he replaced a somewhat lacklustre Trossard on Sunday and the Brazilian must be determined to regain his starting place. Although Trossard is likely to be keen to play against his former employer he didn\u2019t do himself justice on Sunday and I think he\u2019ll start on the bench. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if we haven\u2019t done the business by the hour mark, I\u2019d have a low threshold for freshening things up with several options from the bench to craft the win that we need. While I am confident MA8 has run through all these permutations in his mind, I expect that, given his conservative approach to team selection, his starting XI to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapi\u00e9, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zubimendi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eze, Rice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka, Gy\u00f6keres, Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect another spiky, tight, \u2018in your face\u2019 contest so 2-1 to the Arsenal strikes me as a likelier final score than a 3-0 canter, although the latter would be extremely welcome. If it\u2019s not to be a canter, a consummately professional performance, dominating and controlling the game, while we come out confident winners with no hint of late nerves or injuries, would be very acceptable indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy  the game Holics! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brighton used to be a team that I quite liked. A nice seaside town (albeit rather \u2018Green\u2019), good fish and chips and a well-run club that seemed to have an amazing worldwide scouting network that unearthed gem after gem, played good football and appointed a series of intelligent, fair-minded coaches. Then Hurlezer arrived. He adopted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12943"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12961,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12943\/revisions\/12961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}